What I Want You to Know About Empowerplus Supplements

J. Scott Wilson has introduced me to the fact that Q96 has the Empowerplus capsules that I am taking.  I was searching for a less expensive way to  use this all-natural supplement and I've found it!

His contact Info:

J. Scott Wilson

435-531-9540

www.MyMojoBack.com

Or call The Q Sciences Success Team (385-374-6400)

Some Things I Want You to Know About Q96:

1.  Over a 4 day period I worked my way up to taking 2 capsules at breakfast and 2 at dinner.  Everybody is different.  This is a pretty normal dose though.  I avoided getting a sick stomach by eating a little, taking the capsules and then finished eating.  I was planning on going off of my psychotropic medications so I was advised to take the transitional support as well (basically amino acids to help build up again):  one at breakfast, one at lunch and one at dinner.

2. This product was formulated 18 years ago by Tony Stephan of Canada to help alleviate the symptoms of severe mental illness in his family.  The documentary done by Discovery Channel on Q96 on YouTube is very informative.  Today these capsules are used by thousands of people to help with five things:  coping, calm, clarity, confidence and connection.

3.  This may not work for everyone.  What I told myself when I started this was "natural supplements can't hurt me.  It can only help so it's worth the try."  I started to see my anxiety and panic attacks go away after a week and I'm hoping to see more help over the next year. Others have seen it start to work after a month or 6 months-up to a year.

4.  This is safe for children.  If they can't swallow pills there is a strawberry banana powder to put into smoothies.

5.  Micronutrient Support is a help line that has been in existence in Canada for 18 years and they helped over 100,000 people, safely wean off of their medications.  If you are taking psychotropic medications, do not do this alone or you may experience adverse drug reactions or withdrawal.  You must get help from you doctor or from this support to wean off your meds (866-397-3116 or www.micronutrientsupport.com).  There is a $50/month fee, but most only need the help for one month.

6.  If you'd like to give someone a trial, please share the information I've included here.  If three of them end up buying product, you can get yours for free.  Please take a look around www.MyMojoBack.com for  more information, products, testimonials and there is also business opportunity if you're interested.

7.  If you have any questions about Q96 call Scott.  If you have questions about my own experience than you can contact me or just keep coming back here--there will be updates.  Hoping that someone else out there will find answers!!!

Meds to Supplements?!?!

I've been nonexistent on this blog for a while.  I've decided that once Halloween draws near, a mother's schedule seems to speed up into a bit of a blur.  Thanksgiving is hiding right behind the pumpkins and Christmas carols, lights and lists of giving take over from there.  This is all certainly true for me but this year has been a little different as my anxiety has crept back in as well. I'm not really surprised  because I've been on the same medication/same dose for about a year and a half.

I find it interesting that psychotropic medications help once you get a great balance, but there is always the knowledge that at some point it will probably stop working for some reason or another and it will be time to tweak it a bit or try something new.

So, my husband and I began to pray.  That is always where we turn!  Our Father in Heaven has always lead us in the past and we knew he would again.

I was sort of expecting for guidance at the psychiatrist office; maybe I would receive inspiration on how to describe what I'm now experiencing so my meds could be corrected. But, I kept having the feeling we needed to visit with a friend about some supplements she started having her son take a while back.  The son was diagnosed with Bipolar and after a year of taking these new supplements is a whole new person.  He no longer has that diagnosis. It's been a miracle for them and I've stood on the sideline and watched.  I've seen him transform!

This families experience just kept coming to our mind.  It was no coincidence when my husband happened into their home for something else and found the mother and father there.  He set up a dinner date for the following week and we went.

We picked there brains about this Canadian company called True Hope.  It's been around since 1996 and is also known as Q Sciences.  They sell micronutrient Empower Plus.  These are nutritional supplements packed with a balance of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that our bodies need.  They've been shown to be a mood stabilizer for many people that have psychotropic issues but also just plain out stressed.  What Mother or Father isn't stressed?!?! We knew I needed to try it.  Our only hang up was cost.  It's pretty handy to have insurance pay for Psychiatrist visits and only have copays for medications each month.

In our research and trying to solve our money issue, we came across the fact that True Hope Empower Plus is the exact same as Empower Plus-Q96 supplements.  We figured out a way to get the supplements and support for less money! (still learning more about this...details/links to come)

Can I just tell you right now that after just 7 days of taking these and still on my same medications I began to see a difference.  Remember I said my anxiety and panic attacks were creeping in on me again.  My moods were starting to control my days again.  I was probably feeling the chest tightening, hard to breathe thing a few times a day...having to turn to my Lorazepam (take as needed medication) at least a couple times a week.  In these 7 days,  I could see my panic, tight chest feeling hadn't been there.  I'm floored it began to work so quickly and after questioning the support staff have been told it's not uncommon for people to see results like that in the first 7 days.

