To Med or Not to Med

So I've been absent for a bit; not because I have run out of steam already or because I have yet to have anyone acknowledge that they actually read this blog, but because I have been in a little energy sucking battle of my own. If you read my earlier blog, you realize that I am recuperating from a car accident where I suffered a severe concussion so some days I just run out of steam before I get to the blog. We all know that this lifestyle is all about energy trade offs. If we live this way then reducing stress, getting enough sleep, preparing food, spending time with family and friends all have to take precedence over the blog. Sounds like I'm off topic right? Not really because the other part of my energy story is the fact that I have been working with my docs to see what meds I can do without and which ones are absolutely necessary. Changing meds means changes in your body as it adjust. For me that can mean a change in pain levels, movement, and sleep duration and quality. So onto the meat of this blog.

Last April before Paleo (and then AIP), I was taking Lyrica, Prilosec, Baclofen (antispasmodic/muscle relaxer), time-released Ambien, and anti-inflammatories (rotated between prescription and OTC). The first medication I was able to eliminate was the Lyrica. The results from just going Paleo were equal to Lyrica. I also discovered researching Ehlers-Danlos that many people found relief from pain with SAM-E (an essential amino acid). I discovered that I had equal success with both Lyrica and SAM-E and SAM-E was about 1/10th the cost. I don't have to take SAM-E any more because of the amount of amino acids that I get from gelatin and bone broth. Next to go were the anti-inflammatories. I incorporated turmeric into my diet and started Paleo Autoimmune Protocol. I no longer have pain in my knees and hips that wakes me up at night. The last vestige of prescription meds have been the Baclofen and the Ambien.

I have sleep problems that are in addition my Ehlers-Danlos sleep problems. On July 1, 1997, I was sitting in a chaise lounge reading a book by the side of a swimming pool when the lifeguard thought that it would be fun to take me chair and all and flip me in the shallow end of the pool. I went into 2ft of water headfirst and hit my head on the bottom of the pool. At that time, I cracked a vertebrae and herniated a disc in my neck, cracked a vertebrae between my shoulder blades, and herniated a disc in my lower back. I also suffered a head injury. The permanent side effects of the injury was a fused neck, nerve damage in my neck, arm, shoulders, and back. To treat this I receive botox injections every three months in my neck, head, upper back and lower back, I take the muscle relaxers and the ambien for sleep problems caused from the head injury. The great thing is that AIP has helped me cut the amount of muscle relaxers in half and I hope to go off of them permanently. However, sleep is a different issue altogether.

On December 14th I went to see my sleep specialist about weaning off of the Ambien. I am a Cleveland Clinic patient and she is part of their functional medicine department. We discussed all of the strategies outlined in Dr. Sarah Ballantyne's book. I was doing all of the lifestyle changes including making sure I got sunlight, wearing amber glasses, eliminating blue light at night, having a bedtime routine. We decided that, since I am a teacher, weaning off of them over Christmas Break would be the plan. We discussed that because my sleep problems were due to a brain injury complete removal may not be possible but we both agreed that it was worth a try. However, on December 15th I was in the car accident. I contacted her and we decided to wait until the effects of the concussion were better. About a five weeks ago, I started backing myself out of the Ambien as per her instructions. I did really well going down from the time release version to a regular version and then again when I slowly decreased the regular version down to the dose my doctor recommended. When it was time to eliminate it again, I did really well. I was so excited! I hadn't been without sleep meds for 20 years! However as the days continued the insomnia worsened. I researched it online and discovered that it can take up to 2 weeks to rebound from the use of ambien. After 3 weeks of not sleeping, I had to return to Ambien but thankfully at a much lower dose.

I am fortunate. My doctors are committed to helping me develop a treatment plan that I feel comfortable with. They offer alternative therapies to drugs and support my recent decisions to treat my body through lifestyle and diet changes. How do I wrap this up? To tell you that you should never feel guilty or like a failure if you discover that you will continue to need to take meds even after a long time on AIP. AIP is not a panacea. It is a lifestyle change that can help your body heal to the point that it can heal on its own however, at no fault of your own, there may be limits to the extent that your body can heal on its own and a more traditional approach may be needed to augment your quality of life.

I cannot stress this enough. I am in no way telling you what you should do about your meds. It is a decision to be made with your healthcare team. If you notice, I work closely with my doctors on reducing or eliminating a medication. I stay informed on what I can do naturally and they keep me informed on how to monitor when I need to take a medication. The biggest thing is to communicate honestly with your healthcare professionals about what is best for you so everyone can make an informed decision that is best for you and your lifestyle.

#paleoautoimmune #aipresouces #prescriptiondrugs #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #EDS #Paleo