Years ago, I saw a comment on a forum that stated “Allopathic medicine gaslights you to death.” Since then, one of my missions has been to bring that meme to the public consciousness.
I was trained by my mentors to sit with and to observe my laboring patients. After some time, I could often accurately estimate the dilation of the cervix without doing a pelvic exam. I could also recognize whether a labor was progressing normally, or whether exhaustion was setting in and some assistance was required. I encouraged my patients to move around and to assume differing positions which were more comfortable. If I left the room, all the nurses, attendings, and residents were at the central station, staring at computers. The fetal monitor tracings of their patients who were paralyzed with epidural blocks were visible on a monitor. The result was that my patients had shorter labors, a very low rate of need for pain medication, and most went home the next day. My Cesarean section rate was 6%. My hospital's overall Cesarean section rate was 35%. None of the other doctors were curious enough to ask why my C-sect rate was so low.
The birthing process is one of the most profound aspects of the human experience, but like many other things it's been popped in a box and very few people really make the effort to be present on what is going on there (that said a few of my friends who were very sensitive went into OBGYN for this reason).
From having watch the conventional birthing process far too many times, my own opinion at this point is unless you have a significant obstetric condition, birth should be done at home because the whole process has been robiticized, dehumanized and creates a lot of unnecessary complications for the mother and child there is minimal incentive on the hospital end to address.
My favorite statistic on C-sections was always how their frequency is directly influenced by when physicians want to go home and get off work.
I’m forever grateful for the sweet mama who put “Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way” into my hands when I was expecting my first baby. The information in that book was so empowering! It suggested that expectant moms ask certain questions of their obstetricians to gain insight on just how the docs intend to “manage” labor. I took these questions to my obstetrician, and he moved to exit the room before I had asked a third of them... he didn’t have the time or interest for my questions and concerns. He went from friendly and professional to dismissive and condescending almost instantly. As if to say, “If there’s anything you need to know, I’ll tell you.”
That same week, I left his practice, called a local birth center, scheduled a visit, and transferred into the care of a midwife. I was at 32 weeks gestation, and went on to enjoy a completely textbook, uncomplicated water birth (14 hrs start to finish, 14 minutes pushing). My second baby was a water birth at the same facility two years later; and, my third baby was a home birth. Never paid a dime to have a doctor or hospital “manage” my labors for me, and have never regretted it.
I thank God that there are alternatives to The System, and that The System hasn’t yet figured out how to force us all into it (yet).
I can't tell you how many times I myself, and friends and clients, women all, have told me how they are treated with disdain and condescension by male doctors, who seem quite irritated if you even ask a question... That is not to say I haven't experienced quite wonderful care, too, but not nearly so much. That said, I haven't been to see a doctor in "the system," other than for a CBC and having a mole removed, for maybe...25, 30 years. I have no plans to re-enter that system anytime soon, if ever.
At some point you should read the 1982 book Male Practice: How Doctors Manipulate Women. You can find it online. The author was a great physician and one of the early trailblazers in the field. Interestingly enough one of the commenters here was mentored by him.
Bravo! If a woman possesses the internal strength, faith, and confidence to give birth naturally, she will impart that inner strength to her entire family.
My babies are now 18, 16, and 15, but I remember their births with such fondness and affection now even though the pain was incredible. Absolutely wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is supernatural.
This is part of why a lot of my friends went into OB. Some very powerful energies move through the room during the birthing process more sensitive people can feel (something similar also happens during the dying process).
The dying process-YES! It’s truly unfortunate, that instead of embracing the dying process, (like many cultures), the West tries to ignore it or deny it. When my father was close to death, he wanted to be alone. He had prayed years before, studied crossing over, and wanted no drugs in him. He wanted the dying experience. He was very close to God. I respect that. I didn’t understand at the time. I believe dying is a form of birth and it’s just a important as birth.
My wife's first birth was at a hospital. Twins. She almost ended up having a C-section, but due to the strength of her personality managed to ward them off. (I would have caved in.)
A couple of hours after my wife gave birth I picked up one of the twins and cradled her in my arms. A minute or so later a nurse ran in and in total shock implored me to put the baby back because something something germs.
My wife also wanted them to dim the lights so that she could rest. Again we were told that because of something something there is a rule that the lights must stay on.
And of course during the hospital stay the babies had to be taken away from the mom for hours for some <reasons>.
After that we said "never again" and all our younger kids were born at home.
In addition to the increase in maternal morbidity and mortality with C-sect, the painful incision and decreased mobility interfere with the infant bonding process and the prompt initiation of breastfeeding. Also the infant is deprived of the development of a healthy microbiome due to lack of passage through the maternal birth canal.
I'm not surprised about the post-partum depression link to C-section which disrupts the entire pregnancy birth cycle and I'm sure influences the hormonal shifts surrounding the transition from the pregnant to post-birth state. I believe that the mechanized, artificial hospital birth experience also contributes to post-partum depression in many women who experience it since it forces a disconnection from bodily sensations and cues and the surrender of control over their own natural rhythms and the feelings associated with the entire process.
I completely concur. Conversely there are women who possess the courage to utilize their innate strength and good health to give birth in their own homes without drugs, surrounded by their loving family and friends. Their positive spiritual birthing experiences give them the confidence and fortitude to raise healthy, vibrant families and to be a shining source of strength and encouragement.
Doctors don't care about their patients any more, in the majority of cases. Shocking, but obvious when you see the results of modern medicine. It's also obvious when you listen to your story, and the total disinterest the rest had in finding out why you had better outcomes.
These doctors care more about their money and their prestige.
We should force constant reassessments for the patients of doctors' behaviors, with analysis of which ones have superior results. Again, for the patient. Not the hospital. Not Pharma. Not the doctor.
I think most do care, its just that the way medicine is structured it's very difficult for them to conduct the practice of medicine in a way that allows them to care about their patient. If you have 15 minutes for a visit and need to spend 10 minutes filling out an electronic record, you have to be remarkably talented to also interface on your patient on a deep level.
It's a very subtle plan the devil's devised. It's all for our good and yet step by step it overwhelms everything. It's the same way in education with no-child-left-behind. It sounds good, but in practice it keeps all of the children from receiving anything close to an optimal education.
I am not surprised to hear this obsession with algorithms in healthcare exists. I mean who doesn't like algorithms. I like algorithms. Make them, use them, develop them for a host of reasons.
In emergency medicine it makes perfects sense to have them. But algorithms for working with more complex issues? Hmmm I very much doubt they could ever replace free thought. We are not smart enough. Thus neither are the things we program.
As much as I love algorithms, trends and patterns. I equally love outliers.
I love outliers because, well there has to be a reason those things do not conform with the trends most other things do. And the most plausible reason why they don't fit within the observable trend is because our model.. the way we map the trend is wrong.
I think we think we know a lot. But are in a matter of fact arrogant and have much yet to learn.
About " emergency medicine" : may I remind of the protocols used to force air, not using adequate medications. People were being pumped to death. The pleads of EMR doctors to change the protocols were ignored. Imo organized crime.
I appreciate your insight and commitment to the health of your patients. I recently was introduced to a doctor here in NJ, a private internist who also practices integrative medicine as well as acupuncture. He shares much of what you focus on using a hands on approach and far less favoring allopathic drugs. Interestingly he grew up in Romania during the communist regime where the central rulers controlled every aspect of life. He’s appalled by what he now witnesses daily here which culminates in the decline of health for so many patients all over the place. I’m sharing your writing with him.
One of the best doctors who trained me fled here from Hungary during the reign of communism and structured his whole medical practice around giving necessary care to people who could not get it otherwise. He told me his life experiences in communist Hungary had a huge influence in why he chose to dedicate his life to the service of vulnerable groups no one stood up for.
My internist (like a big shot internist) in spring 2022 at major medical center was pissed off one of his patients a retired ER doc treated some 1000 patients with Ivermectin and steroids, and they all got well. He was like, how dare she, while I was thinking bravo!, hero! So...read elsewhere these docs are complicit or mass psychosis... Unvaccinated, yet he still was hardcourt press on shots and boosters spring 2022, and whatever else pharma pushes out I guess...
I work with a lot of physicians who are to this day incredibly scared of C19. I don’t get it. It’s been two years have they not expanded their information sources? I’m waiting for them to throw off their masks like what happened on the flights after they stopped mask mandates... sadly I thing we’ll be masked in hospitals indefinitely.
I was one of the first people to wear masks during the pandemic (this was in jan) and got made fun of my most of the doctors I worked with for doing it. My logic was:
-The virus in china is really dangerous.
-I don't presently know how to treat it.
-I would greatly prefer to not be wearing a n95 mask or be in fear of the virus, and I cannot let this affect my life long term so I need to figure out how to treat it as soon as possible both for myself and to keep people I care about alive.
By April I felt pretty confident I could treat it and it was not going to be anywhere near as bad as the original figures in China suggested, so I stopped wearing masks except around patients with COVID and gradually started treating people I knew who became ill.
Most of the doctors I worked with who made fun of me for wearing a mask back then
It’s astounding to me. You’d think they’d want to stop seeing ruptured aortic aneurysms and aortic dissections in younger patients? I guess they are just too far gone. Disheartening to say the least
No longer the practice of medicine where everything evolves and improves, and actually your shunned/scorned for a long while before your accepted, then pushed up to mainstream and blue chip status, no longer that, it’s this way only, dictatorial, which when u hear it, you know instinctively it’s dead wrong posture for academic medicine or any practice type. Thanks for all the time educating us Midwestern Doc, so very appreciated. Go Cubs!
You are making my home printer run out of ink and paper! There is so much GOLD in what you have written here that I feel compelled to print the whole thing out, underline key phrases, and go over them again and again. THANK YOU for these wonderful insights. They resonate with me to the core.
Basically, I’ve now opted out of the health care system. I’ll only go to a doctor if I have a specific problem that I am unable to solve/ fix by other means. The feeling of freedom this gives me is marvelous. At age 68, I feel healthier than I’ve ever felt.
You're 68? You're gorgeous! And I think you're smart to "opt out" of our current health system. Know that (depending on what state you're in) - you may be able to order your own lab work if you want.
From: A fit 53yo female nutritionist who is also avoiding our health care system
Hey, thanks (and yes, that’s my age). I see that we are on the same page! I live in Santa Monica/ Pacific Palisades, CA. I used to order a yearly blood test (where I had pretty much everything tested, to keep as a baseline) through LifeExtension.com. I kept it for my own records. But now, I’ve decided to stop even that. My readings are whatever they are — I’m not checking: I’m DONE.
Hey I think I get you on this too. For 2 reasons :
1. What if our health is much more dependent on our brain/emotions/thoughts etc, ala Louise Hay You Can Heal Your Body (I believe in this...)
2. All the "over diagnosis" that happens with people for "stage 0" breast cancer and other problems that aren't even problems.
I'm currently watching all the 50 yr olds do as they are told, getting their first colonoscopy (the "cleanout" has GOT to destroy your gut biome) and 2 shingles shots and (sorry, but) I think they're crazy. Total overkill.
I have been wondering for a while where that figure will end up if they come clean about the vaccines (short and long term effects) as they now appear to be one of the top causes of death.
When you refer to this and the vaccine injury AI program because it was 2010 I'm assuming it is all vaccines in general. I lately have stopped all vaccinations for my 14month old because I've been finding more and more info about the damage they cause and can't figure out if any should be given or need to be given. My other two children had all their shots but one at a time. Do you have more writing or is it in the book where the more exact numbers or info on this can be found? Thank you for your help.
(In reference to both the acronym and the Japanese meaning)
On a more serious note, most HAI's could be prevented with ultraviolet blood irradiation (very safe and cheap procedure). This has been proven in multiple countries.
🙇♂️ Sounds promising. But still need to stop the C.diff. One study a couple of years ago reported that healthcare worker hand washing between patients was not happening up to 50% of the time. Blame training, supervision, staffing and call buttons I suppose.
The problem is that a requirement for malpractice to go through in court is that a physician violated the accepted standard of care. This is one reason why have corrupt guideline committees ripples down into suppressing all non sanctioned forms of treatment even if they make a lot of sense.
They claim they ARE addressing them. Look at the obsession w getting as many as possible in statin poison. And the relentless drum beat for a diet “high in healthy whole grains and low in saturated fat.”
Problem is they give exactly the opposite advice of what they should be giving. Nobody was obese 120 years ago. In the early 1900s, folks had identified SUGAR as the likely contributor to increasing rates of heart disease.
But Ancel Keys bullied his way into Congressional committees and the American Heart Association, claiming by way of badly done studies with cherry picked data that dietary cholesterol was the problem.
He and many others since somehow convinced millions of Americans that eating man-made oils was better than continuing to consume the natural fats that God has provided for us.
Chronic illnesses give continuous cash flow - consider the infrastructure of pharmaceuticals and procedures to keep people limping along until they succumb anyways
Bravo 👏🏻!!!!Great detailed read ! All I can add, is the residents I teach, love EMR (copy/ paste one patient to the next). Orders are placed with a stroke of a button! They have free time to order what they need from Amazon and follow friends on Twitter, Instagram and the like. It’s a whole new world, sad to say. Open philosophical discussion on care and treatment of the patient ( the whole patient, mind , body and spirit ), is gone.
I view a lot of the deep personal interactions you have with patients as one of the big privileges of being a doctor because it creates an environment that allows you to rapidly learn a great deal about the human condition and spiritually evolve (real conversations always unravel karma; lots of spiritual practices on this).
The way a lot of people are trained is to see the patients as objects and the goal being to do whatever you are supposed to do with the interaction, get out of it as quickly as possible and then go around to having fun on something souless like social media.
One of the major upsides to me doing this substack is that since I started I spend very little time on that garbage now because this fulfills my need to communicate write and express myself.
I benefit so much from the pieces you write. As a consequence of your efforts (and that of other Substack writers), I'm also spending very little time on souless social media. This piece is particularly interesting and thought-provoking. Thank you!
A big part of why I can speak my mind on here is because I'm not trying to recruit patients through here. Nonetheless I appreciate your sentiment, and I do believe there are plenty of other people like me out there if you know where to look.
One of the things you might consider looking for is a medical doctor who maintains licensing in allopathy (so still may care for you as PMD if you must be hospitalized) but who works primarily in private practice and mainly using naturopathic and homeopathic practices. It will be much more expensive, as mainstream will not cover this care (nor should they, this way they have no say in what care is rendered) but without your health, what else do you have?
I studied a great deal on my own and implemented things that changed my life at a fraction of the guided cost, but it's been a long, lonely road and a lot of time and effort (and likely some avoidable pain/discomfort, as I want things fixed yesterday and so jump in both feet).
Naturopathy is, at heart, just accepting that our environments, internal and external, contribute to and maintain our health - it is at heart, preventative, but can be extremely corrective and healing to someone suffering huge challenges.
Homeopathy is a type of energy medicine and, as all life is energy and operates within and responds to varying frequencies, giving your body the blueprint of how things should operate often puts your spirit/mind/body back into an alignment that can help to correct the circuits where they went awry. I have been using homeopathy for about a decade now and have had chronic things with debilitating emotional/spiritual components (severe PTSD) just fall away and the physical symptoms along with them. I have also very successfully treated acute concerns.
One of the other commenters here made the very strong connection between mind/body - spirit is huge in that as well, as AMD states. The primary thing is to find a doctor who is positive (sees hope) and is willing to consider all options. That is becoming increasingly tough to find, but many good providers are beginning this crossover as they recognize the limitations and downfalls of allopathy.
My dad was in the hospital last week and I observed the nurse wheel in a standing computer unit multiple times a day. He had so many obstacles to get around that I was thinking wouldn't it be easier if he just came in alone and did his observations and returned to hall computer and recorded what he saw? This incessant influx of tech makes us all feel dehumanized and part of a system that really doesn’t give a shot about anything but numerical data. It’s incredibly disturbing in so many ways. I’ve shared this with my sister as she has been gaslighted by medicine with her post V issues. Now seeing “alternative” medicine practitioners. Thank you for all your posts wish I lived in close to use your services as well.
Kat Bro , I couldn’t agree more. I hate those wheel around computers. I agree, go back to the nurses station where there are lots of computers for residents , doctors and staff. Doctors used to sit in a patient’s room and then examine the patient. Not anymore with the majority. I’m happy you found an alternative care doctor!
What a fantastic article! You put into a few pages what took me decades to figure out.
You see, I'm one of those with "the knack" for solving highly complex problems with imperfect solutions. Successfully doing so requires a very curious problem solver, one intrigued by the complexity and puzzle... one who cannot stop until s/he answers, "But WHY did that happen there?!"
I lead a team of engineers solving computer problems that have no perfect answer. I don't know more than 20% of the technical details of the overall system, but I'm an expert and finding and assessing expert opinions in context of each unique problem. COVID was, to me, just another highly complex problem with imperfect answers. I just needed to learn enough about the data to find honest sources and truth-speaking experts.
Three factors I think are common in folks willing to embraces the complexity: great problem solving skills, unquenchable curiosity, and strategic vision.
The more complex the problem, the more important the curiosity and vision are. If you can't see the big picture and remain curious, your problem solving skills will not have enough time or context to work through the data and noise.
When I finally understood what you described here, I experienced a peace that had been lacking my entire adult life. That occurred roughly 2018. And it was key to my looking at the COVID problem and thinking I could learn enough to understand it (since clearly nobody in charge could be trusted to do that for me). It took me a lot longer than I'm used to because I had to learn the biology/virology, figure out who the experts were speaking truth, and where to find the data.
Don't get me wrong. I'm no doctor or virologist or what have you. But I do know how to read data and evaluate expert analysis based on the data. And I know how to cross-check assumptions to validate them. And how to identify conflicts of interest.
As you said, the root of the problem is the controlling "leaders" that care not about us...
I found some short references online, particularly one comparing Edison to Tesla. My early career style was Edison, evolving into Tesla with experience and increased complexity of the problems.
At the pace I'm learning to solve complex problems, I can likely match one or both of them in... about 200 years.
I can solve complex problems on EXISTING and mostly functional systems. The stuff they did... often I can only explain the problem, not actually understand where the solution might be. I don't think I have that gene, whatever it is.
Tesla's method of problem solving has always been quite inspirational for me. I can periodically do aspects of what he did (ie. I normally see the essays I post on here start to finish and then just try to get them written into print), so I know it's possible...but I am very doubtful I will get anywhere near where he was by the time I die. One of the people I trained with was able to get some of Tesla's unpublicized inventions and I was really impressed with what his relatively simple designs could do.
Basically tesla would just get visions or flashes of how to design something very complex and then he would model the whole thing in his head and adjust aspects of it to tweak and refine the design.
Tesla recognized a great deal of fractal connections throughout creation and recognized ancient symbolism and what those carvings signified. He (re)discovered a source of free energy and was nearly put down for it (struck by a car in a timely accident) and his office and entire life's work consumed in a fire (what wasn't confiscated and handed to Edison for the public editing/discrediting to come). Tesla's grand error was wanting to help humanity rather than design ways to create disposable objects which generate unending income.
I appreciate your articles, I've been nursing since 1993, grew very distrustful of allopathy 15-20 years ago and the c-19 onset was the final nail for me. The trend of MD's being squeezed out of any part of the decision-making process for their patients became more and more apparent over the years, and now they are commonly overridden by insurers, pharmacists and hospital administrators - now doctors come with a glorified rubber stamp bearing their name and degree, but others wield it, and all too many don't even realize the problem.
When these other administrators are squeezed out in their own turns, I wonder whether more people will begin to see the light?
I also accidently discovered Edison's method, although I primarily used it to memorize a lot of material quickly rather than for problem solving. That helped me a great deal in medical school and gave me the time to study a lot of stuff beyond the standard curriculum.
I have a similar background in software and systems engineering and architecture (now retired). Was often told I was the one who could "connect the dots". What tipped me off at the beginning of COV was the simultaneous coordination evident in the mandates in all of the biggest countries, the huge number of PCR test iterations, the secretive nature of Op Warp..., the conspicuous coordinated media coverage using the same phrases and themes, and the lack of success in previous mRNA vaccine attempts. I was already red-pilled by the impossibilities of 9-11 as told, so my instincts were on high alert from the beginning.
Behold, A Pale Horse by William Cooper (Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars) (if you can find an edition that hasn't been butchered) lays it all out plainly. They leave evidences everywhere of their real intents, as their way of keeping the Divine Pact.
You remind me of Ivor Cummins, another complex problem solving engineer. He has done a lot of brilliant work in the areas of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and now COVID.
This ordeal has really separated out wonderful doctors, and those that have blood on their hands. There are some who have not incurred guilt thru ignorance, but that excuse is diminishing. Many could face eternal damnation over this. Coercing this experimental, dangerous shot is a mortal sin, so too is remaining silent when you have exalted position as a doctors.
Systems naturally correct themselves and equilibrate. The issue with medicine is that there has been so much force from above to maintain the existing monopoly, that a correction never happened and now things have moved to an absurd degree where you now have most of the medical field pushing really dangerous and ineffective vaccines. I still think a correction will happen, it's just going to be a lot larger than people are used to because it was prevented from happening at an earlier stage.
Oh man I've been there! I have a horrific medical condition that you have never heard of, for it has no name and no mention in any medical journal. Dozens of docs I have seen did not find anything wrong, thought I was simulating or just plain coockoo. They like to stress you out to the point they can tell you that this stress is causing your condition so they can get rid of you by refering to a shrink. They MUST come up with a diagnosis within two appointments because next patient is waiting and they just cannot say "I don't have a clue what this is".
Thank god I am extremely stubborn and have no problem sticking to reality like fly paper. I retrieved my medical files with scans and all, did my own research and the diagnostics. Then searched for the best specialist in whatever country and told him what was wrong and what surgery to perform. Three specialists and surgeries later I am OK now. Not cured, but as good as it gets. My stubbourness saved my life. For those of you in the same boat, you need to study and find the one pioneering doc that thinks outside the box, usually in a university hospital or specialized clinic, doing things that nobody else does while still caring about the patients. Really they do exist and some even like to have me as a patient.
1) What was your disease (don't answer if you don't need to)
2) It is very common when I see patients that my response to a question is "I'm not really sure, but this is my best guess and why" and the consistent response I get is that they really appreciate that and I'm the one of the only doctors who they've ever met that will admit they don't know something. I have always thought it is very strange my behavior in this regard is so unusual.
1) Imagine you have a slightly sub-optimal anatomy that is causing your odontoid process to bump into your medulla whenever you look down at your genitals. This tiny spot that is bruising and shorting a few neurons just happens to be the lower end of the nucleus ambiguus, causing the swallowing reflex to act up in a way that all muscles involved in said reflex are contracting all the time, 24/7 except during general anesthesia. One could call it a focal dystonia. In particular the vocal cords are closing shut and in order to talk or breath you need the antagonist muscle to pull them open. It has always been like that and getting worse, like wearing a tie and some sadist tightening it bit by bit over the course of many years until you can barely breath or sleep or be awake by lack of sleep. And nobody taking you seriously.
2) Like I did not understand why some students doubt between studying law or studying medicine. Then I learned both are the same for those people, a simple scheme of (A) Learn rules. (B) Apply rules. (C) when a case is not found in the rule book, dismiss. Your patients are lucky because you are curious, honest and actually want to help them.
That sounds like something a (very good) osteopath could fix. If you ever have the chance to go to france and are able to get into Jean Pierre Barral's medical practice he'd probably be the one you want to see.
Actually, #2 is a natural an outcome of the "mentally lazy" and simplified patterns. Most people don't can't deal with complex systems that often don't have a perfect answer. Just too much, exactly as you've said here.
I run into the same thing regularly. I solve highly complex computer system problems with software that is imperfect being run by users that don't know software to train on highly complex systems. Everyone has to trust experts all around them while being an expert in one's own niche. Only works if you're curious, can't look away, and always seek true facts from data. In the regular folks' world, they just shut down when they hit too many variables. Took me a couple of decades to figure out what you wrote above.
I loved reading this! It was YOU who did it: your tenacity and dogged research, and then finding the appropriate specialists and surgeons. So admirable! Congratulations!!!
I've experienced medical gaslighting personally. I experienced sudden muscle weakness down one side of my body and, for the first time in my life, called an ambulance and went to hospital. As soon as they read my medical records and discovered a diagnosis of depression, they decided that that was the cause. Conveniently, that diagnosis meant they only had to write a referral to an equally useless practitioner. Job done, hands washed.
I've been depressed for 50 years and it never caused sudden muscle weakness before. IMO, they were just being lazy. And then lazier ....
A couple of months later, it occurred to me to get a printout of my blood tests. One number was significantly elevated and it explained why I had a clot or bleed that caused the sudden muscle weakness. Once I knew that, I took steps to deal with it and have been fine ever since.
Either nobody looked at the results because they already "knew the answer" or they looked and thought 'sucks for you' and couldn't be bothered to tell me. Equally likely, given how bad the NHS has become.
Beware of automatically trusting doctors. Double-check everything.
I've heard a lot of reports of people getting suboptimal care from the NHS. That seems to be what you have to expect in a socalized medical system where no one directly pays for their care and the providers have no incentive to do a good job.
I went to medical school in Sweden and experienced first hand such a system. It was a shock to come to the US IN 1979 and see the hard work and devotion so many private practice MD’s showed. Unfortunately they are being replaced with the Swedish model. The only difference being they are mainly employed by large medical organizations as opposed to the government.
Both socialized and private medicine can be good or bad, depending on the individual(s) one sees. I think the big problem with both kinds of western medicine is the underlying assumptions expressed in the algorithms (as your article describes so well).
There is rampant profiteering in both kinds, though it is more covert in socialized medicine. I also think that writing off anything not contained in the algorithms as "you be crazy" stems from either under-funding or pressure for profits, both coming top down. Medicine as it is practiced in the West is fundamentally the same pursuit of money & power by the few to the cost of the many and only the veneer is different.
My experience with socialised medicine - I moved from US (being poor = no medicine or dental care) to Australia, and was thrilled to just show my card and get treated. But as my iatrogenesis got weirder and weirder, I started to notice that I wasn't seeing a doctor, I was seeing an algorithm. The government pays, the government knows what it pays for, and the government determines the algorithm. This became frightening under CaptainTrips. (thanks to a commenter above for this reference)
Many years ago I learned an acronym -- MEGO -- from others in an online forum that were dealing with chronic fatigue. It stood for "My Eyes Glaze Over" and it represented one's response to being gaslighted repeatedly by MDs over having a condition that supposedly didn't exist. At the time, I had not learned the word "gaslighting" -- that came into my vocabulary only about 10-12 years ago -- but the connection is clear. So been there, done that, and saw the movie. I can't remember if there was a T-shirt.
Thanks for sharing. I read forums for pharmaceutical injuries all the time to educate myself and I've never heard of that term before. MEGO is a good example of mental laziness.
I am no longer able to find the MEGO acronym online. It may have been confined to one particular forum back in the mid-1990s, when I first obtained Internet access at home, but it left a lasting impression because all of my adult life, from the 1970's onward, I had been receiving the "it's all in your head" treatment from doctors, which was the focus of MEGO. They didn't actually call me a hypochondriac to my face, but they certainly regarded me as such.
I never have been able to fully determine what was/is wrong -- it hasn't really changed much -- but I do have clues now from labs and from a brain MRI, involving my mitochondria, LDL-C, steroids, and pituitary, and it has "iatrogenic" written all over it, although I can't prove it. The effective treatment has been to eat real food, live with the symptoms, and to avoid doctors that want to say it's all in my head -- that alone is a huge relief.
One reason I might not have found what I was looking for in my archives is that they are Internet email archives. I originally went online using The Source in 1982, followed by FidoNet and EchoMail a few years later, and then the Internet at work in 1994. There's no telling where MEGO might have popped up back then. Glad you found it.
MEGO is common for all complex problems. For me, it was most dramatic when common family problems had only three (3) variables and nobody would even listen to my predicting the outcomes. They couldn't figure out why it was more than 3 possible outcomes, too many details to follow, would rather just let fate sort it out. I couldn't fathom that reaction for decades, then finally sorted out I was different. And now you've explained it clearly.
So many thoughts went through my head as I read and so resonated with this! I will just share a few things, yet feel I could fill pages!
Both of my MD's left their professions stating early retirement, just prior to the end of 2019. One, quite abruptly. I could sense she had been seeming disappointed in the medical profession. Prior to one visit, when my son was preparing to enter college and live in a dorm, I had run across some information highly recommending the meningitis vaccine. It was new to me. My son was just entering her care (My whole family was in her care by the time she left- she took on kids once 18- I was so glad as I was ready for sure to fire the pediatrician! Another story....). When I asked her if she thought the shot was necessary, she didn't say a word, but just tipped her head downward, closed her eyes and shook her head. That was all I needed- I so trusted her, and am glad I had.
That same MD had been offering vaccines when she worked with another MD, who she subsequently left, but the only one I would get from her office had been a Tetanus one. When I went for my physical (which I really seldom did- but knew I was "due" for my 10 year "shot"), she asked me why I thought I needed a Tetanus shot. At that time I was not as up on all the shots and dangers- just was learning.....I had been avoiding flu shots, had a religious exemption form accepted at my work. For the Tetanus one, I was concerned as I worked with chicken wire outside in the garden and had heard of rust causing problems (rusty nail story)- really basic word of mouth stuff. She wouldn't drop it and said her records showed I wasn't due for another year- that it had been 9 (I knew for a fact this was wrong- and in retrospect feel she was helping me make a better choice by stating that). She dropped her efforts and I took it, but had some bad effects later (it was the DPT shot by then)....I do believe my symptoms were caused by the shot, but never looked hard into it. Lack of time- I won't get into that now. This MD, I could tell really disliked having to type into the computer while with patients. also. I could so see she was getting disgusted with the system- and the shortened time with patients.....always seeming rushed when previously hadn't. I am glad for her that she was able to leave. I can't help but think she knew something was up. Same with my OB-Gyn- but to a lesser extent.......Then after 2020 came, my Ophthalmologist decided to leave......I have lost my faith in the system too. But that would continue another chapter.
I worked in an allied health profession for 30 years. Also disintegrating in quality. Good MD's were/are hard to come by. I can tell you are a really good one. During this whole COVID situation- I made time to read Judy MIkovitz's trilogy and it really opened my eyes! I could back track symptoms I had to when vaccines were taken....and my own kids' behaviors and gut instincts. I KNOW I was correct in my suspicions. I thank you whole-heartedly for your writings. I feel confirmation in trusting my intuition and less alone. On a side note- the profession in which I worked was speech language pathologist- in neuro-rehab....Many times one has to really read between the lines- many of the patients cannot talk! One must look further and deeper and carefully. then along come the algorithms! Give me a break! No 2 brain injuries or CVA's are the same-too many factors! And the use of computer documentation while with patients!? These ones need face to face contact. I found myself constantly apologizing for having to enter information- and then stating what I was entering- for family members also present sake also. they knew I was sick of it and shared their views. I grew disenchanted very quickly upon EMR entry into the field. I wrote one heck of a long and detailed exit letter which I have subsequently received complements on from trusted individuals. I have over typed- but just had to let you know how grateful I am for your substack!
Thank you. I'll try to reciprocate! The meningitis vaccines are commonly associated with causing inflammatory bowel diseases; I have had 2 patients this happened to.
I had thought the meningitis vaccine was one of the few ones you could justify (because vaccines work against encapsulated bacteria and meningitis is rapidly fatal) but then I discovered that the vaccine isn't actually helpful for preventing the deadly complications (it's not designed right) and it has a lot of side effects, I had to walk back that tenative endorsement.
It would be interesting to hear your experiences if you were still in speech pathology now. The two main things I have heard are that the lockdowns were very detrimental to individuals with speech pathologies (as they could no longer have in person visits) and that you are seeing more (often complex) speech issues following strokes.
I frequently work with neurological injuries and often have success improving them. While I can normally come up with a treatment plan, I can't really conceive of any way an effective treatment could be developed that was a standarized algorithm.
I am no longer in speech pathology. My work had involved outpatient treatment in a satellite clinic affiliated with a very large hospital system. There were only about 10-12 clinicians in OT/PT/ST working at the site. The whole system was rapidly declining in quality as more demands had been being placed upon the professionals for documentation demands, reduced time for doing so- along with needed time for chart review/preparation with appropriate tests/materials, the mechanical nature of EMR's removing the 'human-ness' of treatment, inappropriate grouping of patients with different needs, oh, just the tip of the ice berg here. I also was feeling as a social worker in that I'd have to verify treatment coverage- Many times catching errors. Our system was about to transition to EPIC for records/documentation.
I can imagine masking would have made treatment awful! Also treatment of swallowing would have posed challenges. Any hearing impaired patients or apraxic patients would have had increased trouble. A side note- I had noticed a dramatic increase in the numbers of Parkinsons patients over the years also. When I started I would maybe have 1 per year- that became up to 4 in one day near the end- on my schedule.
I had heard there are more younger stroke patients the past couple of years. I know of 2 other coworkers- also in the field about 25-30 years- who left shortly after I had. I could feel everything going down the tubes a couple of years prior to my leaving. It was becoming harder and harder to make myself go to the office. I went on a short winter vacation with my family the end of 2019 and never went back. I feel I knew I wasn't going to return when I left. It is a long story!
It is good to hear you have success often improving neuro patients. My favorite areas of focus had been aphasia and cognitive retraining.
•One of the major things that has motivated my path in medicine has been the recognition we are facing a tsunami of neuroimmune conditions. The elderly often face the brunt of that but get warehoused and ignored.
•A few of my friends went into PT and then quit because they got fed up with the documentation requirements trumping the provision of care.
•There have been a lot of rumors the Bruce Willis's aphasia that forced him to quit acting resulted from a COVID-19 vaccine (a sometimes reported side effect of the COVID-19 vaccines)
I fear for preverbal infants trying to learn language and what all this masking means for them after a few generations? I'm already hearing a lot of mimicked sounds that are close, but no cigar, and in many languages, that slight hairline of a difference can change entire connotations and interpretations. They're not going to realize they're off, nor are the adults training them likely to catch the finer nuances through the mask and all the other implications (fear, distancing, etc) those entail.
I was trained by my mentors to sit with and to observe my laboring patients. After some time, I could often accurately estimate the dilation of the cervix without doing a pelvic exam. I could also recognize whether a labor was progressing normally, or whether exhaustion was setting in and some assistance was required. I encouraged my patients to move around and to assume differing positions which were more comfortable. If I left the room, all the nurses, attendings, and residents were at the central station, staring at computers. The fetal monitor tracings of their patients who were paralyzed with epidural blocks were visible on a monitor. The result was that my patients had shorter labors, a very low rate of need for pain medication, and most went home the next day. My Cesarean section rate was 6%. My hospital's overall Cesarean section rate was 35%. None of the other doctors were curious enough to ask why my C-sect rate was so low.
The birthing process is one of the most profound aspects of the human experience, but like many other things it's been popped in a box and very few people really make the effort to be present on what is going on there (that said a few of my friends who were very sensitive went into OBGYN for this reason).
From having watch the conventional birthing process far too many times, my own opinion at this point is unless you have a significant obstetric condition, birth should be done at home because the whole process has been robiticized, dehumanized and creates a lot of unnecessary complications for the mother and child there is minimal incentive on the hospital end to address.
My favorite statistic on C-sections was always how their frequency is directly influenced by when physicians want to go home and get off work.
I’m forever grateful for the sweet mama who put “Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way” into my hands when I was expecting my first baby. The information in that book was so empowering! It suggested that expectant moms ask certain questions of their obstetricians to gain insight on just how the docs intend to “manage” labor. I took these questions to my obstetrician, and he moved to exit the room before I had asked a third of them... he didn’t have the time or interest for my questions and concerns. He went from friendly and professional to dismissive and condescending almost instantly. As if to say, “If there’s anything you need to know, I’ll tell you.”
That same week, I left his practice, called a local birth center, scheduled a visit, and transferred into the care of a midwife. I was at 32 weeks gestation, and went on to enjoy a completely textbook, uncomplicated water birth (14 hrs start to finish, 14 minutes pushing). My second baby was a water birth at the same facility two years later; and, my third baby was a home birth. Never paid a dime to have a doctor or hospital “manage” my labors for me, and have never regretted it.
