As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am taking a short break from nursing school. However, as I intend to go back, I am still reading my nursing books a little at a time. And this morning, as I was reading about pharmacology, I was surprised and taken aback by what I read. Although, honestly I should not have been too surprised.
I have always known that different people are affected by medication at different rates. People’s bodies are different – metabolism, kidney function, rate of absorption, etc. Two people might weigh the same amount and be about the same age and be the same gender, and yet it might take significantly different doses of the same drug to get the same response in both individuals. How have I known this? From my personal experience and from my time as an astrologer seeing multiple clients.
Personally I experience radically different effects from taking pain medication than most people – and I should know considering I have had 2 major surgeries, I have had the shingles (full outbreak) on my face and I have broken a minimum of 10 bones in my body. I have had to take a decent number of pharmaceutical drugs in my time. As far as astrology goes, there are certain aspects and certain signs which tend to indicate a person being more sensitive to drug interactions and drug effects – some people require a lower dose than “average.”
As a side note, I have been able to keep my intuitive astrologer side separate from the strictly empirical scientific nursing side of my life, but I am starting to wonder if I should combine the two? Is allopathic medicine the best system? Considering the rise of complementary and alternative medicine, I would say that conventional medicine is not complete (and when you read the next paragraph, you might agree).
Here is the nutshell version of what I read: there is a frequency distribution curve which identifies how much of a dose of medication affects what percentage of people. The problem is that without good knowledge of a patient’s medical history and knowing how they react to certain types of medications, it sounds like getting the “right” dose is basically just using statistics and hoping they are near the middle of the curve. But what if they aren’t? Here is an example: say 50% of a lab population shows the desired response from 50 mg of a medication, but 5% show that same response from just 10 mg – that is a huge difference! What if that 5% group was so sensitive that they actually exhibited signs of toxicity and immune response at 50 mg? That seems like it would be a problem because 50 mg is the average or standard dose!
There has to be a better way. Have we backed ourselves into a corner using the scientific method? Are we so concerned with rigid empiricism that we have to basically guess what the best dose is for a patient (because it has worked for 50% of the population and it hasn’t killed the other 49%). I would posit that there is a better way: Western Astrology if conducted by a skilled practitioner can show which individuals are more sensitive to pharmaceutical drugs. You have to know the accurate birth time and date and location.
Once you know this information and have computed an accurate birth horoscope (chart), then you can see who might be more sensitive to pharmaceutical drugs.
If you must know, some indicators to look for in a chart, which can show this sensitivity is having a dominant Neptune in the chart – is Neptune conjunct the Ascendant (Rising) or the MidHeaven? Is Neptune making a hard aspect to the Sun or Moon (or Mercury). Then certain signs are more sensitive – Pisces and Virgo are generally more sensitive to medications (and food and sugar intake and possibly even to recreational drugs like alcohol and tobacco).
I am just in the beginning of the Pharmacology book. I will keep you updated on how my musings are reacting.
Thanks for reading!