Topic Title: "Borderline Personality Disorder", SJW, 5-HTP
| |  ""Borderline Personality Disorder", SJW, 5-HTP"
, Mon 28 Apr 05:33
Greetings everyone,
I am a BPD sufferer on the road to recovery. I just thought it would be useful to post a topic here, briefly about my experiences in case others may find it useful.
For reference, the official diagnostic criteria from DSM-IV requires that 5 or more of the following be present before a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder can be made (paraphrased, taken from a book on BPD):
1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships.
3. Unstable sense of self and identity.
4. Impulsive actions that are ultimately self-damaging such as drug abuse, excessive spending, reckless driving, or damaging/unsafe sex.
5. Recurrent suicidal actions, threats, thoughts, or self-injury behaviors.
6. Unstable, intense moods or emotions that can be triggered by events and may last hours or days.
7. Chronic feelings of emptiness, boredom, or loneliness.
8. Inappropriate or intense anger that is difficult to control.
9. Temporary, stress-related paranoid ideas or severe dissociative symptoms.
During the worst of it, a few years ago, I often had 8 of these 9 criteria present.
Now I am down to about half that number, sometimes almost none!
During the severe times I was using St. John's Wort and 5-HTP. It was extremely effective for my initial severe case.
However sources indicate serious dangers of a brain condition called Serotonin Syndrome if certain SSRI type drugs are combined in high doses. This includes combining SJW & 5-HTP.
Combining the two does seem to be a risk, especially if somebody were to combine high doses of both. I couldn't really find enough details on this, so I eventually just stopped taking the more expensive of the two (5-HTP) once I felt I was strong enough to do so.
I am now well into my recovery, and exclusively on St. John's Wort. I have been taking SJW by itself for around a year, and also recently tested 1 month of total withdrawl from it. After the test, I confirmed the SJW is having a very positive affect on my life. The only real side-effect I have is photosensitivity, especially to bright flourescent lighting in buildings. Well bright artificial light in general. Sunlight doesn't really bother me so much, but then again I'm usually indoors anyway.
OK if anyone has follow-up questions, or any general questions, or just wants to chat, feel free to post here. I'll be checking this forum for the next few days at least. This is my first post here btw!
Cheers!
Posts: 0 | | Registered: Mon 28 Apr 2003 4:49 |
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| | "Re(1):" , Mon 28 Apr 11:53
It sounds more like to me you have an extreme case of anxiety disorder. Every symptom you described mimics anxiety and stress. But, I don't know to much about Personality disorders so I could be wrong. I have had most all those symptoms you describe and I don't have a personality disorder. I know alot about anxiety disorder. YOU can control those symptoms, it is all about how you choose to think and react. I'm glad the Wort works so well for you!!
Posts: 2 | | Registered: Wed 23 Apr 2003 10:27 |
| | | "Re(2):" , Wed 30 Apr 05:40
jb33us1 -
The name of the disorder is not my focus here. I was just using the official name for it. The bottom line is that SJW helps me with Symptoms 2-9 (I have never suffered from Symptom 1 so I can't comment on that).
In a way, you are right when you say I can control those symptoms through sheer will. In fact a large part of my recovery has also been the study of Eastern philosophy and meditation, to change my Western conditioned ways of thinking. But before I could do that, I needed to get my serotonin deficiency under control using SJW, so I could basically focus long enough to retrain my own habits.
My serotonin imbalance is a physiological reality that makes control during each day very difficult, as without SJW my brain serotonin levels plummet around midday, unless I keep it regulated with SJW. SJW allows me to maintain a decent level of serotonin during the whole day.
Cheers.
Posts: 1 | | Registered: Mon 28 Apr 2003 4:49 |
| | "Re(1):" , Mon 28 Apr 11:27
Hi
I think I have what you have but then again, when you read all the phycological conditions it could be pretty much everything.
My problem is that I have terrible symptoms that make me extremly anxious, I feel detached from my body if I look in the mirror I dont recodnize whos looking back at me, Sometimes my legs stiffen up to the extent where I cant walk properly , I get sharp pains in my head, I get presure in my eyes, etc. What I was wondering was if you have any of thease symptoms or if you had any. I use to be epeleptic I all thease feeling freak me out because they feel like Im getting an epeleptic fit. I would appreciate all the help you can give me and if you have any questions please ask.
Posts: 43 | | Registered: Tue 25 Feb 2003 9:48 |
| | | "Re(2):" , Wed 30 Apr 05:52
uphoric -
I'm sad to hear of your symptoms. The only one I recognise as something I may have experienced before, is the feeling you described as "feeling detached from my body if I look in the mirror I don't recognize who's looking back at me"...
When my serotonin levels bottom out completely in severe cases, the entire world seems to be in a kind of "fog" for me, and I have a dull feeling like cold ice is freezing the inside of my brain somehow. It disconnects me from the world. I think it may have something to do with the signal-to-noise ratio of my brain worsening during those times, there are some neurotransmitters that work in these areas, perhaps my low serotonin drops other neurotransmitters too. This sounds a bit different to what you're describing perhaps, but during these times I feel very disconnected from myself as well.
I hope someone else with more insight into your symptoms can provide more useful comments for you. I don't want to make any recommendations since you sound like you could have somewhat different imbalances to mine. Just remember you're not alone, there's a lot of us fighting out there, and improvements are possible after some years of trying. Good luck.
Posts: 2 | | Registered: Mon 28 Apr 2003 4:49 |
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