Frequently Asked Questions

Orthomolecular - Gk. orthos - correct or right. Of, relating to, or being a theory holding that mental diseases or abnormalities result from various chemical imbalances or deficiencies and can be reduced by restoring levels of biochemical substances, such as vitamins and minerals, in the body.

Arche Wellness has systematically determined what medical issues our patients experience and the best methodology for treating these problems. The result is a 4 step, systematic medical treatment process that starts treating health issues such as addiction, depression, stress and fatigue at the cellular level and works toward the larger systems of the body. Since this process begins at the biochemical level, it avoids the many mistakes that often occur when treatment is directed only at the symptom level such as misdiagnosis, mistreatment and further systemic disruption.

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We can provide volumes of information as to why this approach is a more effective, comprehensive approach to addiction treatment than talk therapy and medication alone. However, we prefer to start with some underlying principles that we believe to be inarguable.

Inarguable principles regarding substance abuse and addiction

• 1. Illicit drugs and alcohol are bad for you. They are chemicals that do extensive damage to the body.
• 2. Putting chemicals into the body alters the chemical composition of the body.
• 3. Consistent alteration of body chemicals can result in deficiencies in necessary chemicals and excesses of dangerous elements.
• 4. These excesses and deficiencies can make it more difficult for the body to function at its optimal capacity affecting the gastrointestinal tract, liver and especially the brain.
• 5. Many of these deficiencies and excesses are reversible with proper diagnosis and biochemical treatment.
• 6. Restoring proper levels of the body's internal chemicals creates and more stable physiological frame work on which to build long-term recovery, not only increasing overall recovery rates, but improving the quality of the patient's recovery and lifestyle.

If you agree with these principles, then you most likely agree with the orthomolecular model of addiction treatment.

Below is a list of programs that utilize an orthomolecular approach to addiction treatment

• Malibu Beach Recovery Center (this one is our favorite!)
• The William Hitt Center
• Health Recovery Center in Minnesota
• The 101 Program
• Bill Wilson and Orthomolecular addiction treatment
• The River Source Holistic Treatment Program in Arizona
• Passages Malibu Treatment Program in California

Cost-effectiveness of ORPs
Why do orthomolecular recovery programs actually SAVE patients and healthcare payers money in the end?
While all payers in PA have refused to reimburse medical approaches that seek to find the right molecule as opposed to the right medication, orthomolecular treatments are going it alone to save the healthcare industry millions later on.

This is because they truly do strive to resolve each medical problem at it's biochemical, cellular and metabolic root cause, as opposed to simply prescribing a medication that in many instances, not only does not resolve the underlying cause, but also creates a new set of problems, chemical imbalances and systemic disruptions. Anyone who has watched a prescription drug advertisement knows the extensive list of undesirables that can accompany any one medication. And although this medication has been designed to treat a single health issue, it can often cause numerous, seemingly innocuous physical problems known as "side effects" without ever claiming to solve the initial problem in the first place.
But we don't expect you to simply take our word for this, so here is an example.

All of our patients enter treatment with systemic, metabolic problems. Some of these issues are severe and can be life threatening if left undiagnosed. Yet, traditional addiction treatment programs do nothing to identify or address the systemic physical damage committed by chronic substance abuse.

So here is a news flash:

FACT: People who use drugs or alcohol regularly are putting large amounts of toxins into their bodies on a regular basis. This is inarguable.

FACT: When the body is forced to cope with high levels of toxins, the entire metabolic system is disrupted. This is inarguable.

Ask yourself "Do you honestly believe that putting large amounts of toxic chemicals into the body over an extended period of time does NOT cause systemic damage?" Do you honestly think that this damage can be corrected by simply talking about drug use in a group counseling session, eating junk food, drinking sodas and smoking cigarettes? SERIOUSLY?

