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Newsletter June 22, 2010 The following drugs are
classified as a mood stabilizer: Valproic acid (Depakote), Lamictal, Tegretol,
Gabapentin, Topamax, and Lithium.
For the past decade I have looked for
effective ways to taper off the medications listed above as well as a withdrawal
program for common street drugs, such as, opiates, cocaine, heroin, alcohol,
methamphetamines, morphine and marijuana.
During the past decade, I have researched and
offered advice on how to lose antidepressant induced weight gain. The success
rate for weight loss with my prior recommendations was successful for a high
percentage of people, but did not meet the success rate I was proud of. I was
heading in the right direction with my recommendations for weight loss, but was
missing the specific reason of the weight gain.
A few months ago, I uncovered a clinical study
conducted by a mental health facility in Israel that opened the floodgates with
new information. Just calling this “new information” is probably the biggest
understatement of my life.
I will address each of the separate topics
above in order, but first I want to give a little background on how all of this
came about.
While looking for an exact cause of
antidepressant induced weight gain I found the clinical study from Israel. The
clinical study is titled, Antidepressants induce cellular insulin resistance by
activation of IRS-1 kinases. This study shows the EXACT cause of antidepressant
induced weight gain in detail! People with weight gain due to the
antidepressants now have a real solution and a solution that is backed by
clinical studies that confirm the cause. The only answer needed after the Israel
study was how to reverse the weight gain effect caused by an antidepressant.
That solution has now been found as well.
In the Israel study, it discloses why
antidepressants cause weight gain. The reason: antidepressants activate a gene
that is called JNK. From there I researched the JNK gene and weight gain and
found a clinical study conducted by Harvard University in 2002 that gave
specific data regarding the over activation of the JNK gene and weight gain as
well as for obesity. Further research found a multitude of clinical studies
confirming the over activation of the JNK gene is what happens BEFORE weight
gain starts.
With the startling information now at hand, I
knew it would only be a matter of time before a drug company made a weight loss
drug that would help stop the over activation of the JNK gene. A rather large
pharmaceutical company has just started phase II clinical trials on a new drug
for weight loss and their claim of success for the new drug is reducing the
activation of the JNK gene. You will see this drug and several new drugs
approved in the next decade for a wide range of conditions and the action of the
drugs will be to help reduce the activation of this JNK gene. This same
pharmaceutical company has 15 additional method of use patents for a JNK drug.
Further research on the JNK gene has led to
amazing additional discoveries.
The mood stabilizers mentioned above, all have
as their intended goal to reduce the over activation of the JNK gene. Lithium
has always been a drug with limited withdrawal success, but at this point in
time, with using the data available on the JNK gene and how to naturally reduce
the activation of the JNK gene, mood stabilizers can now be reduced with
success.
The common street drugs mentioned earlier all
stimulate the activity of the JNK gene and that stimulation of the JNK gene is
the real cause of the ill effects from these drugs. With the activation of the
JNK gene, the chemical toxins from drugs are able to enter the brain. One
clinical study on cocaine shows once the activation of the JNK gene takes place
by cocaine the negative behavioral changes take place, but not before the
activation of this gene.
Heavy metals create an over activation of the
JNK gene. If you are a healthcare provider receiving this newsletter, before you
start the next heavy metal detox on a patient, try giving your patient
supplements that will help stop the over activation of the JNK gene and see if
the time required to remove the heavy metals is not reduced drastically. You can
isolate the heavy metals and stop the continual flow into the brain of heavy
metals. You can then isolate and stop the continued flow of the toxins.
From 1999 to 2006, I was focused on the
antioxidant glutathione and the role it plays with detoxification. Again, I was
heading in the right direction, but missed the mark nonetheless. Until the JNK
gene activity is reduced, of course glutathione levels will be low in the cells
of the body. Supplementing with glutathione products was a bandage at best.
When a person has an over activated JNK gene
the hormone estrogen will drop drastically.
For the past decade, I have been stumped, just
the same as every doctor I have spoken with regarding bipolar. How does bipolar
start, and seemingly overnight for most people? Why the manic phase and then a
depression phase? What was happening?
One thing that clinical studies have
determined, a person with bipolar going through the manic phase will have high
levels of an immune system substance called Interleukin-2. All clinical studies
have shown the high Interleukin-2 with mania. During the depression phase, the
bipolar will have high levels of an inflammatory marker called Interleukin-6.
