Acupuncture for Medication Withdrawal

By: Amanda Gawrysz, L.Ac, MSOM

Have you been told about the effects of eliminating your psychiatric medications? Detoxing from medication can be a very uncomfortable and sometimes debilitating experience. People are not often offered much for withdrawal support, which leaves individuals “white knuckling” through a rollercoaster of physical, emotional, and psychological distress. Not to mention, the psychological aspect that comes along with the decision to stop taking a medication that can be terrifying. Life may feel like an eternity as each moment passes during a medication taper experience. Utilizing acupuncture can help achieve a state of harmony during this process and promote a level of balance in your body that minimizes the intensity of these symptoms.

Acupuncture is an under utilized modality that can help ease the emotional, mental, and physical manifestations during this time. The body is in a state of disharmony and shock from the absence of certain chemicals that it was accustomed to receiving. It needs time to return back to its homeostasis. There is a real sense of urgency when in the transition period of a tapering plan and acupuncture can make this transition less intense.  

Acupuncture ultimately helps restore balance through the stimulation of specific points. By stimulating these points, we improve the movement of Qi (energy) and of blood to help relieve pain, increase circulation, stimulate the liver, and speed up lymphatic drainage to ease the negative effects of withdrawal. Your practitioner will target specific meridians and acupoints that are connected to your specific withdrawal symptoms and bodily imbalances.

Acupuncture during medication withdrawal can help with agitation and restlessness, muscle aches and pains, insomnia, nausea, vertigo and dizziness, headaches, depression, temperature fluctuations, and what patients describe as “brain zaps.” A rebound effect may also be experienced during tapering where the original symptoms return and are worse than they were before.

Many are unaware that endorphins are released from the brain during acupuncture. Endorphins are our natural pain killers which also have a calming and positive effect on our mood. The release of endorphins also help relieve those pesky body aches that may be experienced. Using acupuncture, you can take advantage of the body’s natural chemicals to calm your brain and provide relief that will promote staying sober.

Withdrawal can cause uncomfortable body temperature changes, especially from alcohol and opiates. Alcohol usually causes an increase in temperature while opiates may cause fluctuations between sweating and feeling cold. A study has demonstrated that in combination with electrical stimulation acupuncture reduced this unpleasant withdrawal side effect.

Acupuncture has been known for centuries to help relieve nausea and vomiting from pregnancy, chemotherapy, and postoperative cases. Medication withdrawal is no different. Acupuncture speeds up the elimination process and improves detoxification pathways to allow the chemicals from medications to be expelled out of the body more efficiently.

In the case of experiencing depressive symptoms from alcohol, opiates, or even antidepressant withdrawal is common. In Chinese Medicine, depression causes a stagnation or seizing up of liver energy. These drugs falsely stimulate the energy from the liver causing it to flow more freely throughout the body. Once these drugs are stopped, that liver energy once again becomes constrained based on the Chinese Liver System. Additionally, your Liver energy can move erratically when these medications are stopped causing something called “internal wind” in Chinese Medicine. Internal wind is a sense of movement where there should be stillness. This internal movement is similar to akathisia and is also considered to be a rebound reaction. This effect manifests symptoms such as dizziness, vertigo, restlessness, tremors, and the brain zaps.  

The current common approach to medication elimination sets us up for failure. The process of medication tapering can feel overwhelming, discouraging, and impact our mental and physical body’s to a point where we decide it is not worth the effort. Acupuncture is built upon a foundation of ancient knowledge that can promote balance in your body and provide you with the stability that you need to take your withdrawal head-on and minimize the impact of resulting physical symptoms. Psychiatric medications can have an enormously positive impact on an individual’s life.  When a person is ready to move on without those medications, it is crucial that there is support provided to create a confident and successful transition toward independence.

Blooming in Spring with Traditional Chinese Medicine

In Chinese medicine, springtime is correlated to the liver and the gallbladder as these organs carry energy to store and detox the blood. In spring, we look forward to longer days, the frost thawing and new growth surrounding us.

‘Spring cleaning’ is a great energetic way to express the change of the season, not only for your home, but for your body too.

As the bulbs begin to push through the soil, we humans should be pushing ourselves to be more active, to engage in activities or thought provoking experiences in order to move stagnant winter energy and express our creativity.

When it comes to our nutrition, raw greens, herbs and vegetables are in abundance this season to enjoy-which stimulates liver energy flow.

