I seem to have got away with tempting fate in last week’s blog about coughs and colds, but Jane, a patient of mine who’s asked me to share her story with you, hasn’t been so lucky.

She’s been diagnosed with a small benign (non-cancerous) tumour of the pituitary gland, and now needs to decide what to do about it. The tumour’s the most likely cause of some bothersome but not too serious problems she’s been experiencing, such as occasional bouts of hair loss and her periods being messed up, but isn’t life-threatening as long as it doesn’t get too big.

Tumours like this are relatively common, and people often live quite happily with them for years and years, without even being aware of their existence – in fact, her doctors have told her that she might have had the tumour (which her specialist likened to a wart) since childhood.

Although generally very slow-growing, it’s possible that if the tumour grows, it might become more of a problem later on, so tumours like this are generally treated with drug therapy, and this is what her doctors are suggesting.

All drugs have effects, of course – both wanted and unwanted. The unwanted effects are what we term side-effects. The snag for Jane is that the drug therapy her specialist is suggesting can have some unpleasant side-effects like nausea, and feeling pretty rough, so she’s currently thinking through her options.

Her specialist agrees that she could just do nothing, at least for now, and monitor the growth of the tumour via occasional tests, but he recommends that she take Cabergoline, a drug that she’s discovered can cause nausea, vomiting, constipation, headache, dizziness, postural hypotension, drowsiness, confusion, psychomotor excitation, hallucinations, dyskinesia, dry mouth, leg cramps, pleural effusions, retroperitoneal fibrosis, dyspepsia, epigastric and abdominal pain, breast pain, palpitations, angina, epistaxis (nosebleeds), peripheral oedema, heminopia, asthenia, paraesthesia, erythromelagia, hot flushes and depression.

Not surprisingly, Jane is wondering whether the therapy might be worse for her body than the problem itself: even though most of these drug effects are rare with the small doses she’d be taking, she’s keen not to experience them, so she’s agreed with her specialist that she’ll think about her treatment options, and get back to him with her decision.

Whilst I don’t envy Jane her position, I’m really glad that she’s decided that she wants to be in the driving seat as regards her health. It’s natural to feel scared when we get bad news about our health, but if we allow it to, fear can push us into a passive role when we’re diagnosed with something potentially serious.

Jane did exactly what I encourage my patients to do: she reported her symptoms to her GP, asked for tests and then a referral to a specialist, pushed for a clear diagnosis, then asked all the right questions about her treatment options, including that vital one – does the problem actually need treating now?

She’s listened carefully to her specialist’s expert advice, has researched the side-effects of the drug she’s been offered, and is weighing up the likely chances of experiencing these effects against any possible benefits of taking the drug. She’s also asked for time to think things through, and has made clear to her specialist that, as he’s not unduly concerned to get drug therapy underway immediately, she’ll be taking a little time to make her decision.

Jane understands that, if she gives up her power over her own health, she might end up passively going along with a treatment that’s not right for her as an individual. If she takes time to think things through, even if she chooses to go ahead and have the recommended drug therapy anyway, she’ll be in a much better position, because she’ll be making an active and positive choice to take the drug, rather than agreeing passively to something out of fear.

Supporting patients to go through this post-diagnosis process is a rewarding part of my work, and is something I focus on (together with prescribing individualised homeopathic remedies to help the shock of getting bad news) in the first consultation any patient attends after they’ve been diagnosed with something serious. After all, if patients are gently given the time, information and support needed to make their choice about the treatment options a positive one, this can be a vital and positive step on their self-healing journey.

For more information about how homeopathy may be able to help your self-healing journey, whether you’re taking conventional drugs or not, visit www.phoenixhomeopathy.com.

Disclaimer: Any views or advice in this weblog should not be taken as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, especially if you know you have a specific health complaint. Prescribed medication should not be stopped or varied without conventional medical advice. Please remember that homeopathic remedies and other health measures should be individually-selected to match the whole person, not just the unwelcome symptom. Seek professional advice rather than self-prescribing if your complaint is chronic, severe or long-standing, or if you are pregnant, elderly or on orthodox medications.