A paradoxical reaction occurs when the opposite of what is expected happens during amino acid administration. This is the unfortunately situation where a person’s symptoms get worse after starting or increasing the daily amino acid dosing value. This is exactly what happened to John, and his story is a great example of what needs to happen to get through this situation.
John had not seen much of a change in his urge to pull after initiating on a course of amino acid therapy. However, after we ran testing and changed his dose, he noticed an almost immediate increase in his urges to pull and gave us a call.
I explained to John that this was most likely a paradoxical reaction and that what we needed to do was to increase his amino acid dosing. Paradoxical reactions occur most often when we are very near the necessary threshold of amino acid dosing that will eliminate the urge to pull; it’s a good sign that we’re almost there.
John was understandably hesitant at first, but when I told him that when done properly, the increased urge to pull would subside in just one to two days and that he should experience a complete resolution of the urge to pull very soon, he said he would do it.
Two days later John gave me call to let me know it only took 1.5 days for the urge to pull to drop to “its lowest point in years.” After one more test and adjustment, John no longer had the urge to pull and has remained that way ever since.
Thankfully paradoxical reactions like those that John experienced are not common. However, when they do occur, it pays to work with a health care provider that understands what is happening so they can be resolved quickly.
