Drug Sensitivity and Prognosis
This page is a more recent addition to the Prognosis O' Matic. While one's sensitivity to drug therapy doesn't have as much an effect on your prognosis, it does have an effect on the minimum and maximum quantity of herbal medicines that you'll want to take.
Simply stated, if you are very sensitive to drugs, it is likely that this sensitivity will translate into your response to herbal medicines as well. If you are told by your doctor to "take two pills and call me in the morning." and you find that two pills is too many, your doctor may lower the dosage for you based on your reactions to the medication, good or bad.
The same thing applies to herbal medicines. If you tend to take only a half dosage of drugs, you'll likely need less herbal medicines as well. Why is this? Some people are simply more sensitive to these things. The only theory that I've heard to explain this phenomenon comes from the art of astrology. Apparently there are a few signs and a few planetary configurations that favor this sort of sensitivity. Apparently those with a great deal of pisces or scorpio, or have neptune in just the right position have this sensitivity. Astrology also suggests of these alignments that these people may go the opposite direction and have a greater problem with addictions to mood altering substances such as drugs and alcohol.
Back to traditional Chinese medicine... if you are sensitive to drugs as a rule, be sure to either mention this to your herbal practitioner or lower the dosage a bit yourself. This is really questionable advice to be honest. Some of the herbs that you might buy in Chinatown that come in the form of little black peppercorn/BB sized pills are very weak. On the label it suggests 8 pills, three times daily. For my patients who insist on these remedies, I encourage them to double the dosage just to get it up to a reasonable medicinal dosage. However, those who are sensitive should probably just stick with the dosage on the label.
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