Is taking a daily high dose of Fish Oil benificial to someone who is Bipolar?!
Question:
I mean 6000 to 9000 mg per day. Is this safe? What are the benifits?
Answers:
Here's a summary of fish oil research regarding use in mood disorders, updated Jan 2006 .
The article is long, but excellent. In conclusion:
Conclusions (reviewed as of 3/2006; still seem to hold): the evidence is piling up that omega-3 fatty acids do something, at least in some people;
the dose to use is not at all clear, as some studies suggest you can go too high and lose benefits (Nevets, Sagduyu), whereas many of the individual glowing results come with the higher doses;
even at higher doses, the risks seem minimal, and there may actually be additional benefits (on cholesterol, perhaps arthritis);
however, it's a large number of pills, though a minimal-moderate expense;
fish burps can be managed easily
it's not clear how long you have to wait to see benefits, but especially with the smaller doses they may take 1-2 months to show up, so if you take them, prepare yourself for a period of taking a lot of pills with no benefits.
Do I recommend them to my patients? Yes, rather commonly, especially when we're looking for all possible anti-depression tools to use, rather than have to use a typical antidepressant. I still have yet to see a clear-cut stunning improvement like those case reports in the table above, but because the risk appears to be so minimal, in many cases it seems like it's worth a try.
For more on omega-3's generally, here's a 2001 summary, including an extensive explanation of omega-3 physiology. For small details including , pill type, flaxseed oil and any other tidbits I accumulate, here are more of my fish (oil) stories.
Other Answers:
No, there really aren't any benefits at all. That's a wives tale.
Answers: