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any "alternative health" success stories?

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I do this alternative health thing...Orthomolecular. dates from the 50s. The idea is that you take high dose vitamins for health stuff (psych stuff, in my case), plus "standard treatment," if "standard treatment" helps you and is available. So...

I'm trying to find a way, now that I've (miraculously...) "recovered" from (shock 'treatments,' drug abuse, psychosis, etc.) to figure out...

"is this hippy stuff really helping?" so, I try to get to digging on The Google, and...

wow. The mainstream people accuse Orthomolecular people of being a "cult," while the Orthomolecular people point out that their treatments are waaay cheaper, less toxic, and are often compatible with drugs, surgery, etc. Me? I'm just trying to figure out the best way to stay healthy, get healthier, and avoid the pit falls of tranquilizer treatment (tics, twitches, turning into a semi-vegetable, memory problems, massive weight gain, etc.), while still getting what I need out of "standard treatment" (in psychiatry...that pretty much means suppressing symptoms...sort of like cough syrup, every day, for the rest of your life....). ugh.

so...I thought I'd ask...

have y'all had any luck with "alternative" health? Not just Orthomolecular (which, btw, seems to have faded in overall popularity, but seems to kind of retro-chic in Hollywood...weird....), but anything...herbs, teas, anything outside the mainstream. Mega-failures...I guess I should gear up to hear those, too, right? LOL.

Thanks. :)
 
I used to feed my dog a raw diet if that counts--meaning a diet of raw meat bones + organs because they're carnivores. Used to be real controversial thing a few years back and the vets were mostly against it. But my dogs did well on it for years and the vet agreed they were healthy.

A whole lot of the stuff out there is junk science, so you do gotta be careful. And those camps tend to talk sensational and make their thing out to be a miracle cure. In many cases there's nothing wrong with trying something, but some advice--for instance feeding your dog garlic instead of flea meds--is bunk. (Garlic is actually toxic to dogs and cats. It also didn't work when I tried it, what I got was a massive flea infestation and several trips to the vet over staph and yeast infections. It made my dog very sick.)
Basically, do your homework and be smart. But some of the stuff does legitimately work
 
yeah...

the thing is, Orthomolecular seems to be either wholeheartedly embraced or totally rejected, until...now, lol. Now it looks like mainstream researchers are using IV Vitamin C injections for cancer and such, so...that's part of what Orthomolecular is/was about. Awesome.

But the shrinks...NO! LOL. Supplements to boost psych drugs is a big thing right now, but no one will utter the magic words: "Orthomolecular Psychiatry." So, the available research is focused on lower doses of individual parts of a typical Orthomolecular line up...not the full dose, whole line up. Ugh.

On the plus side, it seems my risk for Tardive dyskinesia is a lot, lot lower on this vitamin cocktail than on just the tranquilizer. It also seems that Orthomolecular helps some people get off and stay off benzodiazepines. Always a good thing...

anyway, thanks for your post. You're right about that "all natural" anti-flea stuff. DOES NOT WORK. I tried some essential oil stuff, and the cat had to go to the vet. a friend..her mother was/is New Age, herbal remedies, chakras Queen, etc...steadfastly refused to visit the vet. I guess she thought patchouli and astral projection could get rid of the fleas? That cat's dead now...

thanks again. :)
 
I have read that being deficient in some vitamins can have mental effects, so it makes sense that it could at least potentially help.

Lol, people recommend me essential oils every single time I post in this one Facebook group. I've been rec'd them for ear infections, abdominal pain..... Have no idea if they work or not and don't really have much idea what they are, but I've heard they're toxic to cats, so they're not an option for me as a cat owner.
 
I was supposed to be dead before I was 16. I'm 53. I don't listen to doctors so good.

BIG believer / practitioner in natural supplements: Rev 22:2 without which I'd be dead.

It's true that if it works the FDA AMA etc want to take it away from us, I have story after story of exactly that happening.

I do NOT believe in homeopathic remedies, which operate on a basis of reducing the active ingredient until there's none of it left. A tincture is a different concept, although I usually go with a pill form for convenience.

Before about 1964, medical research was based on food. Then in their infinite wisdom our government confiscated all that research and BURNED it. After that the 4 food groups came out, breakfast was suddenly "the most important meal," all of it being carbs, butter was bad and margarine was good, and vitamins were manufactured in a lab.

'Talkin' bout my generation,' that's the world I grew up in. There is no health in it. Your protocol from the 50's is infinitely wiser. Where the nutrients are sourced from is worth looking into, although I'll say your results demonstrate that you're doing something right!