When Interleukin-2 levels go too high it will also make Interleukin-6 levels
high.
What has been the stumbling block for the past
decade was how to safely and naturally lower Interleukin-2 levels. Finding the
data on the JNK gene has answered the high Interleukin-2 question. An over
active JNK gene will lead to high Interleukin-2 levels. Bipolar patients will
also have high oxidative stress in the brain. An over activated JNK gene will
cause high oxidative stress.
If you take your time and read the information
in this newsletter, you will realize what I meant with “new information” being
an understatement.
If you are taking any medication I suggest you
print off this newsletter and take it to the prescribing physician. If they have
never heard of the JNK gene, they can go to
www.pubmed.gov, which list 13,962 clinical studies on the JNK gene as of
June 2010. The data is available and it is time for the data to be used.
A Natural Solution to Reduce the Activation of the JNK Gene
As mentioned earlier, I have found how to
naturally reduce the over activation of the JNK gene. The natural means is with
select supplements as well as with some foods and spices.
To learn more and how to reduce the over
activation of the JNK gene,
click here and you
will be taken to the Weight Loss page on The Road Back site. There is additional
information on weight loss on that page as well as a link regarding the
supplements that have been clinically tested to help stop the over expression of
the JNK gene.
Please fully read the disclaimer below.
The text and information in this newsletter is
for informational purposes only and is not intended to treat, prevent, cure or
diagnose any illness or disease. To further clarify this statement, if a person
that is diagnosed with bipolar disorder does something natural that will reduce
the over activation of the JNK gene and they no longer have the symptoms of
bipolar, they never really had a disease or illness. They just needed to reduce
the activation of the JNK gene. The same would be the case if a person was
diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorder, ADHD etc, and they reduced the
activation of the JNK gene and they felt completely better, the only problem
they had was the JNK gene was over stimulated.
My best to you all,
Jim Harper
This newsletter comes with a warm smile on my
face for people taking a benzodiazepine or anticonvulsant. More relief from side
effects is possible!
As stated in the book, How to Get Off Psychiatric
Drugs Safely, this program is a work in progress, and I do hope it remains that
way.
Before sharing with all of
you the recent breakthrough with benzodiazepines and anticonvulsants, I want to
go back to 1999 and work forward to the existing program. If you want to skip
all of this and go directly to the break through, move down the page until you
see June 30
2009.
At the end of the newsletter, I answer the
question received a lot, “Do I Need to Take All of the Supplements?”
In 1999, it was evident a tapering program needed
to be developed for psychoactive medications and NONE were in existence at that
time.
How This
All Started
In early 1999, I was talking with my wife and the
subject turned to ADHD and Ritalin for some reason. My family and I had never
been exposed to psychoactive medication. My wife mentioned in our conversation
that in 10 states here in America, if a teacher felt your child had ADHD and
wanted your child put on Ritalin, if you refused as a parent to allow this, the
state could come into your home and take away your child and charge the parents
with child neglect.
I looked at her and said “no way, not in
America.” I went on the Internet and found the laws that were in place in those
states and was shocked. I have children and at the time a child about to enter
grade school, so it hit me between the eyes rather hard.
I felt I needed to do something about this, but
did not have a clue where to start. I felt if I did not know this there had to
be millions of parents just like me that were in the dark.
I decided to learn how to make a web site and
just put information on it that I was finding. In the next few months the search
engines found my site attractive I guess because the site was now at the top of
the first page when anyone did a search on a drug name. Emails began to pour in.
Thousands a day at times.
Most people were in need of help to get off the
drugs and stated, “they wished they knew this information before they went on
the drug but how do I get off this stuff.” I sent some e-mails to physicians as
well as some telephone calls to a few I had met over the years but I kept
researching. This turned into a 14 hour a day project.
By the time the physicians responded to my
request with what they would do to get a person off a psychoactive medication, I
had educated myself at least to the point of knowing what to not do. I found all
of the physicians were creating more harm than help with their approach and sent
them a reply back that I could not link to their site and detailed why. All of
the physicians responded back one more time with, ”My God, you are right.”
I could not turn my back on what I knew needed to
be done for people wanting to get off their medication. Believe me, I would have
preferred to play golf or go fishing but for whatever reason I stayed at trying
to unravel this jigsaw puzzle.
