Alternative Treatments

A good friend of mine recently passed from gastrointestinal cancer and you know, being watchful of yourself <or those around you> can be so very important! His wife and I have discussed how he changed in his personality/moods/regular habits at the begining of this year that, its surprising to think of now. By the middle of the summer he was feeling very badly and decided to go get checked out. He passed by the end of the summer.
Personally, I found out through my regular yearly exam.
Being aware of yourself, and having regular check ups is really a great idea, healthy or not.
Glad to hear edgar that all is cleared up and you are more watchful now. My dermatologist was actually surprised that I brought up a few spots I was concerned about, most people dont pay attention, or just let it pass. Sometimes its what you know that makes you more thoughtful.

When I first became aware of my problem I went to a dermatologist. She barely looked at one of my worrisome spots and ignored the rest. Probably thought I was a hypochondriac. I had to persist to get any notice at all.

Well good for you for persisting, and shame on her for not looking into it further!! Or at least not exploring the possibilities! Humph!
Sometimes you just have to get second opinions, and third, and then figure out on your own what the best direction is to go forward.

I don't make it a practice to knock good conventional medicine. After all, conventional doctoring has saved my life in the past. My big complaint is that so many doctors concentrate on symptoms more than cures. The big drug companies seem to concentrate on medicines designed to keep you using instead of healing. And often the side effects are monsterous. To me the best combination is people and their doctors exploring every method of healing and choosing what works best for the individual, regardless of what drug companies and the FDA think.

People working with their doctors exploring what will work best for the individual

yes, edgar, I certainly couldnt agree with you more

alternate means of healthcare
It would appear that this is a good site for me to settle in and stay
awhile. I am definetely sick, and my immune system is attacking me
because I am made of the stuff that I eat, and toxic stuff is no doubt
trapped within my body- both emotionally AND physically. IS a good
idea to post this concept - put it out there. People can take it or leave it!

Babsatamelia, welcome to A2K, I'm sure you will enjoy this wonderful site and all who live here:)

Your comments above interest me because I have a friend at work whose own antibodies are attacking her live, the antibodies see her liver as a foreign body and are destroying it. She just had a biopsy to determine how much damage has been done.

Do you know anything about this?

I hope you feel better soon.

As a matter of fact, I do. Your friend, and I - who both appear
to have liver abnormalities which are most likely related to this
auto immune disease - but instead of just attacking only
connective tissue, attacks vital organs as well. The most likely
cause is systemic lupus erythmatosis, which is LIKE any other
auto immune disorder, but much more likely to kill you, as
your immune system attacks your liver, heart, kidneys etc.
I have had this for so long, that I used to have a mantra
" life is pain" "life is pain" ; and I took my nonsteroid
anti inflammatory and continued to try to work, year
after year getting sicker and sicker, cutting down on my hours
from 5 days to 4 days to 3 days a week and finally went out on
permanent disability - after spending YEARS before finding a
decent rheumatology specialist or immunologist. I can't take
those drugs anymore because they can cause liver damage also.
I feel so fortunate now, if I am running a low grade fever, and
I get that butterfly rash over my nose and cheeks, and every
part of me hurts like hell, I can just go to bed and stay there,
this for me is like heaven.

Not sure it's really polite to quote like this but I wanted to comment. That reaction from doctors does not seem all that uncommon and you sometimes feel like making room for people who are really sick. It is a lot better feeling than the one you get when the doc says something like ". . . if you'd only come in six months sooner."

Roger,and Edgar,I hate to sound cavellier, but "ged oudda heah-make room for the sick people!" is the reaction I like best from my doc. Mostly because Andrew Weil MD has been my guru for years now. I have a pretty good grasp of alternative medicine, eating correctly to improve health; also the use of herbs in various healing instances.
At this point, I'm very"invasive-treatment shy". I refuse most knee-jerk prescribed drugs.And I dislike when my doc tries to give me drugs. Fortunately, she will work with me, as "peculiar" as I am.
EhBeth was talking earlier about the pain drugs causing growth of more pain receptors. Yes. They also cause stomach bleeds like crazy. But...hey! Got pain? Take this!
Psychotropic drugs are like this too. They have been found to close our natural serutan receptors. (Not saying clinically depressed people don't need these). But-everybody? No. Believe it or not, it's...natural to feel sad sometimes. Natural to feel anxious sometimes. Get over it! The best way is by exercize! Forms endorphins. Exercize also produces killer T-cells (which envelope virus germs, and even some bacteria.)But-hey-most docs-"you seem depressed. Have some Prozac! Feeling shy?Paxil, Honey!"
And in the meantime, keep eating that Mc Donalds, keep eating that hydrogenated oil and margerine. Keep swilling the orange juice and making insulin, keep eating that unorganic red meat-hey-blood pressure high? Dont bother to exercize, dont change your eating habits..take THIS!And certainly dont inform yourself, bother with that silly ALTERNATIVE stuff!

I don't like it.
Alternative medicine-it's not the ONLY way to go, but, to me, it's the first way.The best way.

joandark
I have sampled Weil and find he's very good. We all have to tailor our diet and health habits to our particular needs. My own program is a conglomeration of things from David Williams, Hulda Clark and Johanna Budwig. My personal inclination is to avoid the docs until there's no way around it. And there is always an alternative to any drug they provide.

