In the first two articles of the series, I have introduced the concept that doctors (and other health care providers) frequently cannot see adverse reactions to pharmaceuticals (iatrogenesis) such as vaccinations in their patients. Because of this medical blindness, it frequently results in patients being “gaslighted,” which is a terrible experience for them to endure.
I love your articles. They are long, high-effort, very intelligently written, and convey a great deal of knowledge. Thank you for making the obvious effort to write them.
Thank you, these take a lot of time to do, so I only want to put the time in if I feel it's productive. I really appreciate your articles too (I just only comment on Steve Kirsch's because he has more commenters to interact with and he's been really supportive to me/a big part of why I made this substack was because he said I should in one of his articles). I'm sincerely grateful there's a good platform to spread these ideas now.
Hi. I had a strange medical interaction once that still makes me wonder what happened.
Last September, I was at a physical in Illinois. At the end the doctor asked about my Covid vaccination status. I told him that I am not vaccinated. To my surprise, the doctor started pushing me to get vaccinated using fairly insane arguments.
He asked what my top 3 reasons are, for example. I answered
-- I already had Covid
-- My friend's nephew died of Covid vax (blood clots from J&J)
-- The vax does not even work
Anyway, the doctor was pushing the vaccine like it was a used time share or something. I will skip his arguments, but I was shocked by the intensity.
I wonder if he had a financial incentive or it was just an earnest effort on his part to "help society".
As far as I know, doctors don't have yet financial incentives to push the COVID vaccines. It's entire due to them having a strong religious zeal in the vaccine and they are essentially projecting their internal emotional process onto you.
I have seen the exact situation you are describing happen countless times, and in no case did the doctor have a financial incentive to push the vaccine.
I am going to try to go into aspects of that in the next part.
In Ontario, doctors have been been paid more than generously to work in the mass vaccine clinics. During the lockdowns, surgeons found new work to do: vaccinating. I believe these incentives to MD’s exacerbate the cognitive dissonance.
Your article is brilliant! Thanks for such great insight.
100% get your point. As I had ethical issues with the COVID-19 vaccine roll out, I never worked at a mass vaccine clinic. Most of the cases I'm discussing are in visits with individual doctors rather than mass vaccine clinics (which are often staffed by nurses rather than doctors).
Sometimes doctors have patients that are damaged by covid--losing a limb, for example--so the fear of damage causes them to turn to vaccines for which there's a religious belief in their efficacy.
I recently had a hospitalist physician say that she would definitely recommend Pax for a pregnant woman, because she had seen bad outcomes w pregnant women who had C0\/ID. 😓🙄
Of course there wasn’t any consideration given to the truly safe and effective and safe in pregnancy drug hydroxychloroquine! 😣
It’s supposed to be known by physicians and among physicians that they are prone to bias in this regard. There’s a name for it, but I can’t remember it. Anyway, because they only tend to see the bad stuff, they can easily come to think the bad stuff is common. Kinda like if you work in an ICU, you’re only going to see the C0\/ID patients needing ICU care. You’ll never see all the 95% of folks who never even needed hospital care. So your perspective can get skewed. And even more so when reinforced by colleagues and media etc.
The word is Selection Bias or Survivor Bias. The set of things you see is not necessarily representative for the whole population, not the "average".
This bias permeates every human being's experience. We think we have a conception of "the average person", "the average life", the average anything by looking at our friends, family and acquaintances, and what we can see from our viewpoint. But really our friends and our experiences are a pre-filtered subset of the whole of reality. Not willfully we only live among a particular selection of friends and acquaintances. We went to college, so we know mostly people of the college going class. We live in the suburbs, so we don't know as many downtown people. We have a certain employment, so we meet a certain kind of people from day to day. I call this Filter, with capital F. You cannot collect a sample of observations anywhere in the world or of any sort, and assume you have a representative overview. On the contrary, you will have learned about a certain few types of people/objects/... Powerful concept.
The only people I know of who lost limbs, lost them to the vaccines not to covid. I tried to find the citations for you and I apologize, I promise they are true but can’t put my finger on the three I’ve read about. If you have citations of covid induced blood clots causing limb loss I would like to see it. I will continue to look. One was a black missionary who came back in Furlough and was a nurse or medical assistant, had to get the jabs for work and now has neither leg, and parts of her fingers and hands bilaterally amputated as well. One was a man (don’t remember the history) and the third was a woman who was in minor MSM because she was a local celebrity of some sort (or a model ? I think). The two women were easy to find on line at one time but now I can’t find them, not sure why.
Anyone with two eyes, a brain, and enough of a sense of "self" (which is resistant to the perpetual gaslighting of reality we are constantly bombareded with from the media) can see by now that the vaccines cause more harm than good...
Yet the physician is often incapable of believing their own observations, since their training has thoroughly and perpetually training them to gaslight their own senses. They also fear malpractice litigation.
Physicians fear being that "kooky outlier" who (God forbid) see reality clearly and advise their patients accordingly. The system has designed an extremely efficient structure which incentivizes doctors to remain blind with fear (litigation and loss of license) and rewards (financial and employment security). It makes perfect sense why the only physicians "speaking out" are already retired and thus have virtually nothing to lose.
People often ask "if the vaccines are SO bad, then why aren't more doctors speaking out?" They are either mentally lost to their own medical brainwashing, or are terrified to (and they do not benefit from doing so).
Regarding the malpractice aspect, the same thing also holds true in the USA; to be liable for malpractice 4 critieria must be met, one of which is "deviating from the standard of care."
A lot of times when you study systems that would put into place through lobbying, you begin to notice all these little rules were installed that give all the power to the oligarchs at the expense of the common people. The "standard of care" requirement for malpractice is an excellent example that ripples out throughout the entire American system.
Doctors fear being fired by hospitals and being reported by medical activists to medical review boards as much as any malpractice lawsuits.
Doctors have no duty to speak up. They have a duty to current patients and that's it.
If we want doctors to speak up, we should take it on ourselves to get laws passed that will protect doctors from negative consequences of speaking up. Medical freedom of speech has been eliminated. It is in our interest to see it restored.
I also don’t think doctors Receive any financial incentive to force patients into vaccination. The thing is that doctors have been caught on the “ wonderful Vs Idiot doctors tale ”. And the “anti-vax” are the later. They simply want to show virtue and high scientific profile. Not caring if any of the “safe and effective crap” is true or not.
I have a very good friend who recently (last week!) was told when calling an immunologist's office for a new patient appointment that she "had" to get the injection so that they could assess her antibody response. She asked how it made sense to give an already sick person something that could make them worse, but they persisted in their insistence that this was the "only" way to obtain the necessary information.
Thankfully my friend is independently minded and won't listen to people like that. I was incensed on her behalf. What about all the patients who, as A Midwestern Doc points out, are still stuck in the paternalistic model of healthcare and would submissively go along simply because "the doctor said it was the only way??!!"