Sequence of events:
1999
A gradual reduction of medications was laid out
to allow a 10% reduction of the medication. Reductions were every 14 days.
With this approach, around ½ of the people we
worked with could get off the medication but they suffered tremendously. The ½
that could not get off the medication suffered each time they tried to lower the
dosage and eventually had to go back up to their original dosage.
It was very evident something else needed to be
tried.
2000
We began using a whey protein called Immunocal in
an attempt to reduce side effects before a person began lowering their
medication. Immunocal was used during the medication reduction as well to help
with any withdrawal side effects.
Immunocal raises an antioxidant called
glutathione. The success rate was better than nothing but limited and very
specific to a certain class of drug and to an exact set of side effects.
2001
During 2001, we tried a different whey protein
that was stronger than Immunocal, but the taste left a little to be desired and it
was actually too strong for this usage.
Omega 3 fish oil was introduced to the program as
well in 2001. At that time the fish oil was recommended for help with depression,
but not brain zaps as it was in a later year.
I began researching the ability to predict
adverse reactions using a DNA test.
2002
This year was spent doing DNA research.
2003
I had the opportunity to meet with an attorney
and his client a few weeks before they went to trial against Eli Lilly with a
Prozac case. The attorney was handed a packet of information regarding human DNA
and the ability to predict adverse reactions to psychoactive medication.
When this DNA evidence was introduced in court,
the Eli Lilly attorneys instantly asked to meet the judge in his chambers and
they settled on the spot. The next day the attorney filed several new lawsuits
with DNA and the prediction of adverse reactions as the claim.
2004
I wanted more information on DNA drug reaction
testing and I wanted to see if there was a use for the test results. Were they
of use for tapering off the drugs?
I started a DNA testing company called Advanced
DNA Testing and began offering a DNA drug reaction test. This test is excellent
to do BEFORE taking a medication but it gave zero help with a tapering program.
I then moved to doing a different DNA test to see
how well the population at large could assimilate nutrients from their food as
well as vitamins. This widely opened the door for future changes with the
tapering program and with this new information, the success rate of people
trying to get off their medication began to finally climb.
The use of young green barley juice, along with a
powdered carrot juice and an additional barley called Aktivated Barley was
introduced to the program. The success rate of the program began to climb even
further.
The young green barley with the other mixture
included would also help the body make glutathione. The Immunocal recommendation
was dropped at this time.
The current Body Calm liquid was introduced in
2004 as well to assist with daytime anxiety and sleep. Up until our use of the
liquid cherry product for anxiety and sleep, no one else had ever used it for
this. This cherry was only used by physicians for treating gout.
A specific type of Omega 3 fish oil was
introduced this year as well. The need for a fish oil that is higher in EPA than
DHA was determined and once introduced, the success rate made another nice
increase.
The year 2004 ended with an acknowledgement of
sort from the acting head of the FDA. He gave a press release and stated his
recommendation that physicians begin giving a DNA drug reaction test before they
prescribe heart medication, cancer medication or psychoactive medication.
2005
This was the first year of training physicians
and psychiatrists how to get patients off psychoactive medication and how to use
DNA testing in their practice.
To make it easier for people to use the barley’s
and the carrot, reduce the cost and to standardize the formula, Power Barley
Formula was created.
At the urging of a few people I quickly put a
paperback book together and self published. My own feeling is the book left a
lot out of the content and should never have been published.
During 2005, I also began training other
individuals or companies how to use the program.
2005 was a rather distracting year altogether and
little progress was made with improvement of the program. Some of the people I
trained broke a signed non-disclosure agreement and took parts of what I was
currently doing and what I had used in the past and created their own tapering
program.
The problem they have to this date is they only
heard the good things I had to say about the whey protein Immunocal. I never
told them what they needed to watch out for.
So, in your travels on the Internet, if you run
into some psychoactive medication tapering program that uses Immunocal, a cherry
product for anxiety or sleep, an Omega 3 fish oil, glutathione or a DNA drug
reaction test, you found them!
I received a Christmas gift from the FDA on
Christmas Eve. The FDA announced any company that manufactured a barley product
that was high enough in soluble fiber could make a health claim that it would
help prevent heart disease. If this product would not have been formulated as it
was the fiber would have been too low to qualify. At that time in 2005, I was
the only one with a barley product that could make the health claim.