**At the current moment, I am doing what I call a
liquid fast. (I'm a pharmacist, so who better to
know that every cure - has it's kill! Every drug,
from Aspirin to Anusol, may cause more problems
than they ever cure.) I am not really big on having
guru types getting into my head. I DO tend to follow
the gut instincts I have, & recently, my instincts have
been telling me to lay off foods that are difficult to
digest, since I have been having way too much
gastritis, gerd, or whatever. I figure, my gut
needs a rest. I am also crushing fresh cloves,
putting them into capsules, and taking these 3 times
a day. I am also drinking a cup of "boiled water",
with a teaspoon of honey in it. (I seriously doubt if
there is a city in the USA whose public water is
"safe" to drink) The honey drink seems to be
helpful in calming my very upset, irate digestive
tract. I can't claim that any of this will or will not
help.... it is just a trial and error thing on my
part.
**Naturally, I would agree with anyone who
has high cholesterol, that IF you can lower it by
eating oatmeal every day - DO IT THAT WAY,
and avoid drug side effects.
** Or if you are a woman with a yeast infection,
don't listen to those idiot TV ads, suggesting that
you take a somewhat toxic systemic oral tablet,
when this can be treated fine with topical creams.

Since I am so ill at this point
in my life - I am open to any or all
suggestions, ideas etc, so I may
give each some thought &
consideration. I have rheumatoid
arthritis, and systemic
lupus and inflammatory bowel
disease. Essentially, my own
body's immune system, is trying
to kill me. It begins with attacking
all of my connective tissue, tendons
ligaments, muscles - turns them
into calcified rock almost. Also
begins to go after the liver,
kidneys, heart, maybe even
the lungs.
**My theory is based on one
simple assumption.That we ARE
what we EAT. New cells, new
growth has to come from what
we feed our bodies. Our world
becomes more toxic daily, so
our foods become more full of
preservatives, & other toxic
garbage. The body's immune
system is engineered to only
attack cells that it sees as "not self"
cells. So, why is it attacking my
own "self" cells? Maybe
because my own cells are, based
on what I eat, looking less and
less like the "self" which they
were designed look like and
to be left alone.

Ugh.I hate to have this taken as an insult, but dogs are the same way. Many dogs today are suffering from allergies, and auto-immune diseases,due to a lifetime of vaccines. Legally forced rabies shots are given every second year, (although the vaccine is a 3year vaccine)And we innoculate for distemper etc every year.
Now there is a movement to stop this. A company has invented an easily accessible titering kit for veternarian's offices, and those not interested in overvaccinating their dogs blindly cam opt to have their dogs' blood titered, to see whether they still have high levels of the vaccines on board (they usually do)
<Sigh> Too bad they can't titer OUR blood, for pesticides, chlorine, air inhalants....
Edgar, I have read David Williams and Hulda Budwig some.But Andrew, to me is the father of alternative medicine-I have all his books. It was he who taught me , with his"8 weeks to better health", the rudiments of the program I follow still. I like very much that he is an MD-having ALL the knowledges, as it were. Amazingly, when I started his 8 weeks, I began to feel marvellous. So-if it works.....
I used to carry Andrew's list of the most pesticide-ridden foods with me to the supermarket. By now, of courseI know it by heart.
Too bad-strawberries being the most highly pesticided fruit-they are also one of the most healing, and can be so pricey organic.
I also follow Andrew's suppliment suggestions. Other things I add by trial and error.I have also studied herbalism a bit-make my own herb teas, use autumn Dandelion root for calcium. I take a LOT of suppliments-to think I used to be lucky if I took a vitamin pill!But-(knock on wood)-my immune system really HAS gotten stronger over the years. And I take zero prescribed meds, except for Rhinocort Aqua, which effectively keeps my sinus open and not "cooking things"!
That's pretty good for an old crone!

In a regular mailing from Hulda Clark's research site there was this article about the Quackbuster organization:
Health freedom advocate Tim Bolen writes:
Self styled Quackbuster Victor Herbert died of cancer November 19th. Herbert had obtained notoriety among the Quackbuster rank and file for his screaming attacks, in public, against anything and anybody engaged in alternative medicine. When confronted with demands to back up his anti health claims with science, Herbert would get even more shrill.


The rest of the article tells of screaming attacks and even physical assault against Frank Weiwel (People Against Cancer). Herbert carried a machete in his car. Asked about it he said something like, "Last week a bum tried to wash my car. I won't tolerate that."

Have you seen the latest issue of Newsweek magazine?
Big section on alternative therapies.

I generally avoid mainstream commentaries on the subject because I often find them condescending or even hostile to concepts that have become like religious rituals for me. Not to put Newsweek down; I haven't seen their report.

In the field of holistic medicine, do people still use colonics for internal cleansing?

Edgar:

Both TIme and Newsweek had giant articles on alternative medicine. Excellent comentary for the non-medical reader.

I really need to check it out. I live such a fragmented life it's hard to get to so many things. This should be worth it, I think.