An “expert virologist” my son (24) consulted for a string of strange viral infections subjected my son to similar treatment. The ONLY two questions he asked my son were “Are you vaccinated?” and “Why not?”
My kid is nobody’s fool, and we’re all still fully Covid-recovered and happily unjabbed (with this one, anyway).
I think there's surely a big financial incentive! And even if not, there's likely an incentive of some kind, such as keeping tabs on doc's who promote the "agenda." Glad you're all keeping safe from this menace!
Pushing this fake vaccine makes the doctor look pro vaccine to the CDC, etc. They are less likely to come after him & bother him. Can it be like a notch on his belt? You know... like a prosecutor (lawyer) when they win a case.
I encountered the same reactions, most doctors are still pushing the vax, even if they themselves got COVID despite being fully vaxed. Even patients who suffered side effects after the first shot are being urged to get the second one. I am really wondering, are they also totally brainwashed by the narrative that the shot is safe and effective , that they are less informed than us, or if that is due to the mass psychosis as Dr. Malone described it so well.
(C) All of the above (why drs are still pushing the injections). And as others have pointed out, it’s becoming very hard for them to admit that they were wrong and that they themselves were duped, and that their advice has possibly harmed people. Most doctors really want to help patients. The idea that they might have contributed to harm is utterly devastating.
My doctor on the other hand never mentioned the vaxx - twice over zoom meeting during the lockdowns and twice during a face to face consult. He even did not mind me not wearing a mask, even though he was wearing one and the clinic had a masking rule in place. Perhaps he is one of the good ones and I should keep him. He is also older (64, I think) that may have something to do with it?
I would blame? the Contracts as they relate to the relative investments to beat that horse more dead. So many contracts down the chain of command, leading (think chain in nose) doctors to become shillers for medicines they have not personally researched in any critical way, and often would not take themselves. Or worse, would. Above that, the hospital supervisors. Let's guess at the number on the patients head....each whackscene pumped into the blood stream = $300? $500? why it's like a slot machine going off, ding ding ding ding ding. I am sure it is quite deafening. Or is that just the tinnitus brain swell from the whackscnene, they can't hear anything./s Tell me how this is anything but slavery, in our faces. The recently departed singer from this band said it well...worth watching the orig video..https://youtu.be/1t-gK-9EIq4
best Igor- that was an unnecessary harsh experience you had in that little office and I would not repeat it; that was a life threatening and a punishable offense you experienced. Requiring effort to process, psychologically and emotionally to be sure. Like a potential mugging or attack on the street. The absence of life in those places, that vaccuum, has filled itself with a bad thing all the way round.
Have to the private physician who is not within the state insurance system. I think most countries have that, but since you're using GP, I'm guessing you are not within the USA so I can't say for certain in your country.
Superb, but being a surgeon who likes to "cut to the chase" I felt it was long. And every word was worth it. Being a surgeon - all of this applies and more. I recommended my cousin see a surgeon and he did and was very impressed --finding a surgeon who trained in Houston like me. That surgeon said.. "we considered the residency a major contact sport." Very accurate to my personal observation.- As a surgeon I had to be careful commenting on medicines my referring internists had prescribed. Statins - one of them, well explained and even more. it damages neurological cells and may have a role in Alzheimer's and Parkinsons. Or amiodarone - for heart arrhythmia but no concern expressed to the risks of lung injury, often irreversible when on amiodarone, even short courses. And of course the vaccines. Clearly informed consent was not given to the huge majority of the vaccinated. I retired a year ago..so glad because of what has happened. Simply put We the "naysayers" were correct. Still are and the complications continue to appear in the thousands. Be very very careful who you doctor is. Make sure you trust him.
Thank you, and thank you for not getting mad at my for picking on surgery. The balance I am trying to strike is to make this accessible to people regardless of their specific background, which means adding in lots of explanations for things anyone in the medical field will know without being too simplistic.
Amiodarone is one of my favorite drugs in terms of it having an awful benefit reward ratio (outside of codes). I first came across this in a pharmacology textbook and it was one of the early examples of absurd drugs being on the market.
For a lot of people, medical ethics is just something they use when it's convenient, which is why think like informed consent get tossed in the trash when it gets in their ways. It's really surprised me how many IRBs I've worked with that threw a hissy fit over a very simple and safe study I already had subjects who requested to participate in, but at the same time saw no issue with forcing their employees to vaccinate.
Lastly, did you read the previous part of this series? I went into a lot of what you are discussing with prescriptions from other physcians.
On two unrelated notes:
I am of the belief that one of the things which really damaged the surgical field was the switch from scalpels to electrocautery, as scalpels require a much greater attunement to the body to use, and electrocautery is much more damaging to the body.
I have spent a lot of time in DFW, but I don't think I've ever actually made it out to Houston (kept on meaning to but never did).
I find the discussions by MWD interesting and this comment in particular, because I had a recent experience with amiodarone and the prominent cardiologist who placed me on it, in order to perform a cardioversion. I didn't have lung damage, but did have a strong skin reaction (severe sunburn/rash), it affected my thyroid level, and I believe it was beginning to shut down my kidneys. When I informed the Dr's nurse of the skin allergy (confirmed by my PMC doc), she said the amio couldn't be discontinued. Fortunately for other reasons, this doc did later DC the med (it wasn't controlling rhythm), but it was definitely a case of me against the "expert." I am a doctor's widow, and he was quite the critic of Western allopathic med, so I knew something was wrong w this guy, not with me. He is quite the expert - for some patients. For me, maybe not. As for vaccines - I followed int'l scientific/med Twitter, so I knew of dissenter docs & scientists - and have not gotten the gene therapy so far (until they allow us Americans to have a non-mRNA vaxx!)
you were wise to get off the amiodarone! There are other medicines that don't have the awful side effects. I took one for a while, but eventually AFib won out.. So now I am in the group where we look at "rate control" not rhythm control, and clot avoidance with some of the superb new "NOACs" Novel oral anticoagulants.. there are about four, better than Warfarin (rat poison) we used for years. Bottom line is you need or Need(ed) another cardiologist. The decision about the jab should be yours.. My decision was thank you but no. I would never disparage anyone who makes the decision to take or not to take the vax. mRNA is a dice roll and crap shoot. It can and will mess up lots of proteins in the recipients cells.
Thank you, Dr Feldtman, for your reply! This cardio did imply Eliquis is better than warfarin (which I've been on, & husband said does liver damage, but all the Eliquis lawsuits in past scared me, plus no way to reverse it at first). And yes, I've been on rate control for 12 yrs but keep eventually slipping into tachy cause rate meds don't hold forever w me. Oh well! Quite the adventure...
