I just received the following question from Allan:
Julie, do you or any of your readers have any knowledge or experience of an alternative micronutrient product called EMPowerplus sold by a company called Truehope? I have a 15 year old who has still not been accurately diagnosed by some of the best physicians on both coasts. This has been a 10 year battle costing a fortune. We have tried just about every medication listed in your blog. All of the symptoms overlap. Bipolar, ADD, ADHD, OCD, OCD, etc etc are all a part of this. I just ordered some of these micronutrient vitamin supplements to try as everything else has failed over the years. A family member sent me an article from a newspaper about this stuff. As with everything else, some people claim its a scam while other are having great results. Any feedback would be great.
Thanks
Hello Allan,
I get this question so often- it’s a good time to answer it here. Please remember I am not a doctor and this is for informational purposes only.
TrueHope’ s EMpowerplus is a very controversial. Some swear by it, some have no response and some like myself, have had a negative response. TrueHope is marketed as a supplement, but I see it as a medication in that it has similar results to synthetic meds. All herbs/supplements and other natural treatments have the potential to cause mood swings for people with bipolar disorder. There are many over the counter products such as 5HTP that are serotonin acting drugs that can definitely cause mania. St. John’s Wort has a warning about mania. It really depends on how sensitive a person is. It’s important to know that just because you don’t need a prescription for something, it’s not necessarily safe.
True Hope was investigated in Canada for making false claims, but the lawsuit was dropped. It is not a US product.
It made me psychotic- which is not safe. When I called their customer service and said I was having trouble, the person replied that it was impossible that it could cause psychosis. The person was wrong. But…. I have a client who swears it helps keep her mania down.
I do NOT suggest this product if your son has severe rapid cycling or is not able to get his mania or psychosis under control. I feel it can make it worse.
But, having said this. If you are at the end of your rope in terms of helping your son, I do know that you need to try all that you can. If you and your family have a VERY good system in place to recognize negative changes in moods, then it makes sense to try a product that may help- but is this the right product? That is the question. It just might be. I use my Health Cards to have a plan in place when I try a new medication. They work well for children and their families.
But please go in knowing there is NO real research data behind this product. I believe your son’s health care professionals need to know as well. If it even starts to change his mood negatively, that is a problem. I would definitely work with a health care professional. Would you buy some Abilify and see if it works without knowing the research or how it affected others? Probably not- it makes sense to use the same caution here.
Please keep me posted. All that matters is that your son finds relief- while staying safe. This may be what you’re looking for- but please use caution!
Julie
PS: Informational purposes only! And please ignore the misspelling of the word Supplements- for some reason the blog will not let me correct the title!
Related posts: Newsletter: EMpower (True Hope) Supplements for Bipolar Disorder | What drugs interact with bipolar disorder medications? What about over the counter supplements? | Mental Health True or False |
Interesting. I can see why it might cause mania! I like to look at the ingredients that are in a supplement. Truehope has a lot of vitamins and minerals in it, including a high amount of B12. B12 is also in some energy drinks. From a quick look, it seems that the Truehope supplement would be more energizing rather than mood stabilizing. The list of ingredients is at: https://www.mytruehope.net/store/_documents/empowerplus.pdf
I agree that some supplements can actually be helpful, but it depends on the supplement and the individual, just like any medication.
HB
i never been in a situation or know any family members that tried the brand TrueHope. but it sounds to me that it’s something to definitely be aware of.. i really hope the best for Allan and hope he finds an answer.
Hello,
You can find my opinion on True Hope all over this blog if you do a search for the term. It’s very controversial and I have done quite a bit of research on the product- that is always what matters- research!
julie
hi julie, i have been researching truehope for over a year now. my 21 year old son is suffering from rapid cycling bipolar. he has been put on many different meds and claims non work and actually make him feel worse. there are such mixed reviews. has there been any new news on empowerplus that would give us some hope in starting my son on this.
thank you,
carol
My father killed himself when I was only two years old, after only a few weeks of manic behavior (his condition went undiagnosed at the time). Twenty years later, my sister was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder after a few months of insane and dangerous behavior. She spent two days in a mental institution before being released. She slept about four hours every two days, and would swing from extremely hyper to drowsy/lethargic in a matter of minutes. My family and I spent two weeks keeping her on round-the-clock suicide watch. During this period, we kept her on the proper loading dose of EMPower (which I think was something like 24 pills a day). Within one week, she was sleeping through the night (at least six hours). Within one month, her mood was stabilized. Within three months, she was back to normal. This was six years ago. She’s had minor recurrences, but they’re always linked to stress/diet/sickness.