The support phone calls that are available when you buy the supplements are helping me go off my medication now.  It's been 2 1/2 weeks and I'm now taking half of the medication that I was when I started.  It's only been 2 1/2 weeks!!!  I haven't really skipped a beat.  I'm feeling much better than I was.  Honestly I kept debating over and over whether I should wait to do this switch until after the holidays and then finally decided that really "it's never a good time" so I jumped in.  I did not expect to keep on with my daily routines as normal for a while.

So, here I am again just sharing a secret that I've literally been lead to.  Let me make clear that taking medications and receiving therapy have been a huge blessing in my life!  They have paid a huge role in leading me down a path of healing and help.  I just want to share the progress and experience I have with learning about a more natural way of receiving help now that I'm at a place that I can actually see through the clouds.  I share all this because it is therapeutic to me to hope that maybe someone else out there may benefit.  As I learn, I'll share many more details here.  Feel free to follow...

Blowing Things Out of Proportion

Absolutely one of the best tools I came out of my therapy with was my "ABCD" cards.  I'm constantly going back to this daily.  Justin is so great at walking me through this too.

One of the tendency's I have is to blow things waaaayyy out of proportion.  Sound familiar?

Then again, maybe it doesn't sound familiar.  Maybe you're like me and had no idea that you were making such a "huge shadow" out of something that was "really so small" or not a big deal at all.

So, I was told to take any situation or any event that I was experiencing or thinking about and write it down.  Especially those events or situations that were bringing on my panic attacks/stress.

I was taught how to check these events and situations for my subjective beliefs and then against the reality in how it really was.

(I would literally carry 3x5 cards around until I had it down)

Let me show you how it works:

A- Activating Event 

(What's going on to stimulate me?)

B- Belief 

(What is my belief about the situation?)

C- Consequence 

(How do I feel?)

D- Dispute the Belief 

(What's reality? What would an outsider with facts say? take away any emotion.)

So, what would said "activating event" be to a mother named Megan?

A- I'm leaving on an over night with my husband and my 2 year old does not fall asleep FOREVER besides waking up ALL night long!

B- My friend won't get any sleep.  She will never ever volunteer to do this again. Their whole family will be interrupted.  My 2 year old is going to be so sad.

C- I'm worried and stressed. I can't even enjoy this overnight.  I'm causing my husband to not enjoy his overnight.

D-My friend could have said no.  There's no school or schedule for this family to be to tomorrow.  They like having a little kid around again.  It's way better for the 2 yr old to have happy parents that get out--without stress!

So, what would said "activating event" be to a women with Anxiety Disorder?

A- Driving to unfamiliar airport alone/brand new parking plan.

B- I'll get lost.  I'll be late. I'll look like a crazy person.

C- I'm sick to my stomach, tight muscles, tense jaw, can't breathe, can't commit to my trip.

D- I can leave early just in case.  It'll be nice to finally figure it out.  No body else cares.  I can drive in circles until I figure it out.

So, what would said "activating event" be to a Special Needs Parent?

A- Sarah's starting to yell at me hysterically.

B- I can't keep her calm.  She's going to be like this the rest of the day.  We're going to be late.  The other kids don't need to listen to this.  The neighbors are going to think we are crazy over here.

C- I'm crazy stressed. My patience is gone.  My heart is pounding and teeth clinching.  If yell maybe it will catch her attention.

D- She'll eventually stop.  She can not control it.  She does not realize what she is doing.  The other kids know she can't control it and if they don't they will understand some day.  My calm will bring her calm.  I will regain control with acting bored and completely untouched.

It's been my experience that practicing this little exercise daily has brought more control and far less anxiety about situations that occur in my everyday life.  I don't need to carry 3x5 cards with me anymore but I promise you that these ABCD's come up all the time between me and my husband.  It's been so helpful to bring those "crazy big shadows" back down into reality of the "small sweet little mice" that they probably are.

Ideas to Calm Your Stress/Anxiety

I wanted to share a few "coping mechanisms" (shall I call it) to manage stress.  I gathered each of these ideas from a doctor and have found them to work wonders!

Magnesium is the secret!  Magnesium is involved in biochemical reactions that keep our bones strong, our hearts healthy and our nervous system functioning like it should.  It's a concern of mine to focus on my nervous system being that I have mental disorders.

