12 June 2008 No Comment

Immunology is a relatively young discipline. For sufferers of autoimmune conditions, a range of treatments exist which are often unknown to the patient. These are some suggested by readers, and should be undertaken in consultation with a health professional.

Causes

Family and Upbringing
As we shall see later, auto-immune conditions can be triggered and exacerbated through higher than normal levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol (right spelling). A tendency for an individual to produce, and be chronically dependent upon, high cortisol levels can be triggered by factors in one’s childhood.

Oliver James writes, in the highly acclaimed They F*** You Up, by Bloomsbury Publishing (Amazon link to come):

“The chemistry of the body is tremendously influenced by early upbringing. For instance, the hormone cortisol is secreted as a response to threats or other demands for action from the environment. In normal people it goes up and down according to what is happening at any given moment, but if we were living in a highly stressful family in our first six or so years of life this acts like a thermostat, setting our cortisol levels too high or too low in adulthood. If an adult was under constant threat as a child, with aggressive or neglectful or intrusive parents, that person’s system can either close down (low levels) or become jammed on permanent alert (high). He or she may have low, blunted cortisol levels because he has simply got too used to the stimuli that demand fight-or-flight, so that they no longer trigger the hormone; or he may have constantly high levels, always ready for a rapid response to danger. Adults who suffered childhood maltreatment have specific cortisol patterns that reflect the type of maltreatment. Those who were … abused as children have high levels as adults, whereas those who suffered coldness and lack of love have low levels.

Primary and Secondary Gains
Alexander’s model is that two conditions need to occur to cause a response like a serious auto-immune condition. This includes primary and secondary gains. A secondary gain, such as a traumatic incident, alone is not enough to cause the onset of a condition. But taken with a primary gain (such as a deep, childhood cause, such as low self esteem, powerlessness, being ‘put down’ or not valued), may be a factor in precipitating a secondary gain which leads to an affect.

Cures

Tests
Hormone levels in the body can be revealed through tests, which can be arranged by specialists, psychiatrists or your family doctor. Assessing the current levels of the different types of stress and other hormones is an important step in managing your disease.

Drugs
There are drugs which have shown to reduce the affect of auto-immune conditions. Amongst these chemotheraputic agents include methatrixate, azothiaprine, prednicilone and other steroids, which slow down the immune system. These are effective for conditions such as rhumatoid arthritis, but also for other internal auto-immune conditions.

Therapy
If we can see that higher cortisol levels are set through childhood influences, fortunately much of this effect is also able to be reset through resetting our responses to certain situations. (Ask doc).

1. Remove yourself physically from the source of addictions
We all think that we should have enough willpower to overcome an addiction, even if it is right in front of us. In truth, it is far wiser to physically separate yourself from the source of the addiction - for a half an hour, day, week, or year.

Examples might be to destroy your cigarettes and lighters, physically turn your computer off for an hour or so, or move away from friends or situations you find negatively influence you.

Books

Recommended books by sufferers would be welcome.

Exercise
Exercise is shown to bring you back to the here and now. It also releases dopamine and endorphins which give a feeling of euphoria, and allow stress hormones to be released. This will also lead to a better immune function, feeling of wellbeing, and reduced desire for the addictive coping mechanisms. It also switches on genes that have been shown to stop malignancy and other serious illnesses.

A good amount of exercise to consider starting with is 20 minutes, of heart rate raising activity, per day, or three sets of 1 hour a week (adding up to about 3-4 hours a week). However you’d like to break this amount up is okay. Be creative - it could be riding a bike to work, playing football, skipping, playing on a swing, swimming, or any number of other enjoyable activities. You can also chose a location you physically enjoy, to make excercise more enjoyable.

Any exercise is valuable, and you should not feel like you have failed if you are not able to achieve a regular workout in a set location, like a gym. Merely going for a jog or ride when you feel obsessive or stressed, even if that is at midnight or 5pm, is valuable. You should feel the problems you were obsessing over drift away naturally.

Meditation
Simply living in the moment lets you become aware of your urges, and let them pass without necessarily acting on them. If formal meditation is not for you, many other activities can help focus your body on the present, including sports, walking, bike riding, swings, and sex.

Balance in life
Sometimes addictions are caused by being in too much of a dualistic situation - work OR procrastination for instance. Making sure you have a rounded life including cooking, friends, music, exercise, physical work etc. opens the number of options available to you and keeps you grounded.

Having time off
Often the physical routine ties us to our addictions - it is part of how we cope with life. Having time off, either an hour a day, weekend, or extended holiday recharges the batteries and lets us see things in a different way. Merely “vegging out” for a half an hour a day can be amongst the most important things you can do. Any sor of activity should have a break ever two hours, for 15 minutes. For longer breaks, make sure you are present with the people and settings around you, and don’t merely carry your addictions to another setting or focus. Go into fresh food markets or a favorite cafe for a coffe break are other ideas.