I knew the Power Barley Formula would also be
good for the heart but I did not know how much benefit.
2006
Additional advances needed to be made for people
with daytime anxiety and insomnia. The liquid cherry had worked better than
expected for this but there was still a lot of room for improvement. I had a
powered cherry extract made and sent it to a doctor to use with some of his
patients. The doctor called me in a few days with staggering results. The
product is called Body Calm.
The patients he could never quite get over the
hump now had no anxiety and their sleep improved dramatically. Some of the
patients responded to 1 capsule, while a few others required 3 capsules for
complete relief.
Essential Protein Formula came as a big surprise
for me with its effect on anxiety and insomnia. The product was originally
formulated for weight loss. Many people taking an antidepressant begin to gain
weight overnight and I wanted to find a solution for this.
People taking the Essential Protein Formula began
stating their daytime anxiety improved and their sleep improved as well once
they started to use the Essential Protein Formula. People taking a
benzodiazepine are so sensitive to things I felt this might really work for
them. It proved to be the case as well for people taking an antidepressant
or antipsychotic.
During 2006, I began writing How to Get Off
Psychiatric Drugs Safely and every time I was nearing completion a new discovery
was made and the book would go back to square one again.
2007
Body Calm Supreme was introduced in 2007 for
additional help with daytime anxiety and insomnia. I found clinical trials where
a specific herb, passionflower, was used successfully for benzodiazepine
withdrawal as well as for alcohol and other drugs. I formulated a passionflower
to closely match the type used in the clinical trials and began trying it with
people that were still having a difficult time with side effects.
The positive results were over night and shortly
thereafter, the Body Calm Supreme became part of the program.
A major U.S. university began using the existing
book, How to Get Off Psychiatric Drugs Safely, as part of their doctoral program
for pharmacists.
2008
By the spring of this year, more of a separation
took place between the pre-tapers used if a person had anxiety or fatigue as a
main issue.
Knowing the specific success I had with Immunocal
years earlier, I added a product called RenewPro to the program if a person has
anxiety or insomnia. RenewPro helps create intracellular glutathione naturally
and is a whey concentrate, not a whey isolate. I found the successful clinical
trials run with Immunocal were with a whey concentrate but Immunocal is now a
whey isolate. Difference of night and day.
Calcium has been a continual problem with people
with anxiety. I first discovered in 2005, by process of elimination, that
calcium was aggravating the anxiety in people, especially if they were taking a
benzodiazepine.
I finally located which cells in the brain were
creating the problem and created a calcium, magnesium and vitamin D3 that would
relieve the stored calcium creating the problem. I now have a method of use
patent for this and the calcium product made is called CalesiumD. Calcium was
not the problem but the type of calcium used as well as the percentage of
magnesium and D3 is all that needed to be formulated.
Don’t let anyone tell you all calcium creates
anxiety and you can’t use it. They just do not understand what is happened
within the body.
To further assist with calcium absorption, a
product called Calsorption was introduced. This product will help with calcium
absorption by as much as 28%.
With the discovery of Interleukin-2 and
Interleukin-6, the tapering program made further advances. Interleukin-2 is a
protein found in the immune system and this Interleukin-2, if too low will
induce anxiety and insomnia.
Interleukin-6 is a marker for inflammation in the
body. If Interleukin-6 is too high a person WILL begin to have depression.
Figuring out how to lower and or raise these
Interleukins with people using psychoactive medication resulted in another
method of use patent.
Beta 1, 3-D Glucan was introduced to raise
Interleukin-2.
CLA and a specific blend of a probiotic was
introduced to help lower Interleukin-6.
To get the full effect from the RenewPro a
vitamin C and vitamin E needed to be used. A natural vitamin C was introduced as
well as a vitamin E. We had recommended people use a vitamin E for years but it
was not until 2008 that we really defined what vitamin E to use. It seems
vitamin E is often viewed as just some vitamin and vitamin E is just vitamin E.
I was wrong. The brand we only recommend for vitamin E is Unique E.
2009
The fourth edition of How to Get Off Psychiatric
Drugs Safely has finally been published and has been available on Amazon.com. An agreement has been signed recently with a major book
distributor and all books will be available in major bookstores within the next
60 days. They also will provide the books throughout Europe in various
languages.