Each night before I go to bed I take a Calcium & Magnesium supplement.  I naturally try to eat foods high in calcium and magnesium but this extra supplement before bed calms my mind and my body.

When I've had an extra busy day or an extra busy mind (feeling anxiety or panic setting in) I pull out a drink called "Calm."  You can get it at health food stores or just order it online.  I was nervous to see that it was lemon flavored because when I was super sick with my pregnancy it was "lemon" that got me through.  I avoid lemon now because I can't handle the memories it brings back of that sickness.  I love this drink though!  It really does taste good.  It's sort of like a lemon lime soda.  It has a little fizz to it.

And the last thing I'll share today is "epsom salt baths."  Hello!  It makes so much sense.  Do we not soak sore feet or injuries in this stuff?!?!  Why not our body?  You're supposed to dissolve 2 cups of epsom salt in a full bath tub and use 3 drops of lavender oil or my favorite--rose oil.  Climb in and soak for 20 minutes.

When I use these baths I literally feel a calm come over me from head to toe.  I've used "Lorazepam" medication to stop my panic attacks in the past and these baths give me that same exact feeling.  I'm so happy to have a much more natural way to help.

Hope these little tips help.  They sure have blessed my life!

A Pattern of "Highs" and "Lows"

...continued

I left that office with the red winged back chair.  I had my arms full of reading material and a new prescription but I did not have the same conviction that my doctor did.  I didn't believe that I had Bipolar...yet.

There was temple trips, lots and lots of praying and a plethora of studying going on at our house.  Through my studies I first found a wonderful psychologist (therapist) and then I began to realize the "highs" and also the "lows" in my life that were making me see that this diagnosis was real.

I mentioned in my earlier post very detailed descriptions of the "lows" I was experiencing that sent me to the doctors in the first place.  At that time I did not recognize that I had previously been experiencing many highs that made my body crash into a out right panic attack.  That panic attack sent me into that cycle of "lows."

Hmmm, I was seeing a very real pattern going on.

My "highs" looked something like this (by the way this was all at one time...not kidding):

-walking every morning at 5:00am
-baking bread constantly
-teaching preschool
-I was coming up with numerous ideas as I lay awake at night
-selling Shelf Reliance with 3+ shows a week
-caring for a Special Needs daughter that was starting to hit puberty
-taking care of a 2 year old that was starting to potty train
-throw a 9 year old boy in there that needs to be loved
-I had racing thoughts all day about everything
-supporting my husband that was back at the airlines finally after being laid off but huge pay cut, oh,   and gone 4 days at a time.
-teaching piano lessons to 12 students every week
-ward music leader
-visiting teacher (serving and caring for a couple different women)
-following a cleaning schedule every day to the T!  (my house was soooo clean)
-laundry was always done
-dishes were always done
-feeding the missionaries dinner probably weekly
-mowing the lawn
-homemade dinner was always on the table
-keeping up a personal blog
-keeping up a cooking a Shelf Reliance Preparedness Blog
-taking sales calls daily
-listening to conference calls weekly and training team members to do what I did
-reading my Sunday school lessons on time every week
-reading scriptures every day
-clothes were laid out for school every week at a time
-had creative and different school lunches for the kids everyday
-then my high continued into the summer as well...yup...did all this with the kids home!!!

Doesn't that all sound so wonderful?  It was!  I was loving it!  I was feeling "on top of the world."  I said those exact words to my doctor I'll have you know.  Then I told him how frustrated I was that all the sudden I couldn't do any of it anymore.  My chest was tight all the time.  I couldn't breathe and all of this stopped!  I didn't like it all!  My home was running like a very well oiled machine and now it's out of control.

So, when I began to put this all together and realize I really had just come out of a few months of being in a Manic or High Cycle to then a Depressive or Low Cycle that was lasting more than a month at that time I questioned my history.  I wanted to look back in my life to see if there was a pattern.

I realized in some of my reading material I was given that, my doctor had been trying to tell me that another sign of Bipolar was my "baby blues" that I had experienced after my babies were born.

Sure enough, I popped open my journals and began to remember...

Back in 2002 when my Sarah was born, it was an emotional roller coaster for sure.  We almost lost her to death multiple times and we were just trying to keep her alive on top of learning to be a first time parents.  I really truly just hung on by my finger tips.  I floated through that year on my FAITH!

Then I got pregnant with Spencer when she was 15 months old and was told He may not make it to term, and if he did, wouldn't survive more than a few hours.  He had cysts on his brain that lead to another one of those genetic disorders that we were already way too familiar with from our still very sick daughter.  Once again, I hung on by my finger tips and floated through with my FAITH!

