Recently I had "gone off" my Total Balance Men's and Omega 3/DHA regimen, due to fact that I was working with a local holistic doctor who wanted me to experiment with certain specific amino acids and other supplements he was familiar with (and which he sells at his office). The nutrients included EPA-DHA 6:1 by Metagenics (500mg), Folic Acid 800mcg by Doctor's Pride and TMG 500mg by Life Extension. After approximately 6 weeks of not taking my Total Balance, etc., I dropped into a severe depressive episode that lasted about 10 days, until I borrowed a bottle of Total Balance Women's Plus from a friend of mine who I had previously recommended your products to.

After just one day of taking 6 tablets of the Total Balance the depression diminished dramatically and has not returned in its severe form since! I am still having sleep issues, where I awake after 3-5 hours of sleep, and even though I sometimes fall back to sleep I rarely feel rested when I wake for the day, and I experience "brain fog" and lack of focus throughout the day.

I just received my order from you for Total Balance Men's, Neuro-Natural Sleep and Omega 3/DHA. Clearly there is something in your Total Balance product that is helpful to me in warding off depressive symptoms, yet obviously I still have issues with sleep as well as ADD symptoms.

My question is: given the information I provided above, do you think I should address the sleep issue for a period of time with Neuro-Natural combined with Total Balance and Omega 3/DHA, to determine if the poor sleep is the cause of some of the symptoms I mentioned or should I be adding one of the other Neuro-Natural products as well?

Keep in mind that I have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The type of bipolar disorder I suffer from is slightly unusual in that I never experienced a manic episode until I was treated with SSRI medications (Zoloft), which "shot" me into a prolonged manic experience until the Zoloft was discontinued, whereupon I suffered very severe depression for months.

Approximately 2 years ago I ceased all prescription meds and have remained, until recently, rather stable during that time through supplementation. I discovered Xtend-Life one year ago and have been pleased with the results, especially given the reaction I had when Total Balance was removed from my regimen. I would like to continue experimenting with different protocols until I obtain, with your help, the proper mix for my individual chemistry.

You have provided me feedback recently regarding this topic, but I thought this new info may be interesting/helpful.

Thanks again for everything.

Answer: from Nicolien

Thanks for your email and for sharing your experiences with us. I am glad to hear that Total Balance has been such a great help for you, but am sorry to hear you just had to go through such a difficult period when you discontinued it!

Interestingly we have quite a few people with Bipolar that comment how Total Balance has helped them.

I see that you have already ordered our Neuro-Natural sleep. Try using 3 tablets just prior to going to bed. In addition to this you could also add Neuro-Natural Serenity to your current regime at the rate of 3 tablets a day. It is OK to combine these with your Total Balance.

It may also be beneficial as well for to you to increase your daily dose of the Omega 3/DHA to 4 soft gels a day.