Page 80 - Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments in Psychiatry

80 | Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments in Psychiatry

and heart palpitations. She was referred to me, a psychiatrist,
because of her anxiety, depression, and insomnia. I could find no
obvious psychological explanation for these symptoms, except
maybe for the stress of her physical illness. She was taking an
array of medications, with their attendant side effects. Based on
some simple lab tests and my own clinical experience, I
determined that a likely common cause was a magnesium
deficiency.
After a brief trial on this inexpensive and common mineral,
together with a multivitamin-mineral formula and essential
fatty acids, Jean was able to decrease her medications.
Encouraged by this result, she trusted me enough to eliminate
some foods to which she was allergic, which helped her even
more. In a short time, not only were her anxiety, depression, and
insomnia gone, but she soon was medication-free, depending
instead on a list of supplements (I added a few to those
mentioned here) to restore her normal body chemistry.

Physical Inventory
I typically take a client’s vital signs and ensure they have a
primary-care doctor for major medical issues. I commonly do the
following labs:
− CBC
− Chem-24 panel including cholesterol (HDL, LDL),
triglycerides, magnesium, potassium, ferritin, B-12, folate,
Hgb A1C, homocysteine, C-reactive protein
− (quantitative), fibrinogen, uric acid, 25-OH-vit D, and ANA (if
indicated)
− Thyroid panel (TSH, free T4, free T3)
− If suspect thyroiditis, TPO and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies
− Middle age, peri-menopausal, andropausal: FSH, LH,
pregnenolone, DHEA-S, IGF-1
− If 50+, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone (free, total)
− Male: PSA, DHT