I thank God that there are alternatives to The System, and that The System hasn’t yet figured out how to force us all into it (yet).
I can't tell you how many times I myself, and friends and clients, women all, have told me how they are treated with disdain and condescension by male doctors, who seem quite irritated if you even ask a question... That is not to say I haven't experienced quite wonderful care, too, but not nearly so much. That said, I haven't been to see a doctor in "the system," other than for a CBC and having a mole removed, for maybe...25, 30 years. I have no plans to re-enter that system anytime soon, if ever.
At some point you should read the 1982 book Male Practice: How Doctors Manipulate Women. You can find it online. The author was a great physician and one of the early trailblazers in the field. Interestingly enough one of the commenters here was mentored by him.
Bravo! If a woman possesses the internal strength, faith, and confidence to give birth naturally, she will impart that inner strength to her entire family.
That sounds like such a beautiful, loving way to bring God’s children into the world (pain and all). You’re a smart mamma!
My babies are now 18, 16, and 15, but I remember their births with such fondness and affection now even though the pain was incredible. Absolutely wouldn’t trade it for anything. It is supernatural.
This is part of why a lot of my friends went into OB. Some very powerful energies move through the room during the birthing process more sensitive people can feel (something similar also happens during the dying process).
The dying process-YES! It’s truly unfortunate, that instead of embracing the dying process, (like many cultures), the West tries to ignore it or deny it. When my father was close to death, he wanted to be alone. He had prayed years before, studied crossing over, and wanted no drugs in him. He wanted the dying experience. He was very close to God. I respect that. I didn’t understand at the time. I believe dying is a form of birth and it’s just a important as birth.
It is VERY supernatural! ✝️💜
My wife's first birth was at a hospital. Twins. She almost ended up having a C-section, but due to the strength of her personality managed to ward them off. (I would have caved in.)
A couple of hours after my wife gave birth I picked up one of the twins and cradled her in my arms. A minute or so later a nurse ran in and in total shock implored me to put the baby back because something something germs.
My wife also wanted them to dim the lights so that she could rest. Again we were told that because of something something there is a rule that the lights must stay on.
And of course during the hospital stay the babies had to be taken away from the mom for hours for some <reasons>.
After that we said "never again" and all our younger kids were born at home.
I don’t have children, but aren’t newborns suppose to be close to their mother? That sounds almost cruel.
Not if you want to re-engineer society and take away the traditional bonds that nourish and hold people together.
They were probly taken away for the Hep shot
Good to avoid C-sect if not an emergency.
https://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20161004/c-section-raises-risk-of-blood-clots-after-childbirth-review
This meta-analysis suggests that C-sect and Emergency C-sect increase the risk of Post Partum Depression.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28606491/
This is one of those things that should be really obvious if you've ever observed the entire C-Section process.
In addition to the increase in maternal morbidity and mortality with C-sect, the painful incision and decreased mobility interfere with the infant bonding process and the prompt initiation of breastfeeding. Also the infant is deprived of the development of a healthy microbiome due to lack of passage through the maternal birth canal.
I'm not surprised about the post-partum depression link to C-section which disrupts the entire pregnancy birth cycle and I'm sure influences the hormonal shifts surrounding the transition from the pregnant to post-birth state. I believe that the mechanized, artificial hospital birth experience also contributes to post-partum depression in many women who experience it since it forces a disconnection from bodily sensations and cues and the surrender of control over their own natural rhythms and the feelings associated with the entire process.
I completely concur. Conversely there are women who possess the courage to utilize their innate strength and good health to give birth in their own homes without drugs, surrounded by their loving family and friends. Their positive spiritual birthing experiences give them the confidence and fortitude to raise healthy, vibrant families and to be a shining source of strength and encouragement.
Doctors don't care about their patients any more, in the majority of cases. Shocking, but obvious when you see the results of modern medicine. It's also obvious when you listen to your story, and the total disinterest the rest had in finding out why you had better outcomes.
These doctors care more about their money and their prestige.
We should force constant reassessments for the patients of doctors' behaviors, with analysis of which ones have superior results. Again, for the patient. Not the hospital. Not Pharma. Not the doctor.
"All for the Patient!"
(American Society of Physicians and Surgeons.)
We need more with this motto!!
I think most do care, its just that the way medicine is structured it's very difficult for them to conduct the practice of medicine in a way that allows them to care about their patient. If you have 15 minutes for a visit and need to spend 10 minutes filling out an electronic record, you have to be remarkably talented to also interface on your patient on a deep level.
It's a very subtle plan the devil's devised. It's all for our good and yet step by step it overwhelms everything. It's the same way in education with no-child-left-behind. It sounds good, but in practice it keeps all of the children from receiving anything close to an optimal education.
Very interesting read.
I am not surprised to hear this obsession with algorithms in healthcare exists. I mean who doesn't like algorithms. I like algorithms. Make them, use them, develop them for a host of reasons.
In emergency medicine it makes perfects sense to have them. But algorithms for working with more complex issues? Hmmm I very much doubt they could ever replace free thought. We are not smart enough. Thus neither are the things we program.
As much as I love algorithms, trends and patterns. I equally love outliers.
I love outliers because, well there has to be a reason those things do not conform with the trends most other things do. And the most plausible reason why they don't fit within the observable trend is because our model.. the way we map the trend is wrong.
I think we think we know a lot. But are in a matter of fact arrogant and have much yet to learn.
That is a good point. I forgot to mention a lot of medical problems cannot be solved with algorithms.
About " emergency medicine" : may I remind of the protocols used to force air, not using adequate medications. People were being pumped to death. The pleads of EMR doctors to change the protocols were ignored. Imo organized crime.
I appreciate your insight and commitment to the health of your patients. I recently was introduced to a doctor here in NJ, a private internist who also practices integrative medicine as well as acupuncture. He shares much of what you focus on using a hands on approach and far less favoring allopathic drugs. Interestingly he grew up in Romania during the communist regime where the central rulers controlled every aspect of life. He’s appalled by what he now witnesses daily here which culminates in the decline of health for so many patients all over the place. I’m sharing your writing with him.
One of the best doctors who trained me fled here from Hungary during the reign of communism and structured his whole medical practice around giving necessary care to people who could not get it otherwise. He told me his life experiences in communist Hungary had a huge influence in why he chose to dedicate his life to the service of vulnerable groups no one stood up for.
My internist (like a big shot internist) in spring 2022 at major medical center was pissed off one of his patients a retired ER doc treated some 1000 patients with Ivermectin and steroids, and they all got well. He was like, how dare she, while I was thinking bravo!, hero! So...read elsewhere these docs are complicit or mass psychosis... Unvaccinated, yet he still was hardcourt press on shots and boosters spring 2022, and whatever else pharma pushes out I guess...
It's sad but this mentality is common and I think it's due to the existential insecurity a lot of people have.
I work with a lot of physicians who are to this day incredibly scared of C19. I don’t get it. It’s been two years have they not expanded their information sources? I’m waiting for them to throw off their masks like what happened on the flights after they stopped mask mandates... sadly I thing we’ll be masked in hospitals indefinitely.
I was one of the first people to wear masks during the pandemic (this was in jan) and got made fun of my most of the doctors I worked with for doing it. My logic was:
-The virus in china is really dangerous.
-I don't presently know how to treat it.
-I would greatly prefer to not be wearing a n95 mask or be in fear of the virus, and I cannot let this affect my life long term so I need to figure out how to treat it as soon as possible both for myself and to keep people I care about alive.
By April I felt pretty confident I could treat it and it was not going to be anywhere near as bad as the original figures in China suggested, so I stopped wearing masks except around patients with COVID and gradually started treating people I knew who became ill.
Most of the doctors I worked with who made fun of me for wearing a mask back then
a) Still are wearing masks
b) Still do not know how to treat COVID-19
It’s astounding to me. You’d think they’d want to stop seeing ruptured aortic aneurysms and aortic dissections in younger patients? I guess they are just too far gone. Disheartening to say the least
Did you ever see the post I wrote about vaccine zombies?
I’ve read all your posts : )
No longer the practice of medicine where everything evolves and improves, and actually your shunned/scorned for a long while before your accepted, then pushed up to mainstream and blue chip status, no longer that, it’s this way only, dictatorial, which when u hear it, you know instinctively it’s dead wrong posture for academic medicine or any practice type. Thanks for all the time educating us Midwestern Doc, so very appreciated. Go Cubs!
A doctor was pissed off that all those patients got better?
OK that is scary.
You are making my home printer run out of ink and paper! There is so much GOLD in what you have written here that I feel compelled to print the whole thing out, underline key phrases, and go over them again and again. THANK YOU for these wonderful insights. They resonate with me to the core.
Basically, I’ve now opted out of the health care system. I’ll only go to a doctor if I have a specific problem that I am unable to solve/ fix by other means. The feeling of freedom this gives me is marvelous. At age 68, I feel healthier than I’ve ever felt.
If anyone is interested in hearing me discuss my evolving views on these and other subjects, I post on Rumble every two weeks. Here’s my latest post: https://rumble.com/v1259fe--hey-maga-we-are-winning-florida-gov.-ron-desantis-rocks...-episode-95.html
Poor printer :*(
I hope it's ok after the rest of this is written
You're 68? You're gorgeous! And I think you're smart to "opt out" of our current health system. Know that (depending on what state you're in) - you may be able to order your own lab work if you want.
