In February 2022, I decided I wanted to go off my antidepressants. This is what led me to find the company Truehope and their supplement EMPowerplus. I wish I never had. The direction from the staff at Truehope has damaged my health more than I ever thought possible. I have depression and have been greatly injured by Truehope. This is my story.
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Last time, I discussed the evidence Truehope presented for using its EMPowerplus in depression. You can check out that review here. (I also discussed the Truehope EMPowerplus formulations, their disclaimer, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules around supplements.) Today, I am going to delve into the claims Truehope makes about using EMPowerplus micronutrient formula in bipolar disorder and why the claims made by this company are so dangerous.
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Turmeric (curcumin) may be a new, inexpensive depression and anxiety treatment. It’s early days on this one, but it’s worth noting because it is so available and inexpensive. Here is where the research is on turmeric as a treatment for depression and anxiety.
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Those of you who follow me know that I’m not a big fan of TrueHope/EMPowerplus, in spite of having tried EMPowerplus myself. And one of the things I complained about is the lack of double-blind, controlled studies of the supplement. Well, one scientific study has now been published and I figured I should mention it to be fair. This new study indicates preliminary evidence for Truehope/EMPowerplus (a micronutrient formula) in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
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It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a Truehope/EMPowerplus update. I had planned on more of them, initially, but when nothing major happened, I didn’t have much to report. I have come to some conclusions about my Truehope/EMPowerplus (what is Truehope/EMPowerplus) experience at five weeks, however, so I’ll share them below.
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I was really nervous to have to tell my doctor that I had decided to take the Truehope product EMPowerplus. I was pretty sure he was going to either laugh or chastise me out of his office. My anxiety about it was so bad that I didn’t want to mention it at all. Of course, that would have been a poor decision. Allowing anxiety to override your logic is never the right call.
So I told him and surprisingly, he was nonplussed. He just sort of said, “Alright then.”
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I am now on day 11 of my EMPowerplus experiment and, yes, I have talked to my doctor about it (more on that later). Here’s what I have to report about the EMPowerplus:
(Prereading: What is EMPowerplus by Truehope and Why am I Taking EMPowerplus?)
I’ve ordered EMPowerplus by Truehope now, and so, as a buyer, I know a few things that you can’t find out on their public site.
The experience of buying EMPowerplus is exactly what you would think it would be – you go online and you buy it. There is one difference though, and that difference is that someone calls you to follow-up.
The morning after I ordered the product, the Truehope follow-up person called and started asking me personal questions and confirming information I had already given them. Then she asked my diagnosis. I hesitated as I don’t really think it’s any of her business, but then said, “bipolar.” Then she asked me what medications I was on. I told her I was on several and I didn’t want to enumerate them. She said something along the lines of, “our support staff can’t help you if they don’t have a full picture.” I asked her what her qualifications were to be asking such questions and she said that she simply, “set up the file.” Then I asked her what qualifications those support staff have. She said, “they’re educated on the product.”
In other words, the follow-up person has zero qualifications and the support people who will be counselling you have zero qualifications also. (This is true, by the way, it’s just a call center.) And she wants me to hand over my personal, medical information to these people. I don’t think so.
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(Preread: What is EMPowerplus by Truehope?)
I’m not doing well. I haven’t been doing well for a long time. It’s quite simple really, every day I fight the bipolar and at the moment, the bipolar is winning.
And when this happens I know what I have to do. I know I have to find an effective treatment. In my 15 years of being treated for bipolar disorder, I can tell you what pulls me out of a depression: medication. Nothing else ever has. Ever. I’ve done everything (believe me) and nothing works except finding the right bipolar medication. I know people don’t want to believe this, but it’s true.
But unfortunately for me, we’re out of bipolar meds. My doctor is out of ideas. I have no good ideas either. If I wanted a drug, my doctor would give it to me, but there’s simply nothing to want because there’s nothing with any evidence behind it that I haven’t tried. And there’s no combination (or combination of combinations) that I haven’t been on. Really.
And the other night I was in my apartment, suicidal as you please, and I desperately decided to try this EMPowerplus stuff. Because, according to some anecdotal evidence and case studies, it appears to have worked for a few people.
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