A few doctors I work with believe that Eliquis increases the risk of getting certain types of cancers, but in general warfarin is much more harmful. The primary issue with warfarin is that since it is a vitamin K antagonist, a calcify is the arteries, which is one of the worst things you can do in cardiovascular disease. Oddly enough though, in a certain portion of Covid long-haul patients, the anti-inflammatory effect of warfarin resets the immune function in their body and is curative.
Thank you, MWD - I didn't know that abt warfarin - as of 2019, my arteries were clear, but with age ... interesting effect for some on immune function.
People comment on the fact that a hundred years ago newspaper articles were read easily and eagerly by the general public that would be almost impossible for the average person today.
It sure doesn't, I don't know where you got that idea. There was a full set of McGuffey Readers in our house. I'd read it now and then, but I was really glad we had Dick and Jane. Run, Spot, run!
Gramar and Spelling is a big issue, words that sound alike, F for PH, I Got instead of I have, still ends up with spelling errors proof readers don't catch. They rely on the computer's spell checker.
Your statin example at the beginning of your article is the precise reason why I have refused to ever take them. Every GP doctor I have had, except the most recent, has pestered me, badgered me, gave me disapproving looks and all but called me noncompliant and uncooperative to my face. Once I tried to bring in some articles about statin side effects and my doctor dismissively told me they couldn’t be accurate because they were a couple years old at that point, as if the side effects magically went away with the current crop of medications. My response was to find another doctor who wasn’t going to pester me about it, and that’s pretty much my attitude going forward. “See ya, doc, it hasn’t been a pleasure knowing you.”
That experience prepared me well for all the hoopla surrounding the COVID “vaccines” and immediately aroused my distrust in them. I am still enraged that the mRNA treatments are still being touted as the last best hope of mankind, while all the common, time-tested, inexpensive treatments (Ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, zinc, etc.) are essentially banned and hard to acquire. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this, but it’s plainly obvious that hospital administrators and the government have these doctors over a barrel in insisting that they remain cowed and compliant and tow the party line without question. Patient care? What’s that?
Thank you for writing this and other articles. They are immensely helpful
Once the pandemic started kicking off in China, I realized it was critical for me to have a way to treat the disease asap, and by late Feb 2020, I felt slightly nervous but relatively comfortable dealing with it (at which point most of colleagues still thought it never going to matter or come to the USA).
Since that time I've come across more treatments than I possibly can count that seem to treat the disease and I've used so many different combinations of therapies (depending on what was available at the time) I've lost count of which combinations I have not tried, with most of them working.
Despite all of that, 2.5 years, there is still no established treatment, which is just sad and there is really no excuse for.
Yep, my husband has had very similar experience w/ statins. A cardiac NP told him, in not exactly these words, a couple of years ago when she diagnosed w/ him a new, chronic heart condition, that his condition was expected because "you weren't on a statin or on an ACE inhibitor after your xyz like is recommended." No inquiry as to WHY he hadn't been on either, no recognition that his cardiologist had told him to stop the ACE inhibitor if situation x developed (which it had, which was a good turn of events). I wanted to reach through the screen and tell her that if his condition was caused by a statin deficiency or an ACE inhibitor deficiency, then we all should have it.
And yes, our experiences w/ my husband's chronic health condition and the utterly bad standard advice that actually contributed to its onset primed us to be skeptical of the latest round of injections.
After seeing the blatant censorship and lies over the last 2 years, we both have extremely miniscule trust in the medical profession.
A lot of prejudice ultimately arises from mental laziness because people do not want to take the mental effort to be present to someone with differing viewpoints from them.
Thank you for reminding me about this. Need to add it into the next section.
More than mental laziness, no one takes the time to look up new drugs they are prescribed. I have had an Enlarged Heart with a Mitral Valve leak for ages, not 1 doc I'd seen let me know, nor was it in my med records. When I had reason to see the Neurologist, she said you need to see a Cardio ASAP. While a former Internist kept pushing Cholestrol drugs that hated my body. Crestor became #1 because a multi mllion $$ ad campaign, Liptor #2, while having horrid side effects, Welchol was just as bad. Gout pain on 1 pill for 5 days. Robert Yoho has an excellent section on Statins they are dangerous. There are older now generics that work well and are cheaper. My reaction sheet had by then reached 3/4th of a page, when I started dumping the new scripts in the trash. I use vitamins and Minerals 8 out of 10 times now. Only thing I can't find is a Bronchitis treatment, except to live on Clartin. 80% of your immune system is in gut health. SSRI drugs are just as horrible. The Little Red Pill used in Nursing Homes Nuedexta https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/12/health/nuedexta-nursing-homes-invs/index.html
True. I told a doc that I would use diet and lifestyle to address my cholesterol when she took me to task. Ok. By the time I got home Walgreens called my statin Rx was ready! Doc—you’re fired. I have a great doc now. They are out there.
I throw a few in the trash, report side effects, on the crap I read up on. And know are harmful. Shuts them down. My old deceased from age Pharmacist knew more about drugs than today's docs do.
I also love your writings. They have helped me understand what happened to me 13 years ago when I developed severe facial pain. As you write about, nobody could figure it out. After a dozen different doctors and dentists I was told it was due to severe anxiety and depression. That began a viscious cycle of drugs and nearly destroyed my marriage and my life. In desperation I finally found a doctor willing to step back and look at a bigger picture. Something I had begged many others to do. He ultimately discovered I had a severe bone infection in my face and multiple fistulas. I had 4 surgeries, lost 5 teeth, and 8 weeks of intravenous Antibiotics and 6 months of oral antibiotics. I still get pain sometimes from all the nerve damage.
Interestingly, the fine oral surgeon who finally figured it out was trained in Scotland and practiced for years in 3rd world countries. And he told me that it should have been obvious to anyone I spoke to that the anxiety and depression was being caused by something and not the cause of my pain. He did not have much good to say about medical training in the US. And he was very critical of the complete lack of any homogenous effort between dentists and doctors.
Again, thank you for all the effort you put in to write. You are helping more folks than you know. Godspeed.
Undiagnosed dental infections are an extremely common cause of all sorts of complex diseases (had someone with a cancer that originated from a tooth infection recently and another person with years of unresolved sinus problems and facial pain that resulted from a tooth infection that was incorrectly treated the first time), but theres a very small portion of physicians who consider this in their differential diagnosis. Hopefully you read the preceding part as I'm guessing what I said about dentistry hit home for you. Except for some ENTs, doctors seem to have a major blind spot to what goes on in the mouth and it's basically just out of sight out of mind. Glad this helped you!
Indeed! It helped me understand a bit about what transpired. I kept saying that they were all missing something. Eventually I was proven correct, but it was a long road. Thanks for your note and again for the effort you put in to your writing.