From: A fit 53yo female nutritionist who is also avoiding our health care system
Hey, thanks (and yes, that’s my age). I see that we are on the same page! I live in Santa Monica/ Pacific Palisades, CA. I used to order a yearly blood test (where I had pretty much everything tested, to keep as a baseline) through LifeExtension.com. I kept it for my own records. But now, I’ve decided to stop even that. My readings are whatever they are — I’m not checking: I’m DONE.
Hey I think I get you on this too. For 2 reasons :
1. What if our health is much more dependent on our brain/emotions/thoughts etc, ala Louise Hay You Can Heal Your Body (I believe in this...)
2. All the "over diagnosis" that happens with people for "stage 0" breast cancer and other problems that aren't even problems.
I'm currently watching all the 50 yr olds do as they are told, getting their first colonoscopy (the "cleanout" has GOT to destroy your gut biome) and 2 shingles shots and (sorry, but) I think they're crazy. Total overkill.
Medical error and drug injury are the third and fourth cause of death now in the USA.
I have been wondering for a while where that figure will end up if they come clean about the vaccines (short and long term effects) as they now appear to be one of the top causes of death.
When you refer to this and the vaccine injury AI program because it was 2010 I'm assuming it is all vaccines in general. I lately have stopped all vaccinations for my 14month old because I've been finding more and more info about the damage they cause and can't figure out if any should be given or need to be given. My other two children had all their shots but one at a time. Do you have more writing or is it in the book where the more exact numbers or info on this can be found? Thank you for your help.
Healthcare associated infections (HAI) are contributing as well. 1 in every 25 patients gets a HAI.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/09/healthcare-associated-infections-rose-2020-cdc-says
Hai!
(In reference to both the acronym and the Japanese meaning)
On a more serious note, most HAI's could be prevented with ultraviolet blood irradiation (very safe and cheap procedure). This has been proven in multiple countries.
🙇♂️ Sounds promising. But still need to stop the C.diff. One study a couple of years ago reported that healthcare worker hand washing between patients was not happening up to 50% of the time. Blame training, supervision, staffing and call buttons I suppose.
I learn a lot from you AMD, thanks
I didn't think of this when I made this username, but now I can't stop thinking about age-related macular degeneration
Cell phones are filthy and computer key boards.
They claim EMR has decreased errors and malpractice cases?!
Not counting Covid denial of treatment and murderous drugs then. Malpractice may be coming.
The problem is that a requirement for malpractice to go through in court is that a physician violated the accepted standard of care. This is one reason why have corrupt guideline committees ripples down into suppressing all non sanctioned forms of treatment even if they make a lot of sense.
There are dirty doctors who live to be expert witnesses
There is enough stats for an astute attorney to win
Plus why isn’t there a pants on fire scramble to address the first 2–heart disease and cancer.
They claim they ARE addressing them. Look at the obsession w getting as many as possible in statin poison. And the relentless drum beat for a diet “high in healthy whole grains and low in saturated fat.”
Problem is they give exactly the opposite advice of what they should be giving. Nobody was obese 120 years ago. In the early 1900s, folks had identified SUGAR as the likely contributor to increasing rates of heart disease.
But Ancel Keys bullied his way into Congressional committees and the American Heart Association, claiming by way of badly done studies with cherry picked data that dietary cholesterol was the problem.
He and many others since somehow convinced millions of Americans that eating man-made oils was better than continuing to consume the natural fats that God has provided for us.
And millions of us have suffered.
Chronic illnesses give continuous cash flow - consider the infrastructure of pharmaceuticals and procedures to keep people limping along until they succumb anyways
Of course. They can add Covid and jab injury to the bank. Win win.
Bravo 👏🏻!!!!Great detailed read ! All I can add, is the residents I teach, love EMR (copy/ paste one patient to the next). Orders are placed with a stroke of a button! They have free time to order what they need from Amazon and follow friends on Twitter, Instagram and the like. It’s a whole new world, sad to say. Open philosophical discussion on care and treatment of the patient ( the whole patient, mind , body and spirit ), is gone.
I view a lot of the deep personal interactions you have with patients as one of the big privileges of being a doctor because it creates an environment that allows you to rapidly learn a great deal about the human condition and spiritually evolve (real conversations always unravel karma; lots of spiritual practices on this).
The way a lot of people are trained is to see the patients as objects and the goal being to do whatever you are supposed to do with the interaction, get out of it as quickly as possible and then go around to having fun on something souless like social media.
One of the major upsides to me doing this substack is that since I started I spend very little time on that garbage now because this fulfills my need to communicate write and express myself.
I benefit so much from the pieces you write. As a consequence of your efforts (and that of other Substack writers), I'm also spending very little time on souless social media. This piece is particularly interesting and thought-provoking. Thank you!
So agree AMD😊
I wish you could be my family’s doctor.
A big part of why I can speak my mind on here is because I'm not trying to recruit patients through here. Nonetheless I appreciate your sentiment, and I do believe there are plenty of other people like me out there if you know where to look.
I don't know where to look (in my small city). Could you elaborate, or maybe write a future article?
That's going to have to come up later once I have written a lot more articles and built up more credibility.
One of the things you might consider looking for is a medical doctor who maintains licensing in allopathy (so still may care for you as PMD if you must be hospitalized) but who works primarily in private practice and mainly using naturopathic and homeopathic practices. It will be much more expensive, as mainstream will not cover this care (nor should they, this way they have no say in what care is rendered) but without your health, what else do you have?
I studied a great deal on my own and implemented things that changed my life at a fraction of the guided cost, but it's been a long, lonely road and a lot of time and effort (and likely some avoidable pain/discomfort, as I want things fixed yesterday and so jump in both feet).
Naturopathy is, at heart, just accepting that our environments, internal and external, contribute to and maintain our health - it is at heart, preventative, but can be extremely corrective and healing to someone suffering huge challenges.
Homeopathy is a type of energy medicine and, as all life is energy and operates within and responds to varying frequencies, giving your body the blueprint of how things should operate often puts your spirit/mind/body back into an alignment that can help to correct the circuits where they went awry. I have been using homeopathy for about a decade now and have had chronic things with debilitating emotional/spiritual components (severe PTSD) just fall away and the physical symptoms along with them. I have also very successfully treated acute concerns.
One of the other commenters here made the very strong connection between mind/body - spirit is huge in that as well, as AMD states. The primary thing is to find a doctor who is positive (sees hope) and is willing to consider all options. That is becoming increasingly tough to find, but many good providers are beginning this crossover as they recognize the limitations and downfalls of allopathy.
Keep writing 😊!
I feel like you need to say something on this sub topic since you are an OBGYN and have delivered orders of magnitude more babies than I have
Thanks AMD, I am so glad you are on substack! Thanks for all your work!
💜👍🏼
The system in place never recognized the spirit to start with.
So, for me this type of medicine has always been a scam since I see myself from within, not from outside.
As far as I can tell, there are no instruments that can measure the state of my spirit!!
Right on Nostradamus
My dad was in the hospital last week and I observed the nurse wheel in a standing computer unit multiple times a day. He had so many obstacles to get around that I was thinking wouldn't it be easier if he just came in alone and did his observations and returned to hall computer and recorded what he saw? This incessant influx of tech makes us all feel dehumanized and part of a system that really doesn’t give a shot about anything but numerical data. It’s incredibly disturbing in so many ways. I’ve shared this with my sister as she has been gaslighted by medicine with her post V issues. Now seeing “alternative” medicine practitioners. Thank you for all your posts wish I lived in close to use your services as well.
Kat Bro , I couldn’t agree more. I hate those wheel around computers. I agree, go back to the nurses station where there are lots of computers for residents , doctors and staff. Doctors used to sit in a patient’s room and then examine the patient. Not anymore with the majority. I’m happy you found an alternative care doctor!
😓
What a fantastic article! You put into a few pages what took me decades to figure out.
You see, I'm one of those with "the knack" for solving highly complex problems with imperfect solutions. Successfully doing so requires a very curious problem solver, one intrigued by the complexity and puzzle... one who cannot stop until s/he answers, "But WHY did that happen there?!"
I lead a team of engineers solving computer problems that have no perfect answer. I don't know more than 20% of the technical details of the overall system, but I'm an expert and finding and assessing expert opinions in context of each unique problem. COVID was, to me, just another highly complex problem with imperfect answers. I just needed to learn enough about the data to find honest sources and truth-speaking experts.
Three factors I think are common in folks willing to embraces the complexity: great problem solving skills, unquenchable curiosity, and strategic vision.
The more complex the problem, the more important the curiosity and vision are. If you can't see the big picture and remain curious, your problem solving skills will not have enough time or context to work through the data and noise.
When I finally understood what you described here, I experienced a peace that had been lacking my entire adult life. That occurred roughly 2018. And it was key to my looking at the COVID problem and thinking I could learn enough to understand it (since clearly nobody in charge could be trusted to do that for me). It took me a lot longer than I'm used to because I had to learn the biology/virology, figure out who the experts were speaking truth, and where to find the data.