This isn’t to say that EMPower is the cure-all. These types of situations are almost always multifaceted. Her environment leading up to her mania was a big factor, and the family support and comforting, safe environment during the recovery was huge. Also, diet played a roll during the bad months, and healthy home cooked meals were served while healing.
I must say, I cannot fathom how anything in EMPower could actually CAUSE mania…
The core of your writing while appearing agreeable in the beginning, did not settle very well with me after some time. Somewhere throughout the paragraphs you actually were able to make me a believer unfortunately just for a while. I however have got a problem with your leaps in logic and one might do well to fill in those gaps. If you can accomplish that, I could undoubtedly be amazed.
TrueHope I believe can be very helpful to many people. BUT be very careful.
Although I stopped a few weeks ago (kind of a surprise) due to mania and poor communication skills with doctor and support group. after taking the supplements for 4 months, i had a reaction which i believe came from my period, diarrhea, and stressors. It became tedious to figure out how to put medicine back in me and I considered hospitalizing myself, something I haven’t done in 4 years.
Be aware of limiting factors like bowel movements, period, antibiotics, and stuff like that, they usually increase the EM. All of this information is on the website when you order or you can call and talk to them. Read everything there is about this program and i suggest working with a doctor that is knowledgeable of all of the limiting factors and possible withdrawal risks that come especially with certain medications.
It is also surprising that the people in the support group are not doctors or nurses in the medical field. They are trained by biochemist I believe….
It seems like you were actually going in a manic phase, and attributed that, to the Empower
plus, rather than the fact that you were going in a manic phase, probably did not give the Empowerplus a fair chance to absorb and to work in your system.
I have had many health issues in my past, though no long-lasting depression or mental illnesses. I went to doctor after doctor to no avail. I will not take meds for long-term care – they all have their own damaging effects after a while. Far worse than any vitamin or herb in measured amounts. I was made well by natural means – food, vitamins, some herbs, and exercise.
I have been researching EmpowerPlus for my brother, who has Major Depression Disorder. In my research, I found that some who are just beginning the product go through a stage where it actually becomes slightly worse before getting better. This is often called the detoxing stage. It is also usually those who are weaning themselves off their meds, but not limited to this group. Perhaps they needed to start off more slowly or wean more slowly.
It is important when researching anything, that you don’t throw out all the positive merely because of the negative. For instance, when someone went through negative response to a natural product, why did they? Were they weaning themselves off medication? Weaning off meds alone can cause negative responses. Maybe they needed to take lesser doses when experiencing this, and then bring up the dose after a period of time. Not to mention, taking any natural supplement when your body has been toxic from meds and poor diet for so long can have a detoxing effect at first.
I will most likely be buying this supplement for my brother, because any negative side effects comments need to be taken with positive ones, and simply reading internet comments on negative comments cannot take the place of personally trying a product and trying it. I hope my brother will do better. Too many people have been helped. And really, even if a negative effect took place at first, he could lessen the amount and try to take it from there. I mean, really, vitamins are not ‘bad for you’ and don’t cause mania – especially in the amount in the supplement if one took only 4 pills a day instead of the higher dose. And if the herbs are what causes the negative effect, then I can purchase vitamins and amino acids on my own and use smaller amounts than the ones on the label.
As for the legal side of this, the law suit and the ‘Quackwatch’ article, this is the norm for government to blast any natural alternative that makes claims that don’t fall into their guidelines. If you research further, you will see that this was settled, and EmpowerPlus makers were not truly at fault for anything ‘quackish’ or illegal. The ‘Quackwatch’ site is quick to slander many natural nutritional supplements that have health claims. If I trusted everything I read on ‘Quackwatch’, I would not be the picture of health that I am today, and most likely be on several different pharmaceutical drugs, making their wallets fat, and my body sick.
OOps…that’s supposed to read, ‘personally *buying* a product and trying it’. Typo.