I had constant sinus infections for several years. One side of my face would swell up. I took big nasty antibiotics (one which I was sensitive to and made me kind of crazy) . I went to the nose guy severttimes and prednisone helped some. I could barely breathe right. Then I had my dentist appt (I hate dentist visits so had put it off)an x -ray showed a festering abscess at the site of an old root canal so to the oral surgeon I went. Dropped 3,000 dollars. Never had another sinus infection. Why did not the nose snd sinus guy check that obvious source of infection. It was so deep I didn’t really have pain. This was 2011. It seems something showed up on a cat scan after an accident in 2005 but the antibiotics the er doc gave didn’t do much.
Infected root canals are one of the most common causes of chronic complex illnesses in people. This has been known for at least 50 years in the integrative field but most conventional doctors are still not aware of this. It's lucky for you this was a local issue because often they create a lot of nasty systemic diseases no one can find the cause of.
I had all my root canals removed several years ago by a holistic dentist. They seem to often be the source of ‘hidden’ (unlooked-for, actually) infections. I became aware of this after I began seeing a functional medicine MD. No more ‘regular’ doctors for me. They never helped me improve my health...quite the opposite.
I suspect that my dear mom who died 38 years ago from a massive heart attack had some kind of untreated infection in one of her teeth that was allowed to fester for years. She eventually went to a dentist, but it was probably too late. My mom was of the generation who viewed illnesses as something one didn’t discuss with anyone other than a doctor and didn’t go out of her way to schedule appointments anyway. She just toughed out the pain, whatever it was. Her example is why I try to be scrupulously careful with my own teeth and get regular checkups twice a year.
I'm sorry that happened to your mother. One reason older adults are harder to deal with as patients is because they grew up in the generation that really got hit with all propoganda that science would bring us a magical better future (and it was when all the new pharmaceuticals were being discovered), so they have this blind faith in the standard model of medicine.
The one caveat I'll give is that a lot of the problematic infections are often not caught during basic checkups though.
I had a dentist in 1968 get my lip caught in the dental pliers when he was extracting a tooth. I made a lot of noise but he didn’t stop. My face was black and blue. Bleeding lip. Probably why I had a hard time with dentists to this day. 😲😱
Thank you. It used to drive me crazy that my mom would just shrug off severe headaches, aches and pains, etc. and go to work as if it was just another day. She was a high school secretary and once she tripped on a step in the cafeteria and broke her wrist. She probably did go to the doctor, but I recall that they thought it was just a hairline fracture that didn’t need a cast. They told her to stay home. She bought a wrist brace and went back to work the next day.
We had to be bleeding badly before we went to doctors. I think I broke my clavicle once as a preteen but didn’t want to tell anyone. I thought I would get into trouble. It was weeks I couldn’t move my arm fully but no one noticed. Big farm family. I survived.
One caveat I need to give is that while many parts of standard medicine are harmful, I have met very good natural medicine people who refused to ever go to a hospital, and I had 2 cases where they died bc they wouldn't go in for something which is very simple and straight forward to treat with conventional medicine and they died not long after.
"A Midwestern Doctors'" Substack platform is thought-provoking and also provides a sounding board to understand and value the real-life experiences of people who post here.
I want to validate your experience, MoodyP; thank you! Your post reminds me to try to take better care of my teeth. I will explore the science of various methods for doing so.
I have had a fistula in the roof of my mouth since birth; having Cleft Palate and Double cleft lip surgeries. The fistula remains; and I have had to fend off sinus and systemic infections my whole life. Personally, I have had bad reactions to antibiotics after so much use; so I am always refining the best practices toward my own Standard of Care by reviewing as much information and implementing or discarding methods that haven't been beneficial to me individually.
The approaches that I have found most useful to me are called "Alternative/Complementary" traditions like Chinese Medicine Theories. I focus on preventative Optimization of Health and Wellness.
Along with Dental care, to keep on top of the fistula infection potential, I use a Neti Pot (1/8 tsp Himalayan Salt in distilled water) and Nebulize w/diluted FOOD GRADE Hydrogen Peroxide (1/8 tsp to 1 oz Saline; that amount divided over a few days). Many Organic Herbs from my garden (especially Stinging Nettles and Herbal Antibiotics only as needed), Whole Organic foods, making my own yogurt cultures, as well as many other lifestyle habits like HIIT exercise, Qigong, Lymphatic Drainage, Hot Epsom Salt baths, being outside in sun, many more things...that keep me healthy and Rx-free, go to Dr. only for Annual Physical now...
MwD... Another excellent chapter in the saga! Simply reading through all of the comments confirms my own observations over my near 50 years as an MD. Though a boarded Ophthalmologist with solo practice for 30+ years (thousands of cataracts and LASIK), my medical direction took a serious turn following the loss of my paramedic son to PTSD in 2012. As a result of that event, I was forced to re-examine every aspect of my life (and practice) and I morphed into the cannabis physician I am today. I have now seen thousands of patients with every Dx imaginable and have seen first hand the failures of mainstream medicine (I was always a contrarian, however - fighting against statins and pushing Vit. D since the 90s). When all else has failed, people often show up in the "pot doc's" office - and, they get better! This is not to say that the cannabis plant is some miracle elixir (close, though), but it is an important part of healing in every chronic disease, IMO.
How can this be? Most disease, dysfunction can be traced to trauma. Life trauma (can be emotional, sexual, physical, socio-economic) dysregulates the autonomic nervous system (and the HPA axis). Our own endocannabinoid systems regulate these systems and return homeostasis to the body. Hence, things get better when cannabinoids are provided to the body. Humans (and all living things, for that matter) have tremendous healing and repair mechanisms and "medicine" really should be directed at assisting the body to heal itself, but it turned down the allopathic road long ago. A drug for this... A drug for that...
Space does not permit explaining this in depth, but suffice it to say that 90% of the patients who show up in my office have significant PTSD and most have no clue that their physical stems from their past and on-going trauma. Most have been to many physicians - all specialties - and almost none are ever queried about life events, family, etc. Sadly, psychiatry has failed massively, IMO, in that these specialists pigeon-hole their mental health patients into myriads of labelled boxes (bipolar, schizoaffective, mood disorder, ADD/ADHD, OCD, etc.) and their only "cure" is one psych drug after another. 99% of these conditions in my experience are actually rooted in trauma (usually family dysfunction - if there is an alcoholic in the family, everyone has PTSD, for instance). I use the VA's PCL-5 test and the Adverse Childhood Event (ACE) tests as screening tools with my patients now and these have been incredibly accurate in uncovering trauma that is repressed or ignored. Patients cannot heal, IMO, from trauma unless it is recognized and dealt with by working with a trauma therapist. Failure to "drain" the trauma abscess leads inevitably to physical dysfunction, disease, and death.