Don't get me wrong. I'm no doctor or virologist or what have you. But I do know how to read data and evaluate expert analysis based on the data. And I know how to cross-check assumptions to validate them. And how to identify conflicts of interest.
As you said, the root of the problem is the controlling "leaders" that care not about us...
Have you ever read about how Tesla solved problems he encountered?
Not specifically. Pray tell, any recommended readings?
I found some short references online, particularly one comparing Edison to Tesla. My early career style was Edison, evolving into Tesla with experience and increased complexity of the problems.
At the pace I'm learning to solve complex problems, I can likely match one or both of them in... about 200 years.
I can solve complex problems on EXISTING and mostly functional systems. The stuff they did... often I can only explain the problem, not actually understand where the solution might be. I don't think I have that gene, whatever it is.
Tesla's method of problem solving has always been quite inspirational for me. I can periodically do aspects of what he did (ie. I normally see the essays I post on here start to finish and then just try to get them written into print), so I know it's possible...but I am very doubtful I will get anywhere near where he was by the time I die. One of the people I trained with was able to get some of Tesla's unpublicized inventions and I was really impressed with what his relatively simple designs could do.
Basically tesla would just get visions or flashes of how to design something very complex and then he would model the whole thing in his head and adjust aspects of it to tweak and refine the design.
Tesla recognized a great deal of fractal connections throughout creation and recognized ancient symbolism and what those carvings signified. He (re)discovered a source of free energy and was nearly put down for it (struck by a car in a timely accident) and his office and entire life's work consumed in a fire (what wasn't confiscated and handed to Edison for the public editing/discrediting to come). Tesla's grand error was wanting to help humanity rather than design ways to create disposable objects which generate unending income.
There's a show made about him and it likely contains a fair bit of truth: https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2020/08/06/what-happened-nikola-teslas-files-and-what-did-they-contain
I appreciate your articles, I've been nursing since 1993, grew very distrustful of allopathy 15-20 years ago and the c-19 onset was the final nail for me. The trend of MD's being squeezed out of any part of the decision-making process for their patients became more and more apparent over the years, and now they are commonly overridden by insurers, pharmacists and hospital administrators - now doctors come with a glorified rubber stamp bearing their name and degree, but others wield it, and all too many don't even realize the problem.
When these other administrators are squeezed out in their own turns, I wonder whether more people will begin to see the light?
I also accidently discovered Edison's method, although I primarily used it to memorize a lot of material quickly rather than for problem solving. That helped me a great deal in medical school and gave me the time to study a lot of stuff beyond the standard curriculum.
I have a similar background in software and systems engineering and architecture (now retired). Was often told I was the one who could "connect the dots". What tipped me off at the beginning of COV was the simultaneous coordination evident in the mandates in all of the biggest countries, the huge number of PCR test iterations, the secretive nature of Op Warp..., the conspicuous coordinated media coverage using the same phrases and themes, and the lack of success in previous mRNA vaccine attempts. I was already red-pilled by the impossibilities of 9-11 as told, so my instincts were on high alert from the beginning.
Behold, A Pale Horse by William Cooper (Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars) (if you can find an edition that hasn't been butchered) lays it all out plainly. They leave evidences everywhere of their real intents, as their way of keeping the Divine Pact.
You remind me of Ivor Cummins, another complex problem solving engineer. He has done a lot of brilliant work in the areas of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and now COVID.
This ordeal has really separated out wonderful doctors, and those that have blood on their hands. There are some who have not incurred guilt thru ignorance, but that excuse is diminishing. Many could face eternal damnation over this. Coercing this experimental, dangerous shot is a mortal sin, so too is remaining silent when you have exalted position as a doctors.
Systems naturally correct themselves and equilibrate. The issue with medicine is that there has been so much force from above to maintain the existing monopoly, that a correction never happened and now things have moved to an absurd degree where you now have most of the medical field pushing really dangerous and ineffective vaccines. I still think a correction will happen, it's just going to be a lot larger than people are used to because it was prevented from happening at an earlier stage.
Very good. I think very evil forces have coopted vast majority of medical field.
There will be seismic corrections everywhere
Build Back Better, Great reset, Militant Atheistic Communism.... straight out of hell. City of man.
Traitors are attempting to inflict this upon good people.
They deny national sovereignty, and are prima facie traitors.
Please direct me to good sources for reading up on vaccines - the current ones not this CoVID junk in a needle- the others.
Oh man I've been there! I have a horrific medical condition that you have never heard of, for it has no name and no mention in any medical journal. Dozens of docs I have seen did not find anything wrong, thought I was simulating or just plain coockoo. They like to stress you out to the point they can tell you that this stress is causing your condition so they can get rid of you by refering to a shrink. They MUST come up with a diagnosis within two appointments because next patient is waiting and they just cannot say "I don't have a clue what this is".
Thank god I am extremely stubborn and have no problem sticking to reality like fly paper. I retrieved my medical files with scans and all, did my own research and the diagnostics. Then searched for the best specialist in whatever country and told him what was wrong and what surgery to perform. Three specialists and surgeries later I am OK now. Not cured, but as good as it gets. My stubbourness saved my life. For those of you in the same boat, you need to study and find the one pioneering doc that thinks outside the box, usually in a university hospital or specialized clinic, doing things that nobody else does while still caring about the patients. Really they do exist and some even like to have me as a patient.
1) What was your disease (don't answer if you don't need to)
2) It is very common when I see patients that my response to a question is "I'm not really sure, but this is my best guess and why" and the consistent response I get is that they really appreciate that and I'm the one of the only doctors who they've ever met that will admit they don't know something. I have always thought it is very strange my behavior in this regard is so unusual.
I wish you were my GP.
1) Imagine you have a slightly sub-optimal anatomy that is causing your odontoid process to bump into your medulla whenever you look down at your genitals. This tiny spot that is bruising and shorting a few neurons just happens to be the lower end of the nucleus ambiguus, causing the swallowing reflex to act up in a way that all muscles involved in said reflex are contracting all the time, 24/7 except during general anesthesia. One could call it a focal dystonia. In particular the vocal cords are closing shut and in order to talk or breath you need the antagonist muscle to pull them open. It has always been like that and getting worse, like wearing a tie and some sadist tightening it bit by bit over the course of many years until you can barely breath or sleep or be awake by lack of sleep. And nobody taking you seriously.
2) Like I did not understand why some students doubt between studying law or studying medicine. Then I learned both are the same for those people, a simple scheme of (A) Learn rules. (B) Apply rules. (C) when a case is not found in the rule book, dismiss. Your patients are lucky because you are curious, honest and actually want to help them.
That sounds like something a (very good) osteopath could fix. If you ever have the chance to go to france and are able to get into Jean Pierre Barral's medical practice he'd probably be the one you want to see.
The life described in #2 is so boring and sad :(
Actually, #2 is a natural an outcome of the "mentally lazy" and simplified patterns. Most people don't can't deal with complex systems that often don't have a perfect answer. Just too much, exactly as you've said here.
I run into the same thing regularly. I solve highly complex computer system problems with software that is imperfect being run by users that don't know software to train on highly complex systems. Everyone has to trust experts all around them while being an expert in one's own niche. Only works if you're curious, can't look away, and always seek true facts from data. In the regular folks' world, they just shut down when they hit too many variables. Took me a couple of decades to figure out what you wrote above.
I loved reading this! It was YOU who did it: your tenacity and dogged research, and then finding the appropriate specialists and surgeons. So admirable! Congratulations!!!
When my son was training to be a doctor in the UK a few years ago I asked what he'd been taught about iatrogenesis. He'd never heard the word.
That's pretty sad.
😱
Wow, this was fascinating. Thanks for showing us how so many of these issues are connected.
Thank you
I've experienced medical gaslighting personally. I experienced sudden muscle weakness down one side of my body and, for the first time in my life, called an ambulance and went to hospital. As soon as they read my medical records and discovered a diagnosis of depression, they decided that that was the cause. Conveniently, that diagnosis meant they only had to write a referral to an equally useless practitioner. Job done, hands washed.
I've been depressed for 50 years and it never caused sudden muscle weakness before. IMO, they were just being lazy. And then lazier ....
A couple of months later, it occurred to me to get a printout of my blood tests. One number was significantly elevated and it explained why I had a clot or bleed that caused the sudden muscle weakness. Once I knew that, I took steps to deal with it and have been fine ever since.
Either nobody looked at the results because they already "knew the answer" or they looked and thought 'sucks for you' and couldn't be bothered to tell me. Equally likely, given how bad the NHS has become.
Beware of automatically trusting doctors. Double-check everything.
I've heard a lot of reports of people getting suboptimal care from the NHS. That seems to be what you have to expect in a socalized medical system where no one directly pays for their care and the providers have no incentive to do a good job.
I went to medical school in Sweden and experienced first hand such a system. It was a shock to come to the US IN 1979 and see the hard work and devotion so many private practice MD’s showed. Unfortunately they are being replaced with the Swedish model. The only difference being they are mainly employed by large medical organizations as opposed to the government.
Both socialized and private medicine can be good or bad, depending on the individual(s) one sees. I think the big problem with both kinds of western medicine is the underlying assumptions expressed in the algorithms (as your article describes so well).