A restful winter that may have led to more indulging in heavy foods, alcohol, coffee, and Netflix will lead to more feelings of tension and congestion symptoms.  This tense, sluggish energy is called liver stagnation.

Symptoms of stagnant or sluggish liver energy include: muscle tension, headaches, waking between 1-3am, difficult menses, increased allergies, waking feeling "hung-over", lethargic, depressed, impatient, irritable, or more constipated. 

Foods that decrease liver stagnation are those that taste pungent such as watercress, onions, mustard greens, turmeric, basil, fennel, rosemary and mints. Too many pungent foods can lead to excess heat in the body. If you find yourself experiencing excess heat turn to foods like beets, taro root, sweet rice, strawberries, cabbage, kohlrabi or broccoli. 

If this time of year you find yourself in depression or digestive indigestion, try drinking unrefined, high quality apple cider vinegar, brown rice vinegar or red wine vinegar. To drink, add one teaspoon vinegar of choice to one cup of warm water (raw and local honey an optional addition). If the vinegar causes excess heat try drinking warm water with lemon, lime or grapefruit instead. 

Decreasing your cups of coffee throughout the day will also keep our liver healthy. In order to curb this habit reach for herbal tea rather than the caffeine. We suggest milk thistle, chamomile, licorice root or dandelion root tea. Add a hint of brightness with a fresh slice of lemon or lime and a generous teaspoon of honey to sweeten your morning or afternoon.

Upping our dose of raw foods, adding pungent, bitter and sour foods and drink along with drinking less caffeine will make for a happy liver, a calmer mind and a more creative spirit this time of year. Combine these fresh new foods with hot tea to ensure strong digestion.

Back on Track: Detoxifying from Summer

With the joy, warmth, socialization, festivals and fun of summer~ comes more unhealthy eating, drinking, stress, fatigue, and skipping routines.  Our bodies LOVE routine, so the waning of summer also brings back the steadiness of structure.  As we get back to our roots and recover from the summer holiday, we can use this transitional time to prepare our bodies for a healthy autumn.

heal your gut: Before your body can handle a real effective detoxification, the digestive tract needs to be addressed. Are you feeling bloated after eating? Do you get cramping or see changes in your bowel patterns? For baseline indigestion, bloating, belching and flatulence a daily dose of fermented foods and probiotics may do the trick.  If you are struggling to get digestion under control- invest in your health! Our nutritionist will get to the root of the problem with you and help you find the right foods to heal your gut.

sweat it out : Studies have shown that perspiration contains trace amounts of heavy metals like lead, mercury and arsenic.  A well-hydrated work out or sauna session can activate your lymphatic system and help you sweat out some of that bad stuff.    

go green : Green vegetables have a high inventory of nutrients.  Many of the body’s detox processes are linked to having adequate levels of vitamins and minerals.  Start cooking with generous amounts of spinach and cruciferous vegetables to maximize your detox nutrients.

citrus boost : Vitamin C is an immune booster.  It helps the body produce an antioxidant that neutralizes toxins and also enhances digestive enzymes.  Because we cannot produce our own vitamin C in the body, eating adequate sources in whole foods or supplements is vital to better immune health. Start and end each day with a glass of warm lemon water!   (strawberry, acerola cherry, citrus fruits, papaya, black currant, kiwi, bell peppers, brussels sprouts, melons, and dark leafy greens are great food sources)

controlled breathing : Oxygen is a critical component of natural detoxification.  Controlled breathing: a deep, 5 second inhalation through the nose followed by a long exhalation through the mouth- you will achieve a full oxygen exchange, swapping incoming oxygen for outgoing carbon dioxide.  This supercharges your lymphatic system to ward of toxins, pathogens, and waste. Integrate this controlled breathing practice several times per day.

drink more tea : Green tea leaves are withered and steamed, rather than fermented, so it produces a beverage that is rich in compounds that eliminate free radicals.  Start your day with a cup of green tea and a squeeze of lemon. 

assess your water quality: It is not just about quantity! Ditch plastic bottles of commercially packaged water and invest in a stainless steel bottle.  Update your water filters or start using one for all of you water needs at home.  Tap water can be full of chemicals used to clean the water- but also add more to the chemical load in your body.  Drinking filtered, cleaner water will help your body flush out waste at the cellular level and also support the GI tract and kidneys as they flush out those toxins. How much water? At least 1/2 to 3/4 your body weight in ounces.