Dr. Peter Breggin (American) does a great job on discussing the insanity of psychiatry today. It is worth watching his videos on the internet. Dr. Gabor Mate' (Canadian) has been working with trauma and addiction for near 40 years and he has become one of my heroes, He expresses what I have learned in my own little journey through life. His recent movie, thewisdomoftrauma.com , is worth watching and he has written numerous books on the centrality of trauma to disease and dysfunction.
Apologies for the ramble. MwD and all of the groupies here are doing a wonderful job in dragging these long hidden truths into the light of day. Keep it up! Peace and Hope to all here...
A lot of people in the integrative field have gotten on the cannabis plant in recent years. I've always thought that if the theory humans were genetically engineered by aliens was true, then they made that plant for our species. It just matches every human need (my personal big interest is hempcrete).
Do you have any opinions on the best forms/brands to use? I've so far put off using medical cannanaboids, but it's been on my to do list to look at at some point.
One of the recent experiences I've been having is how directly traumatic experiences alter the structure of the unconscious mind which then changes the whole physiologic system.
If you ever want to write a detailed summary of your experiences with cannibus in a manner that would be a useful guide for other people (who either want to learn more, or clinicians who want practice guidelines) I'd be happy to publish it.
Very kind. Will consider putting something together. It is a huge topic, as you know, and there is still so much that we don't know about the plant and the way it interacts with Humans.
Another great doctor -- the comments section here restores some of my faith in doctors and prevents absolutist pigeons holes (always/never etc).
I've seen numerous shrinks and only one of them ever asked about childhood trauma. The rest just seemed to be scanning for what to prescribe for symptom suppression, with zero interest in cause and little to no regard for me as a human being. Your patients are lucky to have you.
Ever heard of Jerry Tennant, MD? Ophthalmologist who in the course of surgery on a really sick patient got 3 viruses in his brain, a bleeding disorder related to the pancreas and spastic movements. He could see a patient and know what was wrong with them but couldn't remember how to write a prescription. Top doctors in the land said nothing they could do and so he slept most of the time for almost 7 years. In the brief lucid period he had each day he started having the thought that if he knew how one cell worked he could get well and started reading cellular biology books. He's hale and heart today in his 80s and published Healing Is Voltage. I heard about him from Mark Starr, MD whose specialty is Pain Medicine, but he's hypothyroid which motivated him to read 100 years of the best research starting with the Clinical Society of London report in the late 19 C. and published Hypothyroidism, Type2--The Epidemic. I asked for a blood test when I was 66 y o to see if that's why I was so cold. The blood test said my thyroid was fine and dandy, nothing to see here. When I heard Starr on the radio four years later I was elated--I finally knew what was wrong with me and what I could do about it. I excitedly told my Internal Medicine doctor sister about it. He just wanted to sell a book. Undaunted, I took my basal temp, 2 degrees below normal, and as I read the book I made a list of 40 signs/symptoms out of 100 or so. I soon found an integrative doctor who started me on desiccated thyroid hormone. I was very tired and WEAK by then. I'm in better condition at 82 than I was at 70. When Tennant and Starr met, Tennant had already determined that the chief cause of low voltage was the thyroid, but didn't know that hypothyroidism was not being correctly diagnosed and treated. And Starr didn't know about Voltage. He credits Tennant with saving his life, he had a fungal foot infection down to the bone.
I'd learned about suppressed cancer cures long ago (Politics In Healing, Daniel Haley is the best I know, it will make you want to weep). But this is just as scandalous. "There's so much unnecessary suffering", said Starr. For a long time I shook my head so much I joked about developing Parkinson's. My physician father, brother and sister knew nothing about this, and I was a RN. Today I get most of my supplements from Tennant Products.
My sister said she was a really good endocrinologist, now I suspect she was one of those "fine tuners" Starr wrote about, they could get that blood test to come out just right. And there were plenty of pharmaceuticals for the remaining symptoms that didn't resolve with the synthetic T4 doctors are ordered to give. But she was a good doctor who went into medicine because she truly wanted to help people and her patients loved her and she helped me many times.
I read politics in healing when it came out, and through an inordinate amount of work, I was able to get ahold of a lot of the things mentioned in the book and test them out.
All the other stuff you mentioned here is quite interesting. Thank you.
I did a lot of reading and looking around while I was waiting for a hysterectomy for a malignant tumor. I decided if it was necessary I would go with Bob Beck's system, tiny electric current. He was on CoasttoCoast am years ago, the guest host was Hilly Rose (sp?) who was very skeptical almost hostile. Then the calls came in--"I appreciate your skepticism, but not in this case..." and caller after caller described their success. I and my older two children got the polio vaccine with cancer viruses in them, my daughter died of Hodgkins' at 42, I had the tumor, hoping for the best for my son. Ed Haslam was on c2c talking about his book Dr. Mary's Monkey , the inside scoop of what went on, his father was an orthopedic surgeon and colleague of Dr. Mary, little Ed remembers sitting on her lap when she visited in their home. I think he's still active, writing books, etc.
I've messed around with some of Bob Beck's things but I never knew that one could be applied to cancer. Also the best thing we've ever found for neutralizing the cancer viruses from the polio vaccine is Sanum Nigersan
Very interesting, another one of my favourite fields is the endocannabinoid system and CBDs. It's always worth reading through the other comments.
I live in a country that has not legalized medical cannabis. But this is not a significant issue if you want it. We have beautiful weather and lots of nature spaces to hide our crops. And then fairly simple and completely natural methods of making use of those crops. I particularly like cannabis infused organic chocolates.
Thank you Also for being an MD advocating for the best care for people in need. I feel your loss.
Personal trauma helps me relate: Widowed at age 20 after 3 months of marriage, I lost my brilliant first husband to suicide, which occurred in close proximity. Since, I have sought understanding, meaning and methods that would help with grief. Might I offer what I found best helped? It is Qigong and Chinese Medicine. Specifically, focused on Shen, Heart Shock, The Psyche in Chinese Medicine and Treating Emotional Trauma with Chinese Medicine. Also, EMDR and EFT...High Intensity Interval Training/Running stimulate Endocannabinoid system...I found so much comfort in Psychiatrist Dr. David R. Hawkins' works, and the Spiritual in God. As far as herbs; I grow and also buy others; I always try to find best source: Wild-crafted, GMO, Organic (toxins applied growing or processing?)
Books by Dr. Breggin are on my winter read list; also Dr. Mate' (In the Realm of the Hungry Ghost), Bessel van Der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score), Peter Levine (Waking the Tiger), Judith Herman(Trauma and Recovery), and many more. Have you read Michael Pollans' How to Change Your Mind?
Also I think classical Chinese medicine has one of the best models I have come across for treating emotional issues since many of them originate from the channels.