Eating and Sleeping well
Being low on food and sleep will merely add to the stress and anxiety our body feels, and with it our desire for the stress-relieving addiction. A lack of sleep or sugars in the body leads to a build up of stress hormones such as cortazol, which has a negative affect on our immune system and well-being. Simply fixing these two is a fundamental part of overcoming obsessions and addictions, but it does take time. For proper eating, the body’s natural hunger and taste mechanisms have to be re-educated. Similarly for sleeping, setting new habits takes some time (some say up to three weeks). Setting an alarm to wake at 7 or 8am, and even to go to bed at night, are two ways to help.

Living with Nature
Remarkable results have occurred in programs where people suffering addiction have gone to farms or other outdoor locations. Combining hard work, exercise, physical distance and group pressure, these often work where other strategies have failed. Being surrounded by nature and animals is another factor which returns us to the present, and a pet is a good substitute.

Professional Help
Psychology, psychiatry, support groups such as AA. Psychotherapy has been shown to be effective in about 250,000 independent studies, and is useful for a longer process of examining your mental reponses. Psychology is primarily used for shorter periods of time, and is usually effective (or not) within a few sittings. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) can be effective in eliminating addictions in as few as 10 or 12 sessions.

Practice, practice, practice
None of these strategies will work the first time, but they get easier with repeated efforts. Think of your practice like an Olympic runner, you have to work hard to be in peak condition and receive the rewards.

Asking for help
It is not a crime to not have all the answers, but it could be considered a crime to oneself to soldier on through fear of asking for help. There are also libraries, websites, and other options open to you.

Medication
Medications like Zoloft can help (Sertraline), however it should be taken with caution for people with pre-existing conditions, such as drug reactions or a low liver function.

Trying to not be too rigid with yourself.
There are times that are busy, times a day off is required.

Avoiding perfectionism.
Perfectionism has been shown to have a correlation to many cases of addiction and obsession. Perfectionism, from whatever cause, raises the stress involved in many daily activities. The desire to release this stress is the trigger for an addictive or obsessive behavior. Removing the perfectionism can reduce the desire or need for the release mechanism.

A good coping mechanism is to use the following affirmation. “At this particular time in my life, This is 100% of what I can do, and that is sufficient.” Whatever the activity - consider this as perfect for the moment you are in at this point in your life. Remember that your activities will have different outcomes relative to different times in your life, and each one is valid.

Remember not to abandon progress if you are only making small steps. Most activities are a process, and results are rarely immediate. Small improvements are a sign of success, and even earning from wrong steps a move closer to our goals.

Avoiding Procrastination.
This is easier said than done, but is often connected with perfectionism. One important strategy for the procrastinist is to heed Holderhein’s advice: “Danger fosters the rescuing action.” Whatever the activity you are avoiding, make a start, even if it is a bad one. Rescuing the product from your imperfect first start is often all the impetus you need.

Some good resources for dealing with procrastination are -here-.

Dealing Constructively With Anger.
An inability to constructively deal with natural levels of anger can fuel the desire for release in many people with addictive or obsessive personalities. It is important to feel in control over your own circumstances, and to stamp your own territory when that is important to you. Shouting, yelling, and hitting are nonconstructive ways of dealing with anger, and rise from a feeling of powerlessness or victimization.

Consider that your addiction or obsession, or the negative affects that come from it, may be a type of way of getting back at those closest to you, when you are powerless to express your anger in any other (constructive) manner. Health is a function of confidence and a feeling of being in charge of one’s life.

One of the most useful ways to deal positively with anger is to get on constructively with your life. Becoming personally successful, either in small tasks or large ones, shows others you have the ability to be successful, and frees up the sphere of control that is offered to you.

Moderate Obsessive Behavior
think to yourself “Do I have a choice to do otherwise?” If not, you are stuck in compulsive behavior. For some people they are stuck in “niceness”, or “competitiveness”, or oscellate between the two. Whatever you do, you need to have choice. The more choices available to you, the healthier you are.

Realize that there are often no absolutely right or wrong decisions or actions in life. Logically working through your options and seeing which one will be best for your own needs is one healthy strategy,as is asking your friends and family for advice. It is also important to follow your instincts, sometimes a course of action merely “feels about right”, as well as logically making sense.

Setting a routine, where specific activities have to be done at certain times, is another healthy approach.

Success
Becoming successful in one area of your life can relieve the drive to succeed which can inflame autoimmune conditions. However, for many people success is a relative term, and one success merely fuels the need to achieve more. It is important to achieve a degree of professional success, but also to lead a balanced life.