Polypharmacy: A Case Study
Managing multiple chronic conditions is often a complex balancing act, particularly when multiple medications—known as polypharmacy—are involved.
This case study follows a KineDek AI-CRT user who was referred by a diabetes specialist and suffered from diabetes, hypertension, Parkinson’s, and fibromyalgia. Her daily medication regimen included insulin, blood sugar medicine, strong blood pressure medications, painkillers (an opiate), anti-inflammatories, sleeping pills, and statins. She also experienced severe brain fog, lethargy, and constant pain in her shoulders, back, knees, and feet—compounded by an inability to feel her feet at all. Her journey with KineDek AI-CRT revealed both remarkable improvements and significant setbacks, largely linked to medication interactions and adverse effects.
Phase 1: Immediate and Sustained Benefits (August 18 - September 19, 2024)
After beginning weekly KineDek sessions, her body responded rapidly:
Blood Pressure Stabilization: After just one session, her dangerously high blood pressure (190/110) dropped to a more stable 134/85 and remained controlled without major spikes. Her last recorded reading in this period was 125/72.
Significant Pain Reduction: Her pain levels, initially described as close to 10/10, dropped noticeably to zero in places and remained significantly low for the entire period.
Restored Sensation in Feet: On the first day, she regained some feeling in her feet, with continued week-by-week improvement.
Cleared Brain Fog: She reported mental clarity, which remained consistent over the weeks.
Normalized Blood Sugar Levels: By her third session, her sugar levels, previously averaging 8-9 with peaks at 14, stabilized between 6-7, with occasional peaks at 9 even after consuming sugar. Her most recent reading (October 19, 2024) was an impressive 5.4.
Phase 2: Setback Following Steroid Use and Hospitalization (September 26, 2024)
A visit to a rheumatologist led to a steroid injection. The next day, she developed a lung infection, leading to hospitalization for pneumonia. This setback underscored a well-documented issue: steroid-induced immunosuppression.
Phase 3: Medication Complications and Restarting Sessions (October 10 - November 28, 2024)
Upon resuming KineDek sessions, she returned with high pain levels and increased blood sugar. While KineDek once again helped regulate her symptoms, a medical scan on November 1 revealed a severely perforated stomach, necessitating discontinuation of most of her medications, particularly painkillers and NSAIDs. This aligns with known risks of long-term NSAID use, which can cause gastrointestinal damage.
Phase 4: Break in Sessions and Health Deterioration (November 28, 2024 - January 9, 2025)
A break due to holidays (she was for 2 weeks on a break) and illness (followed by 2 weeks illness, and then no sessions due to end of year hiatus) led to a return of pain, blood sugar instability (rising between 11-20), and erratic blood pressure. Low readings (below 100/60) accompanied by severe tiredness and dizziness were linked to adrenal insufficiency—commonly associated with prolonged steroid use. The UK NHS warns of this condition as a direct consequence of steroid dependency. KineDek sessions helped provide temporary stability, improving her energy for about four days after each session, as well as general pain relief for the week.
Phase 5: Statin Controversy and Worsening Symptoms (February 27 - March 6, 2025)
Despite a cholesterol reading of 5, she remained on statins, despite UK NIH warnings that statins may exacerbate fibromyalgia symptoms. Additionally, while Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is often recommended to offset mitochondrial damage caused by statins, even this supplement can introduce side effects, further complicating the situation. By late February, her condition deteriorated, leading to session cancellations due to low BP, dizziness, severe tiredness, which resulted in unprecedented pain levels, most likely due to cancellation the previous week. Furthermore, statins have been associated with a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease, a condition she was already managing, raising concerns about their role in exacerbating neurodegenerative symptoms.
Key Takeaways: The Role of Polypharmacy in Health Decline
This case study highlights the critical role of medication interactions and overuse in health deterioration. While KineDek AI-CRT consistently provided relief and stability, medication side effects repeatedly counteracted these gains. Several key insights emerge:
Steroid Risks: The steroid injection triggered an immediate lung infection and later adrenal insufficiency, highlighting their known risks in chronic disease management.
NSAID-Induced GI Damage: The need to discontinue pain medication due to stomach perforation aligns with research on NSAID-related gastric complications.
Statins, Fibromyalgia, and Parkinson’s: Despite a cholesterol level of 5, continued statin use may have worsened fibromyalgia symptoms and is linked to an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, potentially compounding her neurodegenerative challenges.
KineDek as a Stabilizer: Throughout, KineDek AI-CRT provided pain relief, energy boosts, blood sugar stabilization, and nervous system support—despite medication setbacks.
This case underscores the importance of reassessing medication protocols, especially in complex conditions where polypharmacy may cause more harm than benefit. A more integrated approach—such as leveraging KineDek AI-CRT while minimizing harmful medications—could be the key to sustained health improvements.
Final Insights
While medication is critical for lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, it should always be viewed as a short-term measure to allow for lifestyle changes to take effect. In this case, ongoing use of medications, particularly for pain and inflammation, had catastrophic consequences, while statin use may well have been the most significant contributor to its necessity in the first place.
The unfortunate victim of polypharmacy prioritized medical solutions as her primary intervention, placed some level of dietary changes second, and regarded exercise merely as something she had to do because everyone told her she should. Instead, she should have viewed exercise as a critical (and, in fact, the most important) systemic internal medical intervention—rather than relying solely on external medications. Her body was beginning to depend on exercise for her medical well-being, and when it did not receive it as expected, it reacted severely against the absence. Clearly, a radical shift in mindset was required—one that, to her severe detriment, had not occurred in this case.
In this instance, even the referring doctor shared the view that exercise was a crucial intervention, which is why the patient was referred to KineDek. However, the doctor also noted that this particular patient had a strong aversion to physical activity, further complicating efforts to integrate exercise as a primary intervention. In the end she viewed it more as a nuisance to her schedule—even though it was light and only 20 minutes a week—and always had less pain with more energy, as well as better sleep, even when she could not take sleeping medication.
References & Further Reading
Vekta: Rethinking Medication Overload: Are We Taking Too Many Pills?
The Economist: Too many people take too many pills
The Pharmaceutical Journal: How polypharmacy has become a medical burden worldwide
Harvard Health: "Are you taking too much anti-inflammatory medication?" harvard.com
National Institute on Aging. "The dangers of polypharmacy and the case for deprescribing in older adults." nia.nih.gov
Johns Hopkins Medicine. "Polypharmacy in Adults 60 and Older." hopkinsmedicine.org
PubMed: "Drug-induced diseases (DIDs): An experience of a tertiary care teaching hospital from India" nih.gov
NIH: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the gastrointestinal tract
UK NHS: Adrenal insufficiency – how to stay safe on steroids
The Pharmaceutical Journal: US researchers say statins may speed up Parkinson’s in susceptible patients
