Has anybody seen any improvements with BPD who take OTC mood stabilizers?

[Mrb87]

Has anybody seen any improvements with BPD who take OTC mood stabilizing pills? My BPDbf is a full blown borderline. He believes he has hidden depression and ignores everything else and is scared of seeking help again. The therapist he saw before listed him with all the symptoms of BPD but did not outright say he has BPD to my bf. He has episodes non stop and it's very draining. I was wondering if I could trick him into taking mood stabilizers to make it seem like they were for only his "hidden depression " and get him to normalize some of what going on in his head. Good idea? Or no.

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[Tattered Heart]

I've never heard of any over the counter mood stabilizers. Usually you will need a prescription.

The general consensus is that there are no meds to treat BPD but meds to treat other side symptoms, such as mood swings, depression, anxiety, etc. may help.

Since he saw a T in the past, would he be willing to see one again, perhaps starting out with seeing a T for depression? Does he acknowledge that he has problems?

[Plaidfly]

My partner reacted very well to citalon, he is much more stable than he used to be. Less overreacting.

[isilme]

H used to take St. John's Wort for the depression and anxiety he admits he has, and won't take anything prescription for it.  It helped a bit, even if it was more placebo than full-on effective.  There are also herbal "stress tabs" he's taken at times of high stress that seem to mellow him a bit, and take the edge off.  I feel I should be thankful for his reluctance to rely on prescription meds, as I saw my mother badly abuse all manner of prescribed pills my whole life - she's the definition o an opioid epidemic.

I've also gotten him to drink valerian tea or chamomille at times, or another with rose hips, which all seemed good for relaxing him a bit at night.  He tends to dysregulate before bed, and I am certainly not on my "A-game" at that time, so anything helps.  Also, to treat depression, I try to increase the amount of sunlight he's exposed to (hard in December and January) and get us both to exercise (also hard in December and January), to naturally boost endorphins and serotonin. 

Eating in a timely manner helps, even before we knew he was diabetic - poor nutrition has been mentioned as a moodiness trigger by more than just me on this message board.  Sleep hygiene, and kinda making sure that there is some sort of routine to follow day to day.  Not saying be a drill sergeant, but for your own good, take care of many things like eating, sleeping, and exercising and I find H usually kinda tags along with me for much of it. 

BPD to me is more of a behavioral issue overall.  Many of the "symptoms" or things like depression that coexist can be helped with supplements and / or medication, but improving BPD itself is a lifestyle adjustment.  The depression and anxiety that can help fuel BPD outbursts can be tempered, but the overall BPD is always going to be there, it's an emotional disability. 

[Perdita]

Nothing he takes seems to help. About 3 months ago I got my hopes up when his gp prescribed a new drug. It was going slightly better for a week, but then got much worse. He had three sessions with a psychologist in December. I begged him to see one for years. Yet, it seems that this isn't working out for him either in his view and I doubt he will be returning.

[ortac77]

Hi

ASFAIK there are no medications that specifically help BPD sufferers, there are of course prescription meds that can alleviate any co-morbid symptoms such as anxiety or depression but this really needs psychiatric intervention because many of the drugs have side effects and they need to be administered under controlled conditions.

My partner is on Quietapine, a mood stabiliser - it helps when he takes it correctly (not always!) but being an emotional disorder therapy seems to be the only long term help - and that is not easy DBT can be hard to access and I think is no walk in the park.