If someone is having side effects from a drug then whether it is deemed
essential or not, you can only really stop those drugs immediately IF they
haven't been taking them for too long. If it is a very short time then the
sooner they come off them the better but if they have been taking them for a
long time you must reduce the dose slowly.
In this latter instance I wouldn't wait until they are off the drugs to take
the case as very often a clear enough sx picture will come through, enough
to find the simillimum. But sometimes the only reliable information you can
gather is a few modalities.
In these sort of cases it is even more important to check with the person to
what extent the drugs have modified their condition. For example, if the
client says their arthritis pains are better for cool bathing, you need to
know if that was the case before the drugs were taken - if so it is a useful
sx to work with.
When clients list the drugs they are on you need to have as much knowledge
about the possible side effects so that these can be ruled out of the case.
If you think there is a symptom you believe might be a side effect but can
find no reference to it, again, find out how long this has been happening
and give due importance or marginality.
If the case is totality dominated by the effects of the drug - although you
will still have possible causative factors to the case + any pre drug sx
that the client can remember - you might need to deal with the toxic effects
first. It really depends on how each individual is tolerating the drugs.
Your last question is a bit vague - are you referring to terminally ill
people who are suffering from their medication? If so, then the best
possible palliative approach should be chosen but there are cases which
become hopeful and then non terminal once drugs have been stopped. You just
never know in these instances.
Hope useful, Joy
www.homeopathicmateriamedica.com
on 27/9/04 3:08 pm, Bob&Shannon at
shannonnelson@tds.net wrote:
The LOTR thread (and we can leave Frodo out of this thread if folks prefer
) made me realize I would like to have a better understanding of how to
prescribe for someone who is suffering side-effects from a drug they are
taking.
If the drug is non-essential, you would first have the person stop taking
it, see what happens, and if necessary treat the picture that stabilizes out
afterwards.
If the drug is essential and you *can't* take them off of it, do you treat
on the basis of the full presenting picture, giving equal emphasis to
symptoms caused by the drug (whether common or uncommon) and whatever
long-term symptoms and qualities that belong "to the patient", or would you
give lower priority to symptoms that are simple toxicity, and commonly
caused by the drug? (If all symptoms are weighted equally, then one can
easily prescribe without knowing much about the drug that's being taken; but
if not, then one would need to know the drug picture in order to understand
which symptoms should not be given much weight.)
If you're treating to simply help a person tolerate a drug that they have to
stay on (i.e., to moderate the side-effects), will/might that also be
helping them toward *possibly* being able to stop it in the future, or is
this approach purely palliative?
Thanks!
Shannon
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