Living with an Autoimmune Condition

Living with an autoimmune condition

An autoimmune diagnosis does not mean that how you feel today is how you will always feel.

Autoimmune conditions are chronic, but there is often considerable room to improve symptoms, reduce the frequency and intensity of flares, and help the body become less reactive over time. Our goal is to help patients reach a quieter, more stable place — with better energy and function, fewer symptoms, and greater resilience overall.

We think about autoimmune conditions as part of a broader spectrum of immune reactivity that can also include allergies, asthma, chronic hives, and other inflammatory conditions. The diagnoses are different, but there can be similarities in the way we approach them: working to settle an overly reactive system while at the same time treating the particular symptoms and patterns affecting the individual patient.

Treatment commonly combines acupuncture with dietary therapy, with Chinese herbal medicine added when appropriate.

We do not tell patients that we can cure an autoimmune condition. But having a lifelong diagnosis does not necessarily mean having the same level of symptoms for life.

Autoimmune conditions we work with

Our clinical experience includes a range of autoimmune conditions, including:

• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Graves’ disease
• Rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory joint conditions
• Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Alopecia areata
• Psoriatic arthritis and other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions

The treatment approach varies considerably with the condition. Someone with Hashimoto’s is not treated in the same way as someone with Crohn’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis, even though reducing excessive reactivity and improving overall health may be part of the larger goal.

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are discussed more extensively on our IBD page, and rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritic conditions on our arthritis page.

How we work

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is generally a central part of treatment. It allows us to address both the symptoms associated with the autoimmune condition and the patient’s health more broadly.

Depending on the person, treatment may focus on joint pain and stiffness, fatigue, digestive symptoms, sleep, headaches, temperature regulation, stress, or other symptoms accompanying the underlying condition. Treatment is individualized rather than determined by the diagnosis alone.

We generally begin with weekly treatment and space visits farther apart as the patient becomes more stable.

Dietary therapy

Dietary therapy can be an important part of our approach to autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.

As with our treatment of eczema, chronic hives, and other reactive conditions, we may initially use a more structured therapeutic diet to help settle the system. This is not intended to become a permanently restricted way of eating.

One of the changes we often look for over time is increasing tolerance. Foods that clearly aggravate symptoms early on may not always remain problematic. As the patient’s health becomes more stable and the system less reactive, we gradually work toward expanding the diet again. This can be a long process, sometimes unfolding over months or years.

If making substantial dietary changes feels overwhelming at the beginning, we can start with acupuncture and other aspects of treatment and introduce dietary work when the patient has the resources to take it on.

Chinese herbal medicine

Chinese herbal medicine may be added when it is appropriate. Herbs are not automatically prescribed simply because someone has an autoimmune diagnosis.

When we do use them, the formula is individualized and prescribed with the patient’s medications and specialist treatment in mind. This is particularly important for patients taking biologics, methotrexate, corticosteroids, thyroid medication, or other medications that affect immune function.

There are also situations in which we decide that herbs are unnecessary or that the medication regimen makes acupuncture and dietary therapy the more appropriate approach.

Different conditions call for different approaches

Although there are common threads in our approach to autoimmune disease, treatment can look quite different from one condition to another.

With rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritis, for example, acupuncture can be used directly for pain, stiffness, and mobility while we also address the broader inflammatory pattern.

With Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease, treatment is coordinated with appropriate thyroid monitoring and medication when needed, while we work with the symptoms and broader pattern accompanying the thyroid condition.

For alopecia areata, treatment may include local plum blossom needling and moxibustion to areas of hair loss, often alongside dermatological treatment such as corticosteroid injections. In our clinical experience, this combination can be particularly useful in encouraging regrowth in affected areas.

The point is not to apply an “autoimmune protocol” to everyone. We look at the diagnosis, the individual presentation, the medications being used, and what is actually happening in the patient’s life and health at that particular time.

Working with your specialist

Autoimmune disease requires appropriate diagnosis and monitoring, and we work alongside that care.

We want to know what your rheumatologist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, neurologist, dermatologist, or other specialist is doing. Bring recent laboratory results when they are relevant, and let us know about changes in medications, disease activity, or monitoring.

Tell us about everything you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medications, supplements, and herbs. If Chinese herbal medicine is being considered, a complete medication list is particularly important.

Some patients find that as their condition becomes more stable, their medication needs change. Those decisions belong with the clinician prescribing the medication. Our goal is not to get someone off necessary treatment, but to help them become as healthy and stable as possible while living with an autoimmune condition.

Common questions

Can you cure an autoimmune condition?

No. Once an autoimmune condition has developed, we do not tell patients that Chinese medicine can make the underlying diagnosis disappear.

What can change considerably is how active and symptomatic the condition is. Our goal is a more stable, less reactive state, with fewer or less severe symptoms and better overall function.

Can acupuncture actually help if I’m already taking medication?

Yes. Many of the patients we see are already receiving appropriate treatment for their autoimmune condition. Acupuncture can be used alongside that treatment to address symptoms and support overall health and function.

There is no need to choose between the two.

My bloodwork looks good, but I still don’t feel well. Can you help with that?

Potentially, yes. Laboratory values are an important part of monitoring autoimmune disease, but they do not always reflect everything a patient experiences from day to day. Fatigue, pain, stiffness, poor sleep, digestive symptoms, and other problems may persist even when disease markers are reassuring. Those symptoms can become an important focus of our treatment.

Can I take Chinese herbs with methotrexate, a biologic, or other autoimmune medication?

Sometimes, but this has to be evaluated individually. We need to know everything you are taking before prescribing Chinese herbs. Some combinations require particular caution, and there are circumstances in which we may decide not to use herbs at all.

Adele is board certified in Chinese herbal medicine and has extensive experience prescribing herbs in complex cases. When herbs are appropriate, the prescription is chosen with the rest of the patient’s treatment regimen in mind.

Do I have to follow a special autoimmune diet?

There is no single diet that we give everyone with an autoimmune diagnosis. When dietary therapy is appropriate, recommendations are individualized.

For some patients, particularly those with a highly reactive pattern, we may recommend a more structured diet initially. The goal is not permanent restriction. As the patient’s condition improves, we work toward increasing tolerance and broadening the diet again.

Could I eventually need less medication?

Sometimes medication needs change as a patient’s condition becomes more stable. We have had patients who, with their prescribing clinician’s supervision, were able to reduce medication or in some cases discontinue it.

That is never something we promise, and it is not the primary goal of treatment. Decisions about medication belong with the clinician who prescribed it. Our job is to help you become as healthy and stable as possible and let medication decisions follow from the clinical picture.

How often should I come?

We generally begin with weekly acupuncture. As symptoms become more stable, treatments can be spaced farther apart. Some patients eventually use acupuncture periodically for maintenance, while others return during more difficult periods or when symptoms begin to change.