Expert: Jurriaan Plesman, Nutritional Psychotherapist - 2/23/2005

Question
Hello Dr. Plesman.  I have decided today to seek information on the internet, as I am having a decidedly terrible day regarding our daughter , and we are at the very bare beginning of her evaluation by a psychiatrist.  She was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at 14; symptoms became very highlighted at the time due to a move to a new house (only 3.9 miles from the one we had lived in all of her life).  She was put on Prozac but her use of it was sporadic; she began experimenting with drugs at that time also...

Last year we discovered that her use of marijuana had become a daily event...up to six or seven times a day; then came a rehab for teens program, thing improved, but now she is in a relapse prevention program at the same facility because we discovered she was using again, though not at all as much as in the past.

I think I should get to my "question", right?  SOrry...just so much going on.  

18 is about the age when a diagnosis of Bipolar or borderline personality disorder can be made, isn't it?  Can you tell me how long we might expect it to take, the diagnosis?  Our daughter has been failing everyting in school for three years, won't be graduating with her class this year, has 0 self esteem, much anger within, won't let anyone "in" or anywhere near her emotionally, but excels in photography and the school district arranged for her to be placed in another facility that offers a photo program; the decision was made to allow her to just get her GED; that has not happened yet.   I am babbling, I realize that.  It is all so overwhelming.  There are mental health issues on both sides of the family; I think that much of our daughters' behavior indicates a more serious mental health issue than just the depression and anxiety that so many of us are plagued with.

Can you offer me any insight into symptoms that might indicate borderline or bipolar?  I know she is up and down, into and out of things, on a fairly cyclical basis....but she is also a teenage female....it's all so complicated.  And the thought that we are really just beginning a proper investigation into her problems now, at 18, blows my mind and breaks my heart.  This is so hard to live with.

Any input you might have and offer me is so very very much appreciated.

Claudia

Answer
Dear Claudia,

I am not a doctor but a nutritional psychotherapist.

I know as a parent it must be very worrying to have a daughter with emotional problems like your daughter. But we should not look at the worst.

It could be something very simple such as she having a hypoglycemic condition that can be treated by a hypoglycemic diet.

Teenage depression is becoming very common and teenagers try to medicate themselves with drugs, which can lead to stronger drugs and so on.

Of course if she has a depression, than she could not be doing well at school.

Most youngsters with emotional problems like your daughter have been found to be hypoglycemic. This is a sugar handling problem that causes the person to have problems converting sugars found in food into biological energy, on which the brain depends entirely as its only source of energy. Without biological energy the body cannot synthesize the happy hormone and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine.

This condition can be medically tested with a special Glucose Tolerance test for Hypoglycemia as described at our web site at:

http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/testing_hypoglycemia.html

This test is different from the usual test for diabetes, in that it measures the extent of the peaks and falls of blood sugar levels over some four hours.

She can also be tested with a paper-and-pencil test called the NBI at our web site (Search “NBI”)

The hypoglycemic syndrome is due to insulin resistance, that causes ups and down of blood sugar levels in the pre-diabetic stage. Thus they may experience wild mood swings, that is not necessarily bipolar disorder. Even it were diagnosed Bipolar, then the hypoglycemic diet would still be of use in reducing the mood swings.

The unstable blood sugar levels cause the secretion of adrenaline and this could account for her anger outburst and feelings of frustrations with the onslaught of strong emotions for which there is no real environmental cause. It is all generated from within.

You will see if she adopts the hypoglycemic diet to start off with, her mood swings will improve, and she will regain sufficient biological energy to the brain to lead a normal and happy life.

Please read:

“What is Hypoglycemia?”

and then discuss with your doctor. I suggest you ask the doctor to have  GTTH done on your daughter.

Jurriaan Plesman, BA(Psych), Post Grad. Dip. Clin. Nutr.
For more articles see free web site at
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au