Grandmasters' Level 3 Teachings (Chan and Yi Jing Heart Energy Distinctive Healing Method), which builds on 5 Element Theory, Ba Zi, 4 Pillars, and those books I mentioned all build on this. It is where my heart is; I really get it, and want to help others; eventually to teach, with Grandmasters' blessing.
Yes, I have that one also...and more, like Healing Through the Dark Emotions, The Emotional Brain, many more...Can you tell my heart is resonating on this topic? People will need some direction with awakening...
Andrea... Sorry for your losses, but you are a survivor and are doing great. All of your "trauma aids" are excellent. Mate' just published a new version of his Hungry Ghost book and I have ordered it. Be safe. Be happy!
Only anecdotally. I have several women (50-60) suffering with myocarditis/percarditis following "boosters", numerous young women with bleeding for months, several with clotting issues and venostasis, one lady with sudden onset of severe rheumatoid arthritis following her booster (this is a known side effect of MANY vaccines, BTW), my mother-in-law had a CVA following her 2nd shot in Germany (now deceased, she had mild left hemiparesis for her last year of life). None of these patients had been told that their conditions might be connected to the vaxxx and none of them had a clue! A terroble situation. Most of my patients come to me seeking help with chronic pain or sleep or "anxiety" (most of which is actually PTSD) and, so, I have to tease out a lot of the info associated with their complaints. There is ALWAYS a back story to their conditions that is at the root of their problem.
Sadly, once these events occur, I am not sure there is really anything that will return one to normal.
Having said that, CBD (legal in all 50 states in the US) is anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and neuro-protective, so IMO there is wisdom in taking it regularly (I and wife do). Products with more THC can help with anxiety/PTSD issues, sleep, chronic pain, etc.
As a boarded ophthamologist, you may have seen a pattern of meibomian gland dysfunction amongst patients who used oral or topical retinoids for acne (isotretinoin/tretinoin) in the past. Many of them are unaware that their dry eye disease was caused by the "safe" (according to dermatologists) acne treatment given to them in their childhood/youth.
The problem with isotretinoin toxicity with the meibomian glands is that the damaging effects are not always immediate. A patient may have normally functioning glands whilst using isotretinoin ("Accutane") and even for months/years afterwards, only to develop this sometimes debilitating disease many years later. Due to the delayed pattern of toxicity, dermatologists do not see it (and also choose not to see it due to their own cogntive biases to dermatology practice guidelines) and opthamologists sometimes fail to recognize that an adult onset of MGD could have been caused by retinoid use in previous years. I've known people who used Accutane at age 16 and developed symptoms of severe MGD (which does not run in their family) 10+ years later.
Most of these MGD patients do not have a clue that previous use of Accutane is the reason for their ongoing suffering, and sometimes their ignorance even leads them to ironically drug their own children with the very same toxin that harmed them.
There are endless examples like this, I was just wondering if this is something you have encountered in your past years of opthamology practice. Failure for patients & doctors to recognize iatrogenesis allows it to continue.
Yes. Saw this a lot when I was in private practice. Of even more concern is the high incidence of depression (suicidal level) that accompanies the use of these drugs. I was particularly attuned to this as I did a lot of refractive surgery and these drugs really mess up tear production which leads to significant healing issues post-operatively. In general, most physicians are so busy that they miss the potential for pharma side effects and the pharmacentric health care system that we have downplays or ignores the disastrous side effects that accompany so many drugs. The blindness to the side effects of the experimental COVID vaxxx illustrates the problem perfectly.
To my knowledge, you are the only genuinely holistic ophthalmologist I have come across (or for that matter of anyone in a ROAD* speciality) so I view it as quite a shame you are not practicing ophthalmology anymore as there are so many areas a truly integrative approach could greatly improve the discipline.
*Radiology, Opthomalogy, Anesthesia and Dermatology are highly competitive specialities because they pay well and have a relatively easy life style so they are known as the road to success.
Actually there are a few loose cannons in the specialty, but the Academy and Academe control the narrative pretty tightly! At 70+, I just cannot stand the thought of going back into any remotely "mainstream" area of medicine. As I seg'd into cannabis medicine near ten years ago, I genuinely feel that I am now helping more souls than in anything else I could be doing. The biggest lesson for me has been to see the massive failures of mainstream medicine reinforced in the frustrated (and, often medically abused) patients who show up in the "pot docs" office as a last resort... And, they all get better once they are empowered to care for themselves! THE real health threat on the planet is actually life trauma. We can and must do better for each other.
The biggest problwm with CBD products is that they are unregulated. So... There are many mislabeled and fraudulent products on the market.
It takes at least 40mg/day in adults to do much, ,so that is a good starting point. Young kids and elders (80s) tend to be more sensitive and often respond to much lower doses. Chronic pain conditions, migraines, seizure disorders, Parkinson's frequently use in the 80-120mg/day range. If you hit the "right" dose, you should see a reduction of chronic pain and mood stabilization up to 50%. With things like IBS/Crohn's, dysmennorhea , migraines, you can get more than 80% reduction in sxs with the correct "dose". The variability of dosing is large, however. Genetic makeup, nutritional state, and environmental factors ALL can influence how it affects one.
CBD and its many variants (CBG, CBN, etc.) are neuroprotective, antiinflammatory, endocine regulating, anti-cancer, anti-viral (actually, anti-COVID), anti-Alzheimers, and on and on... I take an average of 75mg a day for all of the above reasons - an anti-aging play on my part.
There are hundreds of sources, so it is overwhelming. I have used products from sunsoil.com; charlotttesweb.com; letitgrowhemp.com. All are legitimate CBD companues and have excellent products. I prefer gelcaps as they are more exact for dosing, but there are drops, gummy bears, even CBD flower that one can smoke!
Thanks so very much for clearly and thoughtfully articulating these observations in this post and the last two. I'm printing off hard copies for the "philosophical/moral" section of my binder of articles which I've been collecting over the last year and a half. Stuff that's worth reading again, or good to have for posterity, for looking at in another 50 years when people wonder what went wrong and why.
I cannot begin to describe how deeply grateful I am for your putting all of these things into words. It's difficult to attempt to reconcile for non-physicians how and why so many well-meaning, compassionate, good physicians end up dismissive of patients' concerns, of patients' choices, of the corruption that has invaded the professional organizations, research, medical journals, and governing bodies.
Thank you too. I'm just happy there are people who are actually receptive to this message. Putting stuff like this together is a form of artistic expression for me and it's nice I get to do art that helps the world.
A few years ago if I'd tried doing something like this no one would have cared, so I'm hopeful that's a sign messages like this can go viral and positively affect the culture.
I have seen a lot of different therapies proposed for it all of which seem to work in certain cases. My default it to just treat the pituitary gland since that is easy to do and works in many cases, but I still don't feel like I really understand the best way to address adrenal fatigue because all the different approaches take a while to kick into gear, can overload the system, and often don't look at what is actually causing the deficiency.