Fun fact: due to soil depletion, US grown spinach has 17x less nutrients than it did in the 50's.
 
hi. you might find Orthomolecular interesting. At my (massive....) doses, I don't think I could do naturally sourced vitamins. I take 20 grams time-release vitamin C daily, for instance. 10 AM, 10 again PM. I think the vitamin C is the heavy-hitter. The other big one is niacinamide (I prefer it to niacin for B3). I take 6 grams/daily. Helps me stay calm, works with the tranquilizer so I can get the drug treatment I need w/o turning into a zombie. And...B-100 tablets, time release. I take 2 in the AM.

I was taking -so- many supplements, then I read more Orthomolecular, and their idea is....vitamin C is -the- antioxidant one must always, always, always take, in big, big quantities. So, I dropped the other antioxidants and went from 10 grams/C daily to 20 grams/C daily, and...

its been awesome! I need to lose weight, but even with that and my inborn tendency towards nervous tension, my blood pressure is normal, and good. I used to have both bad allergies and skin problems, connected with the hay fever. No longer. I also think the C--at my dose--help keeps me calm(er), takes the edge off agitation and paranoia, etc. How? Not really sure. One Orthomolecular shrink wrote about C acting on dopamine receptors (works with antipsychotics, basically) and B3 (in my case, niacinamide) working on GABA receptors, boosting benzodiazepines and/or many of the anti-seizure drugs shrinks use to calm people w/ mood+agitation issues down. Seems to help. :)
 
You have me curious about what form of vitamin C you're taking that you can ingest 20g every day. Is it more than just ascorbic acid?

One of my customers used to run a pain clinic, and has written books about high dosage vitamin C injections. I never tried it. The changes Obamacare brought caused him to quit his practice. Seriously. He's not going to work that hard only to lose money. I know several people in that position.
 
I personally try to be very cautious about using pain killers too much. I believe pain is my body's way of telling me something is wrong and that I need to take it easy. My wife gets on my case about it sometimes and yes, there have been times when my resistance to taking pain killers has actually worked against me such as when inflammation is the source of the pain. In those cases, the pain is causing the inflammation which in turn causes more pain and so on. Controlling the inflammation can go a long way toward healing. When I do take pain killers I try to use those that will treat the source and not just dull the pain. For example, if I know the pain is due to inflammation, I use NSAIDS such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxin sodium (Aleve). I also try to mix them up, taking aspirin one time and ibuprofen the next and so on, as I believe our bodies can become immune to the effects of pain killers. Acetaminophen works by raising our pain threshold but does not do much to reduce inflammation and swelling.

As with pain killers I also am tend to resist taking medications to ease the symptoms of a cold particularly those that help with stuffy nose, runny nose, and coughing. I believe these two are our body's defense mechanisms intended to help us fight off certain conditions. Yes, when things get tough I will take a decongestant to help clear my head or a cough medication so I can sleep at night but not during the day. This is because I believe sleep is extremely vital to the healing process but I also believe it is equally important to allow my body to do its thing. For example, coughing helps clear contaminants from my lungs and I don't want to inhibit that process. A dry cough might be an exception it it gets too disruptive.

I am also one that will question my doctors and even suggest alternative solutions. Here are a couple examples.

About ten years ago it was noticed that my blood pressure seemed to hover around 140/90 quite a bit so it was prescribed that I begin taking a beta-blocker and a diuretic to help control it. Everything was working fine. One day about six years ago during one of my semi-annual check-ups my doctor asked me how I was feeling. I told him I felt fine except maybe a little fatigued. But then I also told him I figured it was related to my work schedule because I had been getting up at 4:00am for work every day. He decided to run a blood test just to be sure and discovered that my potassium levels were quite low. Potassium, salt, and magnesium are three electrolytes that are crucial for proper muscle control and with my heart being a muscle this was probably causing my fatigue. He prescribed a 400mg supplement.

When I got home I did some research on my own figuring we must get this from our diet and so maybe an adjustment was necessary. I learned that green vegetables, fruit juices (particularly orange juice), fruits, and potato skins are exceptionally good sources of potassium. I called my doctor and asked if I could try a dietary change instead of the supplement. He said he'd give me two weeks. Two weeks later I went in for another blood test and my electrolytes were back to within normal parameters.

Back in July, 2011, during one of my semi-annual check-ups, my doctor commented that my blood glucose level were up a little and that we might need to watch that. In February when I returned we discovered that my blood glucose was over 350 which is quite high. I was type II diabetic. We began putting me on a oral medication called metformin and then I was ordered to take a class on dietary plans for handling diabetes. For the next couple months while I worked on taking control of my carbohydrate intake I began to lose weight and by August (6-months later) I had dropped about 30 pounds.