While the type and severity of these disruptions can vary from one person to the next, the maladaptive physical processes caused by chronic substance abuse are inarguable. Here are examples of some:

1. Malabsorption
Your body is quite smart and very adaptive. And when you start putting a bunch of stuff in it that is essentially poisonous, it knows it needs to stop taking in that garbage. So it stops absorbing the toxins or at least it tries to. Unfortunately, when malabsorption occurs in the gastrointestinal tract to stop the absorption of toxins, it also stops absorption of vitamins, minerals, proteins and other healthy items needed for ideal performance. When this happens, the body becomes malnourished. Even though someone may be absorbing an adequate number of calories to maintain a healthy weight, and even obesity, it does not mean his or her body is substantially nourished. When the body is malnourished, it uses as much of its fuel to keep the basic systems running, which causes the less necessary systems to be sacrificed. For instance, when the body is deprived of B vitamins, it will use the amino acid tryptophan to synthesize the B vitamins. Unfortunately, tryptophan is a precursor for serotonin, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel satisfied and happy. Many anti-depressant medications are Selective Serotonin Reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) which increase the amount of serotonin in the brain, therefore decreasing symptoms of depression. However, if the depression is actually caused by a B vitamin deficiency, then adding the vitamin to the diet can also alleviate the depressive symptoms, without the synthetic, central nervous system disruption caused by the SSRI medications.

2. Fungal infections
Fungal infections can be caused by a number of issues. Toxins in the system can disrupt the normal flora in the gastrointestinal tract leading to a fungal growth. A high sugar or carbohydrate diet feeds fungi and can cause an overgrowth. A compromised immune system can develop fungal infections and addicts, due to high levels of toxicity and malnutrition often will experience impaired immune functioning. These fungi are often not noticeable on the surface but can cause impairment in any of the body's sytems. While a fungal infection can be treated, it must first be diagnosed and located. In addition, antifungal medications must be carefully managed, especially in the addicted population, due to the stress they place on the liver. Our fungal treatment process typically starts with a liver enzyme test to ensure that the patient's liver is not being compromised. Furthermore, we use a number of medical products to help clean and repair the liver, which is often stressed due to years of substance abuse.

3. Liver issues
As a result of chronic substance abuse many clients will experience problems in the liver such as elevated liver enzymes or fatty liver syndrome. There are a number of treatments that we can offer for these problems that have been proved extremely effective at reducing liver enzyme levels and treating fatty liver. It is important to stress that Arche Wellness is an addiction treatment program. While we can treat a number of health complications that arise from chronic substance abuse and addiction, there are some conditions that are beyond the scope of our care, such as hepatitis C, Cirrhosis and liver cancer. While we will refer patients diagnosed with these or similar medical issues to a licensed specialist, we can provide preliminary treatments that will improve the overall condition of the body, better preparing it for more specialized and intensive treatment regimens that will be prescribed by your specialist. Correcting absorbtion issues, infections and general malnutrition will make the body much more receptive to specialized treatments, increasing the overall effectiveness and likelihood of treatment success. We have yet to meet a hepatologist or gastroenterologist that prefers a malnourished, depressed active addict over a well nourished, sober and well-adjusted patient.

This demonstrates that, when the body is not getting the nourishment it needs, it will sacrifice the systems that it deems less necessary (like your mental health) for the sake of the more essential systems. This chain reaction is one of the most common problems we see in our patients:

Substance abuse = toxicity in the body = decreased absorption in the GI tract = malnutrition = deterioration in mental health=more drug use and addiction.

A typical medical professional, when presented with the problem of deteriorated mental health, such as depression, will prescribe a medication that disrupts that body's natural neuro-chemical behavior to manipulate the amount of active serotonin in the brain. An orthomolecular approach first examines the level of nutrition, determines the cause of the malnutrition (malabsorption), determines the cause of malabsorption (addiction) and then solves the root cause of the problem.

You probably think that we must be oversimplifying and you are right. But this is just one example of a biochemical process that can result in severe mental and physical health implications that can be corrected with proper testing, diagnosis and treatment. There are numerous causes for mental health issues, malnutrition and malabsorption; they are all treated more effectively when resolved at their root cause.