I decided to share this anecdote not because it is unique, but because it isn't. Probably every single person here has a similar story, and that's the problem. My primary care doctor is a wonderful person who has been my doctor for decades. The last time I saw her was in March 2021, for an annual physical. She immediately asked me if I had gotten my first vaccine. I said no, because my Leiden V blood clotting defect made me leery of getting blood clots from the vaccine (I discovered I had Leiden V in 2009 when I ended up in the hospital for five days with multiple PE blood clots). She immediately dismissed these concerns, saying it would be fine and that I should get a vaccination immediately. Only good manners prevented me from asking her if she was then willing to be sued if things were not fine, or if she was willing to pay my family a death benefit if I died because she told me it would be "fine" to get the vaccine. No suggestion was made that it was sensible for a person with a blood clotting defect to avoid a vaccine known to cause blood clots. No suggestion was made to monitor me in the hospital after vaccination. I was just supposed to go to my nearest vaccination destination, get the shot and go home. What my doctor didn't know, and I think no doctor really realizes, is that patients remember what their doctors tell them, but doctors never remember what they have said to patients. That is the nature of things. So I remembered that one year my doctor told me not to bother with the pneumonia vaccine because it was a scam, but the next year she told me I should definitely get it. One year she told me I should absolutely get the killed virus shingles vaccine when it came out, but the next year she told me not to get it because it was "nasty." That makes me think it would be likely that were I to go in for a physical this year, she would have no recollection of having told me to absolutely get the COVID vaccine without a worry right after it came out, and she might actually say this time that I should be careful about getting it--maybe. I don't know. But what I have learned from these vaccine experiences with her is that, wonderful person or not, I really can't trust what she says when it comes to vaccines, and that I should just ignore her. She is going to say whatever she feels that particular day, and none of it, absolutely none of it, is based on any kind of science or data.
I have seen doctors reflexively assert so many things to patients as fact when my thought process has been "you have no basis for asserting that as fact."
I never really thought about (doctors don't remember what they say patients but patients do remember) since I tend to remember most conversations I have (since they vary rather than being monotonous) but that is a really good point.
There is so much conflicting data on everything that citing data for a lot of people is just a process of cherry picking something to support what they want to rather than seeking the truth. I know I am biased but I make a sincere effort to look at both sides of each argument.
Psychoneuroimmunology. Is this field of science something commonly discussed or talked about?
When you mention doctors dismissing fibromyalgia and FND as psychiatric manifestations. It somewhat frustrates me to hear this.
I have CFS/M.E. It sucks.
Putting it simply it is a frustrating condition. But more so, I used to be a special operations army medic who loved competitive boxing and adventure sports.
I was very interested in performance and absolutely pushing your body to the limits. And now gentle yoga is sometimes too difficult. I can't eat fast food. I can't get too hot or too cold.
This is not a small or subtle change. But polar opposite ends of the activity spectrum.
I haven't personally faced it too often but it is a common theme within complex chronic condition circles that often these are considered as "psychiatric manifestations" and it does come across as insulting.
However I do believe there is a psychological component. As stress levels certainly play a role in flare ups.
But so does exercise. Diet. Alcohol. Or stimulants - what goes up must always come down.
I sort of got a degree in it. However, it's fairly rare for me to hear people discuss it (outside of the people I did the degree with).
I have heard quite a few doctors directly say they think CFS does not exist and is a made up disease. I disagree with that, and very few people from an outside observer's perspective get how hard people with CFS struggle to maintain a basic sense of dignity and self responsibility with their lives and just assume they are being lazy. Quite a few close friends I know have gone through this process.
There are a lot of possible causes of CFS, but did you ever look into Garth Nicholson's work? Based on your background, it might apply to your situation.
Short answer is no. I was not aware of Garth Nicolson. I had to google him to see what his research was focused on. And it does look very intriguing to me from a glance so thank you, I will follow up on that some more.
I have seen so many theories as to the cause or potential causes of this illness/syndrome and have been following the science with a fairly passionate interest for around 6 or 7 years now. And GWS (along with fibromyalgia and post lyme disease) certainly were illnesses that I also kept an eye on. As although not identical, seemed similar enough to be related. Like cousins.
My theory is and still holds that these are likely genotoxic illnesses, a result of mutagenic changes or if not, at least epigenetic changes that occur frequently and habitually, as I reckon cells have the capacity to develop habitual responses themselves.
However I cannot deny some of the other theories and the findings. HPA axis damages. Neuroinflammation. Retroviral theories or immune/autoimmune type responses taking place too.
But sort of like a chicken and egg situation. Which comes first? And I think it starts at the cell. The rest are symptoms of that initial process.
I think and I would love for you to show me any evidence that confirms or disproves this notion so I can scratch this off my list.
That like a petrol engine and carburetors. The slight change to mitochondrial function makes my body run too rich. Creating excessive oxidative stress. This particularly seems to occur within nervous tissues.
But elsewhere or perhaps is slightly different between individuals.
Early on. I used to be able to hike up hills and do push ups. Yet foreign movements were very stressful and always resulted in a crash. Even just small amounts.
I think this is to do with proprioception or the nervous systems ability to adapt to this. As in, those exercises were built into me and performed on the nearly daily schedule as a soldier. The nerve pathways controlling the fine movement and muscles were well conditioned and developed. Yet unfamiliar movements were not. So those movements I was familiar with were mostly fine. Those unusual were not tolerated.
Unfortunately as time passed. My energy went to other things like my health and safety career. The pushups stopped. The hiking too. And now those are also hard to do without having a flare up.
Something you may want to look into trying is ultraviolet blood irradiation (provided you use a device that uses a spiraling quarz cuvette, other ones don't work as well). It can affect a lot of the potential causes for CFS.
"I think this is to do with proprioception or the nervous systems ability to adapt to this. As in, those exercises were built into me and performed on the nearly daily schedule as a soldier. The nerve pathways controlling the fine movement and muscles were well conditioned and developed. Yet unfamiliar movements were not. So those movements I was familiar with were mostly fine. Those unusual were not tolerated."
You might consider exploring ZHealth education. There are a handful of "master practitioners" on the website plus, for the DIY-er, free 30 day access to a sampling course. It overlaps with "functional neurology" (Dr kharrazzian has a few books for laypeople and workshops for practitioners).
Man, that must be difficult as such a fit athletic person to have this happen. Have you heard of Runners' Dystonia? Many high mileage long distance runners have reported having dystonia, some following Lyme Disease or injections and your description reminded me of their experiences.
I love the analogy of energy, like a carburetor, running too rich. I also like the reference to PNI; which interested me in the 1980's with Candace Perts' groundbreaking studies. There is a lot of research pointing to mitochondrial dysfunction, as you noted, which cascades to the other systems functioning improperly.
