Okay, so now that we’ve taken away (or at least reduced) alcohol…
What can we have?
Although I’ve found the perfect mixture of supplements and routines to manage my own proclivity to “overdo it” socially, I wasn’t always there. And when I wasn’t, what I did to mitigate the feelings that alcohol felt like they were addressing… was hit the herbal aisle at full tilt. (Send a newly clean bipolar patient, fresh off benzos, in the grip of a manic state off to Wegman’s with a credit card and she’ll leave with every square inch of her trolley Tetris style packed with tea and tinctures.) If you’ve been riding this train with me, you’ve already heard a lot of helpful remedies. You heard about how kava helps you relax and rest. How Suntheanine gives you an upbeat serenity. How Rhodiola Rosea puts a pep in your step. How Holy Basil calms. But what about the absolute basics? I might have done well to put this stop on the bipolar express under my “vitamin deficiencies” post. However, I turned to this product many a night when I was 100% sober, my boyfriend was drinking beer, and I felt a little left out.
It’s called “Calm”…
Fizzy, lemony, fruity… this was perfect.
Whenever I had a craving or missed those little spiked lemonade drinks or bubbly champagnes, this came through for me. Hit the spot. Because it offered my mind a subtle peace and tasted enjoyable, Calm was my perfect equivalent to whatever my partner was enjoying on a Friday night. I’ve never dated someone who was sober – even when I was – so I was always looking for stuff like this to “match the energy” a bit. (Or at least mitigate mine after a long week.) So, to make him (or myself really) feel less alone, I’d pour this magnesium goodness into my champagne glass, hold the stem with pointer and a thumb, and feel like I was wielding a fancy little cocktail.
And, yes, there’s actually a science to it. Magnesium helps relax our muscles. That’s why it imparts such a calming effect. When you think about a depressive or manic episode alike, you might recall the feeling of thoroughgoing tension that grips your body. That’s why it worked so well for me. Half a glass of this goodness, and my upper traps were suddenly no longer seized up or being worn by my sound lobes like earrings. Not a high, really. Not an altered state of consciousness. Just a slight tranquility that took me down a couple clicks. Something that allowed me to sit back, watch a movie with my guy, and wait for him to pass out from one too many Steel Reserves so I could watch what I really wanted to watch. That’s all I needed.
Caveat? Too much magnesium can cause a crucial case of the loose poopies.
So don’t go binging past the suggested amount!
Anyway, I haven’t used this stuff in years, but I give it a 10/10!
And now that we’ve helped ourselves… our next stop is: getting some outside help.
Keep reading to learn how I got my diagnosis – and the help for it.