From a young age, Kolbe had lived with severe mental health challenges, including intense episode of violence. Despite moving from one medication to another through 2 dozen medications, nothing controlled his rage and tantrums significantly. That is until Truehope. EMPowerplus has changed Kolbe’s life and the lives of all those around him.
I’d like to tell you a bit about our family struggle with mental illness, specifically with my eighth child, Kolbe. Mental health issues run in our family and extended family. My husband and I have 9 children, and Kolbe has by far been our most difficult challenge up to this point.
When Kolbe was born, he was very, very fussy. He was colicky and cried virtually all the time. By the time he could stand, he often stood screaming and slapping his thighs. He hardly smiled during his first year of life, only laughing out loud a couple of times during that entire year. By 18 months, he had tantrums that could last up to 3 hours. These were extremely violent in nature, with him constantly banging his head on the wall and slapping his thighs until they were bright red. He was able to pick up furniture, tables, and chairs and throw them across the room with great strength. Other than crying and screaming, he was nonverbal, indicating a speech delay. Kolbe’s aggressive behavior escalated as months passed.
Shortly before his 3rd birthday, he developed grand mal seizures, which led to hospitalization. Kolbe’s doctor placed him on Dilantin, to which he had an allergic reaction and soon placed him on Depakote, which controlled the seizures and helped him with his mood. The rages were shortened in duration and not quite as violent. At age 3, he began to see a counselor and a psychiatrist for behavior management and diagnosis. Kolbe’s diagnoses were anxiety disorder, ADHD, OCD, bipolar (not otherwise specified), and ODD.
Over the next 4 years, Kolbe’s psychiatrist treated him with 24 different psychotropic drugs for these various diagnoses, none of which really kept him under control. At age 7, he was doing poorly in school and had developed tremors and ticks. His symptoms worsened with no help from the meds. It was so severe that he was physically hurting himself, scratching himself, and drawing blood. Even adults had difficulty trying to restrain him during his violent rages, due to his incredible strength. He was constantly breaking furniture and toys. People trying to restrain him were injured by his kicking, clawing, and hitting or by something he threw at them. When placed in his room, he often broke his toys and furniture. Once he shredded his door into hundreds of pieces of wood with his bare hands and feet.
After that episode, he was hospitalized at the state psychiatric hospital for children, where he was kept for 10 days, then released with med changes. A few weeks later, he returned to the hospital for a second time. He stayed only a few days, then returned home. At home, he remained very violent to himself, to others, and to property. Kolbe acted so unsafe and out of control in the car one time that he was brought directly to the emergency room. A male doctor, male nurse, and female nurse were unable to restrain him. They had to give him Haldol to keep from being injured and to calm him. This led to his third admission to the psychiatric hospital where he stayed for 3 weeks. He returned home and his behavior was somewhat better, but he was still a very sick boy. School started soon after he returned home, but he had a very difficult time. For the first time ever, Kolbe’s school staff started seeing signs of his violence and anger. One of the teachers couldn’t handle teaching him anymore, so he was then home schooled for the rest of the school year.
In May of 2008, we were introduced to a nutritional supplement for people with mental health issues sold by a company called Truehope. This supplement was EMPowerplus. After much consultation, apprehension, and prayer, we decided to switch Kolbe from his current medications to this amazing natural supplement.
Support personnel were available by phone daily, whenever needed, to help us through the transition in weaning him from the psychotropic meds to the natural supplements. We completely weaned Kolbe off all his meds within 3 weeks, which, if weaned without the supplement, would have taken months. This rapid weaning is possible because the human brain responds quickly and positively to this natural nutrient supplement. It’s so effective that the brain heals very rapidly and the psychotropic med dosages must drop quickly to keep the patient from feeling as if he/she is overdosing.
There are different theories as to why this supplement works so well. One is that scientists believe there is a genetic need for more nutrients in the brain due to genetic mutations, which result in nutrient deficiencies and can lead to brain cell shrinkage or brain cell death. People just can’t get enough through their diets or regular over the counter vitamins. You can learn more about these products by going to the truehope.com website.
Within Kolbe’s first 2 weeks of being weaned off his meds and starting the supplement, we noticed a big difference in his behavior. We charted his mood and behavior symptoms online through Truehope. A support person at the company whom we spoke with daily monitored these charts regularly.
Within 6 weeks, Kolbe was virtually a normal little boy! His side effects were gone, he had no more ticks, no more tremors, and he was alert, focused and clear. He was joyful and happy most of the time. He very rarely had mood swings, became irritable or angry and hardly ever cried. We seldom saw any loss of his temper. Other challenging symptoms that greatly diminished were his impulsivity, his demanding nature, his poor judgment, his irrationality, his self-hatred, his racing thoughts, and his obsessive thoughts.
Most people who knew Kolbe before he switched to this amazing supplement and saw him after the change were amazed. They said he was like a completely different person.
Remember, this supplement isn’t a cure. At one time, Kolbe was sick for a few days and couldn’t take the supplement. Within a few days, his symptoms came back. This is a normal reaction. If he takes an antibiotic, it may affect the absorption of the supplement and he may need to take extra of the supplement to maintain its full effectiveness. If he has anything that will keep him from consuming his normal diet, it’s important to be aware of the need for extra supplements.
I want to state here that Truehope’s EMPowerplus was none other than a miracle, a blessing from God for Kolbe and our family. Kolbe has been taking EMPowerplus for almost 3 years now. Our family is so much more functional and we can leave Kolbe with a babysitter. We no longer worry when it comes to leaving Kolbe at a friend’s house. He is doing great in academics, sports, extracurricular activities and family life.
I highly recommend this supplement to anyone who suffers from any type of mental health issue, especially depression, bipolar, anxiety, or schizophrenia. It may take one a great deal of courage to get to the point where he /she is ready to take this step. To be apprehensive about this is quite understandable. One needs a tremendous amount of support. It’s such a great blessing to have the Truehope support team available to help each person every step of the way!
EMPowerplus is so natural and safe. Personally, we’ve never been big into natural health remedies. We were familiar only with conventional medicine. Natural health was a big unknown to us. Considering the switch from prescription medications to natural supplements filled us with insecurity and fear. It was very difficult to consider anything outside of the medical realm, but it got to the point where we were out of options.
We had to do something to help our son. We had exhausted the list of psychotropic drugs. It was time for us to take a leap in faith and to trust that Kolbe would be the next one on the list of the many Truehope success stories! It was time to trust in God!
I recommend that you remain open-minded, study the research, listen to the stories, and give Truehope a chance. My closed-mindedness was out of fear, but for some it may be other worries and concerns. Thankfully, Kolbe’s pediatrician and psychiatrist were with us on this. They were supportive and willing to go forward with us. For some, taking this huge step will be more difficult because they will not have the support from their doctors or their families. Those who suffer this challenge should try to remember that the support staff at Truehope is there for them.
To all those involved with or suffering with mental health challenges: I encourage you to be open to the miracle that might be out there waiting for you, whether you are a medical professional, psychiatrist, adult, parent, or child.
—Susan B. (Kolbe’s mom)