It's not cheap. I think it was something like $1100. They don't accept insurance but you can file the receipt with your insurance company and be reimbursed some amount. If your insurance company is difficult, a letter from your psychiatrist could probably help. I've been so treatment resistant and on so many medications, I figure they have to hook me up some amount.
Pfeiffer center-nutrient/vitamin therapy
I went to see this place near Chicago called the Pfeiffer Treatment Center, which is supposed to be the nation's leading clinic for nutrient and vitamin therapy for mental illnesses. They take blood, urine, and hair analyses and can figure out possible reasons for your illness, then they provide you with a vitamin regimen to suit your specific biochemistry. I won't get the results back for a month or so, but maybe some of you should consider looking into it, taking into the consideration that hardly anybody here is getting much relief from prescription meds.
Here is a brief article of what they do with depressives:
http://www.hriptc.org/depression_article.pdf
Here is the main site:
http://www.hriptc.org/
I was skeptical about doing this, partly because this area of medicine is overlooked due to politics in the world of medicine, but I thought it was worth a shot, and hopefully time will prove me right. What I can tell you from my visit is that they took a detailed history of my illness and asked a lot of questions about my personality and a lot about other illnesses I am prone to, from allergies to gastrointestinal problems, bone and muscle weakness, etc. Then they did a physical with a bunch of little tests I had never had before. The one I thought was most interesting was where the doctor tested my reaction to light, and as one with DP/DR may guess, I was extremely sensitive.
From all this stuff, they can kind of piece together possible vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. The doctor told me that from what she could tell on the surface, from the physical and my history, was that I was probably high in copper. From what I've read, that fits because of all the vitamin/mineral toxicities or deficiencies (excluding metal exposure), high copper is mostly attributed to panic attacks and detachment from reality.
They gave me a "primer" which is a little starter multi-vitamin for those with high copper and has Vitamins C, E, and B6, zinc, manganese, and a little magnesium. Since taking it I can tell that it definitely calms me down and helps me fall asleep (if I take it near bedtime). However, it is supposed to take 2-3 months to fix the imbalance for depression. Its relation to DP/DR is of course, unstudied, but I guess I will find it.
Anyway, look into it.
Here is a brief article of what they do with depressives:
http://www.hriptc.org/depression_article.pdf
Here is the main site:
http://www.hriptc.org/
I was skeptical about doing this, partly because this area of medicine is overlooked due to politics in the world of medicine, but I thought it was worth a shot, and hopefully time will prove me right. What I can tell you from my visit is that they took a detailed history of my illness and asked a lot of questions about my personality and a lot about other illnesses I am prone to, from allergies to gastrointestinal problems, bone and muscle weakness, etc. Then they did a physical with a bunch of little tests I had never had before. The one I thought was most interesting was where the doctor tested my reaction to light, and as one with DP/DR may guess, I was extremely sensitive.
From all this stuff, they can kind of piece together possible vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. The doctor told me that from what she could tell on the surface, from the physical and my history, was that I was probably high in copper. From what I've read, that fits because of all the vitamin/mineral toxicities or deficiencies (excluding metal exposure), high copper is mostly attributed to panic attacks and detachment from reality.
They gave me a "primer" which is a little starter multi-vitamin for those with high copper and has Vitamins C, E, and B6, zinc, manganese, and a little magnesium. Since taking it I can tell that it definitely calms me down and helps me fall asleep (if I take it near bedtime). However, it is supposed to take 2-3 months to fix the imbalance for depression. Its relation to DP/DR is of course, unstudied, but I guess I will find it.
Anyway, look into it.
1 - 3 of 6 Posts
I got the results back from this and talked to one of their nurses today. It turns out I had an insanely high histamine level, which means I have low levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Here is a little chemistry for you, but she said the optimal range is 40-70 ng/ml and mine was 146 ng/ml and I had been taking anti-histamines regularly, which means mine was probably higher than that! I asked the nurse how often they came across one that high, to which she answered not often, but said she happened to have a schizophrenic patient earlier today who had one that was 196. So, she said she was surprised I was doing as well as I was.
Maybe there is something to this. I will keep everyone updated in months to come.
Maybe there is something to this. I will keep everyone updated in months to come.
1 - 3 of 6 Posts
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