The Toyota Production System is regarded as the most advanced manufacturing model in the world and helped Toyota grow to be the largest automobile manufacturer in the world today. However, anyone familiar with the Toyota Production System knows that it?s not a system with which to build cars, it is a systemic process guide to do just about anything. Actually, Toyota representatives visited Ford Manufacturing sites and were rather unimpressed. It was their visit to a local US supermarket that inspired their waste-reducing, just-in-time approach to manufacturing. This was demonstrated as the supermarket only restocked and reordered goods once they were purchased by customers. This decreased inventory and therefore, reduced waste and loss.

The Toyota Production System is based on a number of different ideas that make it successful. In addition to the idea of reducing waste, the model also utilizes a pull system of production, emphasizes a culture of problem identification and resolution, standardizes work and tasks to increase accountability and uses the scientific method to determine changes at the worker level, as opposed to a bunch of big-shots brain storming in a board room trying to change the processes of a job they have never done. (Yes at Arche Wellness, the counselors improve the assessments and treatment plans, the medical team improves the prescriptions and labs.)

It is these and many other Toyota principles that Arche Wellness has come to use and value. While we could document principle after principle attesting to the why Toyota makes our program revolutionary, here is a simple case example.

CASE 1: Ann
Ann was a 26 year old heroin addict attending treatment at Arche Wellness to address her addiction and depression. Ann was prescribed IV infusions daily for one week. However, Ann's heroin addiction had taken a heavy toll on her veins making IVs a challenge in her treatment. Each time Ann came to the program for her infusion, the Registered Nurse charged with administering the IV was forced to stick Ann 3 to 4 times in order to get a vein on her. The nurse and staff determined that, while this occurrence is very common in the medical profession especially with heroin addicts, it was not ideal and therefore needed to be identified as a problem, solved to root cause and resolved.

The staff determined that Ann's veins were damaged and small, therefore making it difficult to establish a connection to the IV. The staff determined that while they could not improve the damage to her veins, they could increase the size of them. Anne was then instructed to drink 24 ounces of water prior to entering the program for her IV. She was also required to run on a treadmill at 65% MHR for 10 minutes to help further expand her veins. This process drastically reduced the number of sticks required to insert Ann's IV and the process is still used at Arche Wellness for patients with problematic veins.

A note about prescription drug dependence, benzodiazepine addiction and recovery.
Many patients are unaware of the severe, addictive nature of anti-anxiety and sleep medications. Dependence and addiction to benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drugs, sleep aids and psychotropic medications are more biochemically and cognitively disruptive and require substantially longer treatment periods than addiction to heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs. We have provided a list of highly addictive anti-anxiety medications to raise awareness of benzodiazepine addiction and encourage prevention. Arche Wellness currently offers the only long-term benzodiazepine addiction recovery program in the state of Pennsylvania. This addiction is one of the most difficult to recover and requires an extensive biochemical and behavioral treatment program to be effectively resolved. In some cases, the biochemical damage of benzodiazepine addiction can reach a point beyond repair.

Arche Wellness is constantly working to achieve reimbursement from third party payers. However, at this time, commercial insurance companies in Pennsylvania refuse to reimburse for this type of addiction treatment. Many people have asked us why. At this time, we have been informed by UPMC Health Plan that the geographic concentration for this our type of provider is full. We found this response odd since the PA Department of Health has verified that Arche Wellness is the only ORP in the state of Pennsylvania.

Here are the provider lines for substance abuse treatment services for some of the commercial insurers in Western Pennsylvania. We encourage you to contact these providers and inquire about reimbursement for orthomolecular addiction treatment services.

UPMC Commercial: 1-888-876-2756, for substance abuse 1-888-251-0083
Highmark: 1-800-223-4795

We also encourage you to contact your local representatives and state senators and state your concern that talk therapy and medication are the only approaches to addiction treatment covered by insurance in the state of Pennsylvania.
Contact your local represenative now

In many states, the Department of Health acknowledges the value of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches. Furthermore, many of these states have a CAM department within the department of health to regulate and advance these types of services. At this time, the PA Department of Health does not currently have a CAM department and our state has no requirements for reimbursement of CAM services from commercial payers.

See the "What is Orthomolecular Recovery" link for more information about the barriers to advancement of ORPs on the US East coast.