That same year for Labor Day weekend we decided to go visit my mother-in-law and I forgot to take my medication along. While there I was monitoring my glucose as planned and noticed that, although I wasn't taking my medication, my glucose was not changing. Out of curiosity when we got home I decided to continue without my medications for a few more days as long as my glucose seemed to be under control. After a week had gone by I called my doctor and explained the situation and he approved for me to stay off the medication as long as things remained stable. I have been okay ever since. Eventually, I expect that my pancreas will begin to slow down insulin production but hopefully I can help it as long as possible.
 
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There are cases where a disease is incurable and about the best you can do is to manage to symptoms and try to keep it from getting worse. But yeah, too much meds are probably a bad idea.
I've built up a tolerance to ibuprofen for sure. I had severe back pain for about two years, so I took a lot ibuprofen and it has zero affect on me now. =/

Oh, I'm actually having to switch my cat's flea meds because of this, too. The vets say the fleas are beginning to build a tolerance to the active ingredient in topical flea meds, so they're beginning to not work in general. Which really sucks, cuz the fleas are messing him up, giving him scabs and even bald spots. Poor boy. I'm having to give him an oral med now. His bald spots are growing their fur back and he only has a few scabs. What's going to happen when that eventually stops working? =/

While I'm not one for conspiracies, it's definite that business and profits can drive stuff. The reason vets were/are(?) against a raw diet for dogs is that they and their education are funded by the dog food industry. At least, I know that was the case ten years ago. (There's also that it's certainly not idiot proof. You should do your research and read up on how to balance a home prepared diet before feeding it to your pet. For most it's simpler to buy pet food with desirable ingredients.)
The popular push for raw diets and meat based dog kibble, though, has led to a commercial raw diet being available, and to pet companies at least putting on a facade of having meat based kibble. Moreso than back when I was active in the raw feeding scene.
 
I have a problem with acid stomach. The doctor presribed news and I came out in a rash all over my body. Want back to the doctor who prescribed a different new. My face, arms and legs blew out like really large balloons.
So I decided to treat it myself by watching what food I eat. Liquorice and ginger great help. Sugar, pastry and most meat totally out of my diet now.
And it works!
 
I think alternative health stuff is such a mixed bag because on one hand you got established science who has the funding and resources to do extensive, and peer reviewed studies.
On the other, you got mostly anecdotal evidence pointing out possible flaws and areas to look further into--and people forming strong opinions about their personal experience and forming cliches based on that that can border on cultishness.
Anecdotal evidence isn't totally to be dismissed, but it's got too many foreign factors to be as reliable as more stringent (sp?) study.
So alternative medicine gets a lot of stuff wrong because of hearsay and sometimes placebo affect, or other stuff. On the other hand, of course when the mainly accepted science does happen to be wrong or be driven by an agenda that is harmful, it's very hard to prove it. So that's fun.

I'm no scientist though. Them's just my thoughts.
 
I started looking into Low Level Light Therapy a couple years ago. Light of certain wavelength penetrates skin and bone into the brain and stimulates healing and regeneration.

Not exactly a scientific test, but since using it like 12 hours a day, I've had migraine headaches stop, fibromyalgia decrease, and chronic fatigue improve. No, I can't say for sure it was the lights, but other preliminary studies seem to support its efficacy. Will continue to use.

 
A few years ago my brother was telling me about a problem with pain in his knee. Sometime later I happened to ask him how his knee was doing and he said it was a lot better. He told me he started taking a fish oil supplement and that helped. Out of curiosity, I started digging into the benefits of fish oil and one of the benefits mentioned was that it can help reduce triglyceride levels. My overall cholesterol has always been within normal parameters but my balance has always been out of wack. HDL is typically too low, LDL is typically too high, and triglycerides are typically real high. Just for fun I started taking a fish oil supplement and at my following semi-annual check-up my triglycerides were cut in half. My doctor asked what I had been doing so I told him and he suggested I keep it up.

A number of years ago I decided to start taking a multivitamin. I don't recall what prompted me to do this but a few months ago a coworker and I were talking and I mentioned that I took a multivitamin daily. He said something like, "I'd bet you haven't been sick either." When I thought about it, he was right, I hadn't had so much as a head cold since I started taking the daily vitamin. Coincidence?
 
I think alternative health stuff is such a mixed bag because on one hand you got established science who has the funding and resources to do extensive, and peer reviewed studies.
On the other, you got mostly anecdotal evidence

That's no longer true. Massive amounts of good research has been done on many herbal remedies, whereas many studies of Rx are horribly flawed; if you read their research it's often easy to spot how the funding has deliberately created the results wanted.
 
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