Acupuncture and Herbs for Drug Withdrawal

Bubbles & pitted blisters from K2

Today, the 30 y.o. single mother of one very cute 5 y.o. boy came to the clinic and tearfully told me her story of addiction.  What started out as an innocent and legal way to calm her mind and help her de-stress and enjoy a social life with her boyfriend,  turned into a nightmare over the next year and a half.

She couldn’t stop thinking of going to the gas station and picking up more K2 even though it meant leaving her 5 y.o. in bed, alone. She couldn’t keep her mind on work during the day.  She couldn’t use thick enough makeup to cover the worsening acne around her mouth.  She couldn’t stop obsessing over what a loser she had turned out to be.

When she confided that she was addicted, couldn’t get off the drug, and needed our help, we had to first find out just what is K2?

K2 goes is a synthetic cannabinoid that goes by many different names: herbal incense, Blueberry Haze, Dank, Ninja, Nitro, to name a few.  The chemical cocktail’s ability to bind with many more receptor sites in the brain gives it the dangerous ability to have much more serious side effects than cannabis.  That means a higher risk of dangerous overdose and severe addicting properties.  A cocktail of research chemicals is dissolved in a solvent and sprayed onto smokable plant material that is dried, weighed, packaged and sold. Reported side effects  include convulsions, multiple heart attacks in a short period, and permanent psychosis.

K2 left painful pitted holes and permanent psychosis.

Our team of therapists is working to bring life back to our patient. She is in the clinic twice a week for detox acupuncture and cranial sacral therapy; she is taking an herbal supplement to calm her anxiety, ameliorate the withdrawal, and improve her brain function; cranial sacral therapy calms her nervous system.  Though she tried to return to work, the stress proved too much and she has taken a second week of medical leave.  Next week our patient will begin the bio-detox program to help sweat out the accumulated chemicals and prevent any brain or organ function damage.

After three days of not smoking K2, the holes in the palm of her hand no longer ache and the blisters on her chest are starting to heal.  Sores around her mouth from the smoke disappeared totally after a week of not smoking K2.  Our patient is struggling, to be sure.  But she is in kind and competent hands and a medical system that is not giving her more drugs.  She is determined, and she is hopeful: determined to live an addiction free life and hopeful that she will survive the withdrawal and be the great mom,  good worker, and healthy person that in her heart she knows herself to be.

UPDATE: two weeks after quitting, the sheer pleasure of living a life self-driven instead of drug driven, shows in our patient’s bright smile.  She has a hopeful, confident outlook on life and new job possibilities; she’s playing with her son at the park instead of hunkering down for a smoke; her skin is healing rapidly and she feels beautiful once again.

–Dr. Ana

We are experts in the use of acupuncture to treat chronic back pain; acupuncture for neck pain; acupuncture to treat infertility; acupuncture for weight loss; acupuncture detox cleansing; cosmetic acupuncture; and Thai massage.  Our Arlington-based Northern Virginia acupuncture clinic has openings every day for new patients.  Contact us today.