Healing Addictionsalternative clinicsoffer holistic waysto beat Dependencyby Lisa MarshallBill Beilhartz had run out of options. At age 44, thisfather of two had just spent two weeks in the hospitalfor alcohol-induced ulcers in his esophagus andstomach. He’d registered a nearly lethal blood alcohollevel of .675. He’d had two failed marriages. His tall, oncehandsomeframe was withered from years of drinking ahalf-gallon of vodka a day. Yet, his first stop after leaving thehospital was the liquor store.Three days later, after being rushed to the hospitalagain, this time for internal bleeding, he began desperatelyflipping through the phone book, searching for somethingbeyond what three previous treatment centers had offered– something that might actually work. Each time, he’dvoluntarily checked himself in, paying as much as $10,000per stay.“They all had the same approach,” says Beilhartz, aninternational casino consultant from Denver, Colorado.“They tell you, ‘Don’t drink.’ That is pretty much [all] theeducation they give you.”A Yellow Pages ad for a Fort Collins, Colorado, treatmentprogram named InnerBalance Health Center jumped out athim. The clinic takes a comprehensive holistic approach toaddiction in its 35-day program, prescribing treatments suchas nutritional counseling, intravenous vitamin therapy, yoga24 <strong>Grand</strong> <strong>Strand</strong>and exercise. “It was different from anything I’d ever heardof. And it all just made sense to me,” says Beilhartz.“Within a week of arriving, my mind was completelyclear and I felt energized and motivated to get on with life. Ihadn’t felt like that since my early 20s,” he exclaims. Withinmonths he was the picture of health and hope, boastingmore days of sobriety than in the past 15 years.Battling Brain ChemistryBeilhartz is among a growing number of addictsand alcoholics turning to complementary and alternativetherapies to address the physiological underpinnings ofaddiction. These programs are rooted in the theory thataddiction is largely the result of skewed levels of certainchemical messengers in the brain. Caught in a state ofchronic imbalance, often from childhood, addicts turn todrugs and alcohol to self-medicate in an attempt to feelnormal.Addiction is largely the result of skewedlevels of certain chemical messengersin the brain.
Most addiction experts agreethat 12-step programs—consideredthe gold standard after any addictiontreatment for decades—are a necessarycomponent of a successful recovery.Still, health and wellness researcherEvelyn Grazini reports that studiesshow that 70 to 85 percent of addictscompleting traditional treatmentprograms will relapse within 6to 12 months. Meanwhile, somealternative clinics that incorporateboth physiological and psychologicalapproaches boast six-month sobrietyrates as high as 85 percent.“If you have a broken leg and yourbone is sticking out, you aren’t goingto want to sit around and talk aboutit. You are going to want to go to theemergency room, fix the physicalproblem and stop the pain first,” explainsJoe Eisele, clinical director ofInnerBalance and a recovering alcoholic.“Then you can sit down and talk.”Reward DeficiencySyndromeThe notion that addiction is abiochemical disease dates backto the late 1980s, when Texas brainresearcher Kenneth Blum coined thephrase “reward deficiency syndrome”.Blum theorized that for most people,thestimulus of everyday things like goodfood, sex or a funny movie sets off acascade of feel-good neurotransmittersin the brain. But some people are bornwith either a kink in the delivery line oran inability to produce enough of thesechemicals. For them, the cascade ofreward is hindered and pleasure muted,if it comes at all.“[Addicts] are always lookingfor a way to feel better, and whenthey discover certain mood-alteringsubstances—those things that fit intothe same receptors in the brain thatthe deficient ‘feel-good’ chemicalsdo—they feel like they’re getting whatthey’ve been looking for, but havenever been able to find,” says MerleneMiller, an addictions specialist andcoauthor of Staying Clean and Sober:Complementary and <strong>Natural</strong> Strategiesfor Healing the Addicted Brain(Woodland, 2005).Today, experts accept the notionthat faulty brain chemistry plays a rolein setting people up for addiction. Yetfor the most part, addiction researchershave focused on correcting that brainchemistry with pharmaceuticals,rather than addressing it holistically.Meanwhile, more clinics around thecountry are employing that sameinformation in a different, more holisticapproach.Vitamin IVStep into InnerBalance HealthCenter any Wednesday andyou’ll find a room full of residentpatients, from grandmothers tryingto quit binge drinking to musicianswanting to kick a cocaine habit.They’re watching videos and chattingas orange liquid drips into their veinsthrough intravenous tubes.Alcoholism and drug abuse canravage the gastrointestinal system,limiting its ability to absorb nutrients,so pumping vitamin C, calcium,magnesium, zinc and B vitaminsdirectly into the blood has a moreimmediate effect than administeringthem orally, explains Eisele. Andbecause underlying nutritionalproblems, such as hypoglycemia orB-vitamin deficiencies, often promptcravings, IV therapy can often quell thewithdrawal that leads addicts to earlyrelapse.At Bridging the Gaps, inWinchester, Virginia, patients begintreatment with a series of blood andurine tests to assess their liver andkidney function and nutritional status.They also fill out a psychologicalsurvey to determine if they might belacking in certain brain chemicals.They then receive a customizedcocktail of nutrients and aminoacids – the building blocks forneurotransmitters – through an IV tubefor six to ten days.The amino acid givendepends on whichneurotransmitter appearsto be lacking. For example,clinic staff members presumethat addicts who prefersedatives or alcohol lack thecalming neurotransmitterGABA, so theygive them itsamino acidEat Right toKick the Habit• Lay off the sugar.Once alcoholics quit the bottle, theyoften gravitate toward the sugar bowl,which can be disastrous. The high theyget from sugar leads to a crash, moodslump and subsequent craving foralcohol, drugs or more sugar.• Reach for wholefoods.To break the craving cycle, choose rawor lightly cooked fruits and veggies,exchange white rice for brown and eatoatmeal for breakfast.• Snack on protein.To keep blood sugar on an even keel,eat a healthy protein snack, such ashard-boiled eggs, chunks of cheese,nuts, or peanut butter and apples, everytwo to three hours.<strong>March</strong> <strong>2008</strong>25
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