He was born and strong as ever!  It was a miracle!  I bounced back wonderfully after his birth.  Until he hit 4 months old I was running all over the place and making amazing strides with Sarah's health and accomplishing all kinds of good.  Well, at about that 4 month period, I remember sitting there staring at Spencer wondering "what have we done?"  He would wake every 2 hours at night and scream.  I went through a depressive state that I now recognize as such from journal entries.

When Spencer was a year old, I could see that a Manic or High cycle hit me again.  I started working out at the gym every day.  We moved form one city to a neighboring one and I did it pretty much all by myself while Justin was working and studying.  I saw many of the "highs" that I mentioned above in this time.

Then we made a large move across states due to Justin being hired on at the airlines FINALLY!  It was a huge change and soooo welcome.  A couple months after our move I had a miscarriage.  Right away I think I was handling it quite well.  I bounced back to what you might call a "high" until months later when I still couldn't get pregnant and I could see a "low" or depressive state set in for a while.

The first real noticeable "low" or depressive cycle that was noticeable to others was after my Allison was born in 2009.  It was another battle through lots of pregnancy sickness followed by 3 months of complete bed rest!  Seriously!  I emotionally did really well through all of that and then just like before I bounced out of bed after that baby was born and all those "highs" from above came back.

Then just like before, when Allison hit 4 months old was that noticeable "low." That one that sent me into my Bishop for the first time.  That one that sent me into my OBGYN begging for help.  That one that made me swallow the first medication I had ever tried.  I took it until Allison was a year old and then I slowly took myself off it.

And that took me up to my "highs" in the summer of 2011.  That landed me at my Panic Attack and then to that moment that I was sitting in my bedroom searching my journals trying to remember and trying to put patterns together as I was in and out of my therapists' office with this new diagnosis of Bipolar.

I had my answer.  It came to me through study but mostly a very soft, peaceful, confirming feeling from my Heavenly Father that I could feel from my head clear down to my toes.  I had Bipolar and Anxiety Disorder.  I had a doctor and a therapist that I was clearly led to.  I had a husband that loved me "no matter what."  I had a Bishop that was leading and guiding and teaching me that I needed to fix what was broken.  I had parents and in-laws that were flying out to help me.  I had dear friends that were watching children and such.

I knew as do the psychiatrists and psychologists that my set of symptoms that were present in clusters were lasting for a certain length of time, and were "episodes" that literally had a beginning phase, a middle "worst" phase, and a recovery phase.  I knew that I needed an antidepressant and a mood stabilizer medication at the right dosage for me.  I knew I also needed help with sorting things out in my mind and tools to help me and my family.

I was learning that this was a life long journey for me.

I was having a HEART ATTACK

Just over two years ago, I was standing in the kitchen with my husband, Justin.  We were trying to get dinner on the table, the kids were loud, Sarah was doing her "woodpecker thing" she does, homework was dangling, piano lessons had just finished up for me.  I kept saying to Justin that "I can't breathe."  I just kept saying it over and over and the only relief would come when I would literally bend over and hang my head upside down.  I seriously thought I was having a heart attack after a while.

Justin was wise and took me straight to the doctor.  

I was feeling so frustrated that the doctor wasn't checking my heart out...not even listening to it.  He was just sittin there on that little rolly stool thing and kept asking me questions.  I was so frustrated!

Then all the sudden the doctor starts to tell me that I just experienced a Panic Attack.

"What?  A What? Huh?"  I kept thinking--"uh, no I'm not.  I'm not stressed!"

Then he starts to say that I need to take it easy and stop doing so much and that I probably need to start some medication.

"Oh my heavens!  Seriously?!?!"

A flood gate of thoughts was pouring all over in my head at this point.  I did not need medication.  I just came here because I can't breathe!  My heart has always had some funny little skip to it...it's gotta be that.  I hate medication.  I have my life completely under control.  I just need to exercise more.  I really need to just eat better.  The one time I was on medication was from the baby blue stuff when Allison was born.  That was two years ago. I hated it!  I got myself off it and never need to go back there again!  I am way too strong for that.  Nope...Heavenly Father will help me...I know it!

Well, folks.  I'm so glad that I have a very wise husband that he just got me calmed down (he does that so well) and let me know we can just give it a try and go from there.  We did just that.  I battled over and over about that MEDICATION!!!  I questioned and questioned and questioned what I was doing.  I promised my smart husband though that I would do it.

