Good clinicians are part Sherlock Holmes and part Mother Teresa. Today's Weekly Update is about how to be a better Sherlock rather than a Mother Teresa.
Gathering clues about how to heal a patient is an important and critical part of creating a treatment plan. Sometimes the best clues are right under our noses and often ignored—a patient's descriptions of side effects (from medications, food, or supplements).
Conventional psychiatrists often call patients' side effects "complaints" which may reflect how they feel about dealing with them. As a holistic psychiatrist, I've come to appreciate patients' descriptions of side effects because they reveal a great deal of information about a patient's health. Read on for more.
Have a great week!
The Meaning of Medication Side Effects
What Side Effects Reveal About Your Body
The words, "side effects" don't always have to have a negative meaning. Some side effects can be desirable and others incredibly bothersome, and they can co-exist in the same substance. Sometimes the side effects of medications or withdrawal from medications can be misunderstood as symptoms of the mental illness. Negative side effects from medications or other substances, however, tend to reflect the body's inability to adapt to, metabolize, or detoxify the medication or substance.
As a conventional psychiatrist, I was taught to address side effects by:
Lowering the dosage of or stopping the medication.
Adding another medication to lessen the side effects of the first.
Switching to a different medication.
Changing the dosing schedule.
When I became a holistic psychiatrist, however, my attitude changed towards side effects, and I had different tools to address them. Here are some of the ways I've learned to use side effects as clues to:
Locating areas of particular weakness, e.g. the patient's "Achilles Heel." For example, if food, supplements, and medications easily cause nausea, then the G. I. system is in need of healing and support. If the patient has a history of hives, then the histamine system is involved, indicating underlying causes for inflammation.
Assessing detoxification issues, e.g. if taking a slightly higher dose of a supplement causes a paradoxical effect, it may indicate a problem with metabolizing the supplement and clearing it from the body properly.
Dosing medications properly, e.g. if the patient feels better a few hours before taking the medication and worse after taking it, then the dosage may be too high to tolerate. If the patient feels bad before taking the medication and better right after taking it, then the dosage may be too low and not lasting long enough.
Gauging detoxification dysfunction, e.g. the more side effects patients experience when they use water, food, supplements, or medications, the higher the level of toxicity/inflammation that exists, which overwhelms the body's ability to assimilate nutrients properly.
This week alone, I had several patients whose side effects helped me to properly treat them. Here are some short, clinical vignettes:
Betty told me, "I can never take more than 3 mg of Melatonin. I always feel revved up afterward." This suggested that she had a hard time metabolizing melatonin. Yet, my energy testing indicated that she needed 6 mg of melatonin that night to help her sleep, so I asked her to take 3 mg in the afternoon and 3 mg later that night. That would allow her body more time to metabolize the melatonin. She did so and slept well.
Jim did well with CBD oil for three days. But after three days, it made him more anxious and agitated. I assumed that it was due to an accumulation of metabolites that were not being properly cleared from the body. Changing doses to a lower dose and reducing it from three times per day to once per day helped to lessen the side effects.
A patient felt very sick after going for a massage: foggy, anxious, with light and sound sensitivity. These side effects from the massage were likely due to toxins being released from the muscles during the massage that couldn't be properly cleared due to detoxification systems already being overwhelmed beforehand. I created a regimen that helped the patient detoxify through energy techniques, the lymph system, colon, and G. I. system.
A couple of stressed out missionaries noticed that they were having more problems with acne since being on their mission. The skin is the largest detox organ of the body. I hypothesized that supporting their detoxification system by adding a probiotic and liver extract would help them with their skin, and it did for both of them!
Next time you hear about or experience side effects, don't just ignore them or cover them up. Instead, try to use side effects to help you understand how to support and nurture your body in ways that truly heal.
Hope these insights help. Have a wonderful week!