I released a weight loss book titled, Lose the
Weight Caused by Antidepressants the middle of June. A bit of my research during
the early part of 2009 has been in this area. Much to my surprise, this little
52-page book now outsells The South Beach Diet, Kevin Truedeau’s weight loss
book and nearly all other weight loss books on Amazon.com and the Target store.
June 30 2009
I feel this next break though is of the same
degree with the introduction of Body Calm Supreme for anxiety and insomnia, if
not more.
If someone is taking a benzodiazepine or anticonvulsant
medication, his or her body will be grossly depleted of a B vitamin called
Biotin. A multitude of clinical trials confirms
this. Biotin is known as vitamin H and as vitamin B7. Unlike some other B
vitamins, biotin does not create anxiety or hyperness. It is rare for a person
to be deficient in biotin normally but that is not the case if long-term use of
an anticonvulsant or benzodiazepine is the case.
Your physician can do a blood test for biotin
levels as well as check the level of organic acids excreted to confirm the
deficiency.
Symptoms of biotin deficiency:
Pain or tingling in extremities
Appetite decreased
Hair loss
Absence or loss of pigment in hair
Fatty liver
Kidney problems
Skin rash
Seizures
Depression
Scaly red rash around nose or eyes
Fatigue
Hallucinations
Problem with insulin
We have been using biotin now with people for the
past few months that are or were taking a benzodiazepine or anticonvulsant and
the fast results have been staggering.
How Much Biotin to Take
There are no know side effects to biotin and if
your body receives more than it needs it will just eliminate any excess.
We have started everyone at 5,000 mcg in the
morning and after 3 days if no major change or only a slight improvement
increased the biotin to 5,000 mcg in the morning and 5,000 mcg in the afternoon.
Increases by an additional 5,000 mcg have been
beneficial to get rid of the last bit of what a person was feeling. We have had
people take as much as 20,000 mcg in the morning and 20,000 mcg in the afternoon
with no side effects and only positive results.
Again, relief from what was going on with the
people was very fast. I want to make a statement here to ensure there is no
confusion that we are treating or curing a disease. If a person takes biotin and
feels better after they do, they were only low in biotin, no disease or illness
could have been present.
As always we strive to only
recommend quality nutritional products. We have had a biotin made at a facility
that is approved to manufacture drugs by the FDA if they chose to do so (they do
not), the facility is regularly inspected by an independent 3rd
party to ensure they maintain Good Manufacturing Practices and they have also
achieved the high standard of ISO 9000 certification and are approved in Europe.
The facility is in the United States and is licensed by the state of California.
TRB Health carries the biotin recommended. You
can
click here and go directly to the biotin page on their site.
Notice: Using biotin as
described, along with an anticonvulsant or benzodiazepine or after
discontinuation of an anticonvulsant or benzodiazepine is a patent pending
method of use. Physicians or other providers must sign a licensing agreement
before using.
Do I Need
to Take All of the Supplements?
No you do not.
The full line of supplements in this program were
included to handle specific side effects that may take place when tapering off
psychoactive medication. As you read through the last 10 years of this program,
you will notice not all supplements were used throughout. We are trying to
continually increase the success rate and have as a major goal to develop a
program that will eliminate and or stop all side effects from ever occurring.
The inclusion of biotin as well as the other supplements leads to that goal.
If budget is a problem, I recommend:
You would take the supplements suggested below
exactly as it reads in How to Get Off Psychiatric Drugs Safely.
Benzodiazepines – Biotin, Body Calm, Beta 1, 3-D
Glucan and Body Calm Supreme. Anxiety, insomnia and many of the effects
associated with being deficient in biotin will probably be your main concerns.
Adding the probiotic Supreme will be a good idea if in your budget.
Antidepressants (with anxiety insomnia)- Body
Calm, Body Calm Supreme, Beta 1, 3-D Glucan, Probiotic Supreme and Essential
Protein Formula. Before you start to lower the antidepressant you will need the
Omega 3 Supreme and Unique E.
Antidepressants (with fatigue) – Power Barley
Formula, Omega 3 Supreme and Unique E.
Antipsychotics – Body Calm, Body Calm Supreme,
Essential Protein Formula. If you have anxiety and or insomnia add the Beta 1,
3-D Glucan.
My best to you all,
Jim Harper
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