There is rampant profiteering in both kinds, though it is more covert in socialized medicine. I also think that writing off anything not contained in the algorithms as "you be crazy" stems from either under-funding or pressure for profits, both coming top down. Medicine as it is practiced in the West is fundamentally the same pursuit of money & power by the few to the cost of the many and only the veneer is different.
My experience with socialised medicine - I moved from US (being poor = no medicine or dental care) to Australia, and was thrilled to just show my card and get treated. But as my iatrogenesis got weirder and weirder, I started to notice that I wasn't seeing a doctor, I was seeing an algorithm. The government pays, the government knows what it pays for, and the government determines the algorithm. This became frightening under CaptainTrips. (thanks to a commenter above for this reference)
That is a great way to put it.
"I wasn't seeing a doctor, I was seeing an algorithm"
that's exactly it! :)
and a shoddily incomplete algorithm too.
Many years ago I learned an acronym -- MEGO -- from others in an online forum that were dealing with chronic fatigue. It stood for "My Eyes Glaze Over" and it represented one's response to being gaslighted repeatedly by MDs over having a condition that supposedly didn't exist. At the time, I had not learned the word "gaslighting" -- that came into my vocabulary only about 10-12 years ago -- but the connection is clear. So been there, done that, and saw the movie. I can't remember if there was a T-shirt.
Thanks for sharing. I read forums for pharmaceutical injuries all the time to educate myself and I've never heard of that term before. MEGO is a good example of mental laziness.
I am no longer able to find the MEGO acronym online. It may have been confined to one particular forum back in the mid-1990s, when I first obtained Internet access at home, but it left a lasting impression because all of my adult life, from the 1970's onward, I had been receiving the "it's all in your head" treatment from doctors, which was the focus of MEGO. They didn't actually call me a hypochondriac to my face, but they certainly regarded me as such.
I never have been able to fully determine what was/is wrong -- it hasn't really changed much -- but I do have clues now from labs and from a brain MRI, involving my mitochondria, LDL-C, steroids, and pituitary, and it has "iatrogenic" written all over it, although I can't prove it. The effective treatment has been to eat real food, live with the symptoms, and to avoid doctors that want to say it's all in my head -- that alone is a huge relief.
https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/06/archives/mego-essay.html
https://glennrmillerwrites.wordpress.com/2018/07/15/mego-my-eyes-glaze-over/
MEGO, in 1973. Wow. Thank you!
One reason I might not have found what I was looking for in my archives is that they are Internet email archives. I originally went online using The Source in 1982, followed by FidoNet and EchoMail a few years later, and then the Internet at work in 1994. There's no telling where MEGO might have popped up back then. Glad you found it.
MEGO is common for all complex problems. For me, it was most dramatic when common family problems had only three (3) variables and nobody would even listen to my predicting the outcomes. They couldn't figure out why it was more than 3 possible outcomes, too many details to follow, would rather just let fate sort it out. I couldn't fathom that reaction for decades, then finally sorted out I was different. And now you've explained it clearly.
Terrific piece.
Thank you
So many thoughts went through my head as I read and so resonated with this! I will just share a few things, yet feel I could fill pages!
Both of my MD's left their professions stating early retirement, just prior to the end of 2019. One, quite abruptly. I could sense she had been seeming disappointed in the medical profession. Prior to one visit, when my son was preparing to enter college and live in a dorm, I had run across some information highly recommending the meningitis vaccine. It was new to me. My son was just entering her care (My whole family was in her care by the time she left- she took on kids once 18- I was so glad as I was ready for sure to fire the pediatrician! Another story....). When I asked her if she thought the shot was necessary, she didn't say a word, but just tipped her head downward, closed her eyes and shook her head. That was all I needed- I so trusted her, and am glad I had.
That same MD had been offering vaccines when she worked with another MD, who she subsequently left, but the only one I would get from her office had been a Tetanus one. When I went for my physical (which I really seldom did- but knew I was "due" for my 10 year "shot"), she asked me why I thought I needed a Tetanus shot. At that time I was not as up on all the shots and dangers- just was learning.....I had been avoiding flu shots, had a religious exemption form accepted at my work. For the Tetanus one, I was concerned as I worked with chicken wire outside in the garden and had heard of rust causing problems (rusty nail story)- really basic word of mouth stuff. She wouldn't drop it and said her records showed I wasn't due for another year- that it had been 9 (I knew for a fact this was wrong- and in retrospect feel she was helping me make a better choice by stating that). She dropped her efforts and I took it, but had some bad effects later (it was the DPT shot by then)....I do believe my symptoms were caused by the shot, but never looked hard into it. Lack of time- I won't get into that now. This MD, I could tell really disliked having to type into the computer while with patients. also. I could so see she was getting disgusted with the system- and the shortened time with patients.....always seeming rushed when previously hadn't. I am glad for her that she was able to leave. I can't help but think she knew something was up. Same with my OB-Gyn- but to a lesser extent.......Then after 2020 came, my Ophthalmologist decided to leave......I have lost my faith in the system too. But that would continue another chapter.
I worked in an allied health profession for 30 years. Also disintegrating in quality. Good MD's were/are hard to come by. I can tell you are a really good one. During this whole COVID situation- I made time to read Judy MIkovitz's trilogy and it really opened my eyes! I could back track symptoms I had to when vaccines were taken....and my own kids' behaviors and gut instincts. I KNOW I was correct in my suspicions. I thank you whole-heartedly for your writings. I feel confirmation in trusting my intuition and less alone. On a side note- the profession in which I worked was speech language pathologist- in neuro-rehab....Many times one has to really read between the lines- many of the patients cannot talk! One must look further and deeper and carefully. then along come the algorithms! Give me a break! No 2 brain injuries or CVA's are the same-too many factors! And the use of computer documentation while with patients!? These ones need face to face contact. I found myself constantly apologizing for having to enter information- and then stating what I was entering- for family members also present sake also. they knew I was sick of it and shared their views. I grew disenchanted very quickly upon EMR entry into the field. I wrote one heck of a long and detailed exit letter which I have subsequently received complements on from trusted individuals. I have over typed- but just had to let you know how grateful I am for your substack!
Thank you. I'll try to reciprocate! The meningitis vaccines are commonly associated with causing inflammatory bowel diseases; I have had 2 patients this happened to.
I had thought the meningitis vaccine was one of the few ones you could justify (because vaccines work against encapsulated bacteria and meningitis is rapidly fatal) but then I discovered that the vaccine isn't actually helpful for preventing the deadly complications (it's not designed right) and it has a lot of side effects, I had to walk back that tenative endorsement.
It would be interesting to hear your experiences if you were still in speech pathology now. The two main things I have heard are that the lockdowns were very detrimental to individuals with speech pathologies (as they could no longer have in person visits) and that you are seeing more (often complex) speech issues following strokes.
I frequently work with neurological injuries and often have success improving them. While I can normally come up with a treatment plan, I can't really conceive of any way an effective treatment could be developed that was a standarized algorithm.
Thank you for your feedback.
I am no longer in speech pathology. My work had involved outpatient treatment in a satellite clinic affiliated with a very large hospital system. There were only about 10-12 clinicians in OT/PT/ST working at the site. The whole system was rapidly declining in quality as more demands had been being placed upon the professionals for documentation demands, reduced time for doing so- along with needed time for chart review/preparation with appropriate tests/materials, the mechanical nature of EMR's removing the 'human-ness' of treatment, inappropriate grouping of patients with different needs, oh, just the tip of the ice berg here. I also was feeling as a social worker in that I'd have to verify treatment coverage- Many times catching errors. Our system was about to transition to EPIC for records/documentation.
I can imagine masking would have made treatment awful! Also treatment of swallowing would have posed challenges. Any hearing impaired patients or apraxic patients would have had increased trouble. A side note- I had noticed a dramatic increase in the numbers of Parkinsons patients over the years also. When I started I would maybe have 1 per year- that became up to 4 in one day near the end- on my schedule.
I had heard there are more younger stroke patients the past couple of years. I know of 2 other coworkers- also in the field about 25-30 years- who left shortly after I had. I could feel everything going down the tubes a couple of years prior to my leaving. It was becoming harder and harder to make myself go to the office. I went on a short winter vacation with my family the end of 2019 and never went back. I feel I knew I wasn't going to return when I left. It is a long story!
It is good to hear you have success often improving neuro patients. My favorite areas of focus had been aphasia and cognitive retraining.
3 thoughts:
•One of the major things that has motivated my path in medicine has been the recognition we are facing a tsunami of neuroimmune conditions. The elderly often face the brunt of that but get warehoused and ignored.
•A few of my friends went into PT and then quit because they got fed up with the documentation requirements trumping the provision of care.
•There have been a lot of rumors the Bruce Willis's aphasia that forced him to quit acting resulted from a COVID-19 vaccine (a sometimes reported side effect of the COVID-19 vaccines)
I fear for preverbal infants trying to learn language and what all this masking means for them after a few generations? I'm already hearing a lot of mimicked sounds that are close, but no cigar, and in many languages, that slight hairline of a difference can change entire connotations and interpretations. They're not going to realize they're off, nor are the adults training them likely to catch the finer nuances through the mask and all the other implications (fear, distancing, etc) those entail.
Substantial concerns indeed.