This day that I'm talking about is where my diagnosis story begins.  I will never ever forget it!  My body just couldn't take it anymore and I like to think that this was my body telling me that it had had enough. It was time to change!

I like this quote by President Thomas S. Monson:

"Throughout our lives, we must deal with change.  Some changes are welcome; some are not.  There are changes in our lives which are sudden...."

I was determined to make this sudden change that came upon me something that was welcome because on that day it was not feeling very welcome at all!

I guess this face is how I felt about that change at that moment?!?!

I Beg for "NO Judgement!"

I plead with you to set aside all judgements.  I warn you that I have prayed long and hard about the things I write here.  As I sat a couple of weeks ago and watched Jeffery R. Holland give a talk called "Like a Broken Vessel" (it seemed like to just me), I knew it was time.  I must begin to write.

There are some challenges and trials that I have been blessed with.  I say "blessed" because I mean just that.  My challenges and trials have become prized possessions to me that make me who I am today at this very moment.  Each time I experience one of these trials/challenges I consider myself to be just a little more empathetic, a little more less judgmental or a little more able to have charitable or christlike love for others around me.

I was diagnosed with a soft form of bipolar and anxiety disorder almost exactly 2 years ago!  There!  I wrote it and I'm about to send it out to whoever reads it.  Until now, I have shared every second of this with my husband, a little less with my family, a little less than that with a select few friends and been closed about this to so many others.

I must say that when I do open my mouth and share I'm always surprised to find others going through similar things.  I've learned that it's very therapeutic to me when I'm sharing these challenges with others and very uplifting to me to feel like I'm actually helping someone else because of my own suffering and learning.

I feel like Elder Holland gave me permission to have "no more shame in acknowledging" this bipolar and anxiety as "realities of mortal life."  He said that there is no shame in speaking of "high blood pressure" or in speaking of "the sudden appearance of a malignant tumor."

I also feel like Elder Holland shouted from the roof tops for me--he said that those "discouraging moments" we all have  with the ups and downs that life just brings is not the mental problems that I am dealing with.  He put words in my mouth to help me describe these trials..."an affliction so severe that it significantly restricts (my) ability to function fully."  My "crater in the mind" as he describes it is "so deep that no one can responsibly suggest it would surely go away if (I) would just square (my) shoulders and think more positively!"

Just as I have found others that I look up to that go through these same battles, Elder Holland highlighted even more people that I look up to for their faith and leadership that have had depression or similar issues (including himself).  I felt normal.  I felt validated. I felt just as good as those people are when he spoke that conference day!

When he laid out the things we should do in this situation I had the realization that everything he suggested, I mean EVERTYTHING he said, I was led to do.  I testify that my Heavenly Father, your Heavenly Father too, led me gently down this same path he spoke of.  Let me just highlight what he said:

           He said to "never lose faith."  I always knew every second that My Heavenly Father loved me.    I never forgot for one second my testimony of all thats true!  

           He said to "faithfully pursue the time-tested devotional practices that bring the Spirit of the Lord."  Even though I didn't always feel the peace I sought for, I promise you that I always read my scriptures, said my prayers, sang hymns and went to church.  Always!  I did just as he said...devotional practices that I had practiced my whole life...so glad it was a habit already.

           He said to "seek the counsel of those who hold keys for your spiritual well-being."  I wont go completely into it but the day I was diagnosed, my husband had to leave on a flight for work.  I was left in my puddle of tears on the couch when I heard a knock on the door.  Now, I'll write about this more soon but one of the things I just could not do at this time was open a door to anyone.  It didn't matter who it was.  Somewhere I mustered the strength to open the door to my Bishop that day.  I kid you not, my Bishop was standing there, on my porch.  It was the middle of the day and the middle of the week.  He was led there.  He was sent by pure inspiration.  That gave me that opportunity I needed to "seek his counsel!"

           Elder Holland spoke of "cherishing priesthood blessings."  I did just that--sometimes from Justin, sometimes from home teachers, once or twice from my own father.  

           I loved when Elder Holland said flat out "slow down, rest up, replenish and refill."  I was able to do these things through the "advice" I sought from a "certified trainer" that in Elder Hollands words had "professional skills and good values."

I'll end tonight with one of my favorite lines from Elder Hollands talk..."If you had appendicitis, God would expect you to seek a priesthood blessing AND get the best medical care available."

So, this isn't all that I know I need or want to share.  It's just the beginning.  Keep visiting here as I unfold experiences and lessons learned.  I sincerely pray that as there is "no judgements" placed here that complete compassion will be felt for each other.