I wonder if you've tried Lymphatic Drainage? A simple mini trampoline also?
Yes...I was a good runner (effortless qualification for Boston Marathon-ran it 8 x-until Lymerix, Hepavax, Pneumavax, years of allergy shots, ~2 yrs on Tetracycline and then Levaquin destroyed some tendons.
The number of people with CFS/M.E. seems to increase every day; so many disclosed to me in the very first Qigong seminar I took with a Grandmaster from China. Many people there with CFS/M.E. said it was the only thing that worked. It is very yin and the world is very yang; perhaps a balance might help.
And there are so many toxins now...Detoxing protocols can be harsh; Qigong is not. Dr. Bryan Walsh, ND, has a class on Mitochondria that I took that includes a detox protocol; which requires being able to have the toxins circulating to get rid of them. There are so many different forms of Qigong; I love my Emei Form and am trying others.
I have also heard this from many people with CFS/ME/Lyme that a good Qigong system was one of the only things that ever helped them. Since Qigong is free though it will never be standard of care in America.
Our Emei school of Qigong is so enlightened, it is free or small charge to cover meeting place cost...that is how you know it is the real deal; it isn't about making money...it is heart-centered to help others. I am very glad I found the path of Eastern Medicine when I lost my bearings for Med School when widowed at age 20...
Nice article. Good job interposing facts with personal anecdotes.
This (what you’ve written) is the problem. What is the solution?
I’ve worked for doctors over 30 years now in admin.
I’ve seen almost all of this in terms of the paternalism, the “I went to school for x years, who are you to question me?” Etc.
In the context of “why aren’t more doctors speaking the truth?” I’ve been responding “liability”. But you mention that as only one part of a larger issue.
I’ve never, ever thought about psychological trauma to doctors except once when my old trauma doc (great man) said he lost a child after an MVA. Interesting. He literally cried for that child. But he was unique. He was able to compartmentalize trauma unless it was a kid. He’s retired now.
I work for a mid size eye group now. I have this one doc. I love the man . He is a man of faith. But he and spouse were so trained in medicine (she’s also a health care provider) to look on vaccines as sacrosanct. Not the word he would use , maybe “inviolable”. I’ve presented multiple facts to him and he basically ignores. On the other hand he and wife seem to give me a great deal more respect seeing the effort I’ve gone into researching all this.
If you have any advice for the direction my next step should be, I’m all ears. Facts don’t seem to matter to them.
I find it fascinating, albeit understandable, that almost 100% of DCs and NDs are redpilled but I guess that comes with their training and “bent” as well.
I may work for docs but unless I have something acute, or non-reparable by natural means, I do NOT trust them. Most of your colleagues would rather throw a statin at someone than call out lifestyle.
That's going to be in the next part (I cut this one short because I realized it was too long but I think I can fit everythig into the last part). I also have to give a caviat that my solutions are just ideas, so I'll probably refine the list a lot in the future after I get a bunch of feedback from here and my colleagues.
Normally all you can do with these types of people unless you are really good at breaking their hypnosis (which is kind of a dangerous process) is to plant seeds of ideas and let them sprout later.
I have friends in every single medical field. One thing that's sad is that the naturopathic medical schools have gone all in on pushing vaccines because they want more acceptance, and it's likely the newer generation will be less redpilled. Also I know a lot of chiropractors who are ardent promoters of the COVID vaccine.
It absolutely blows my mind! My acupuncturist and her DC husband were first in line for mRNA and boosters too. I've considered stop seeing her b/c she cannot even fathom that my sister (who sees her too) has a mRNA injury. It's just nonsensical.
I can understand the pressure of the licensed realm (there I blame the corporate desire to keep access to insurance handouts) but I totally don't understand why so many unlicensed herbalists jumped into the fray too.
No offense to the good doctor here but I haven’t met any herbalists or NDs or DCs except one PhD pharmacist affiliated with a major local pharmacy who are pushing jabs and the narrative. He is working for a pharmacy here that is unique in our area for employing DCs and NDs and for promoting vitamins and natural healing while still being a working normal pharmacy. No others. He (the pharmacist) may be pressured by his company. He has seen a vaccine injured person too. I am aware of this through my own ND who is comanaging the case of this injured woman. So I do not know the pharmacist’s personal position.
My own ND is so anti jab he’s probably worse (ha ha) than most of us here. Although I admit I know individuals who were big into natural medicine who drank up the vaccine narrative thinking they were “doing the right thing”. My brother has three friends , all highly educated, all very lib, one a PhD biologist, one a Pharmacist. I can’t remember the third ones background. All pushing the jabs at him. All of them firmly brainwashed and in cognitive dissonance. Justifying their own positions. So I see how it could be true but I haven’t met anyone personally like that.
In CA, ND licensure required following the script. OR or WA mandated vaxxes for all manner of licensed health care workers (including NDs, zoom based therapists)... And some of the key people in the large herbal guild would live to have vax requirements for future conferences.
I appreciate your comment but that makes literally no sense whatsoever. Why would ANY naturopath (unless corrupted, which is possible), want to be or encourage vaccination? My own is not (if you think you and I are anti-jab come meet him, and he has an MD, MBBC (?brit degree I think), PhD, ND and DC). and so I guess my rose colored glasses were firmly placed on my face to see the ND profession through his life. Colleen Huber on substack is similar. What little I know of her is very good. Great advice she gives. But it flabbergasts me others would tout a natural healing lifestyle and study it and yet promote the jabs. Huh? Illogical and sad.
This is excellent work. I appreciate the "real world" examples you provide and the presumption that these professionals believe they are acting in good faith. That is certainly the case for most.
Thank you. I believe (most) humans are good and want the best for others, but situations often force them to do actions that are harmful. One of the major issues whenever anything gets politicizes is that everyone wants to believe their side is good and the other side is evil (especially if they have had a traumatic experience from someone in it), but it's very rare on any topic which attracts people to both sides that's actually completely true. My own philosophical viewpoint is that the only way to fix these sorts of situations is to break the polarization and bring everyone together.
That all said, I will admit I am quite angry at many of the people I worked with for how aggressively they've pushed the vaccine and refused to listen to any type of reason on this subject.
I too struggle with this tension. Breaking polarization, yet many of the people I know have themselves contributed to the polarization with their aggressive stances and refusal to consider alternative points of view.
Let’s face it. Doctors follow the script they were given because they can never be at fault for causing harm. Most doctors do not do their own research because they are too busy following mainstream procedures and becoming experts at reciting the script. They are robots in a way. They are protected from any harm they may cause a patient as long as they are doing what the narrative tells them. I’m not blaming doctors, personally. This is the way medicine is practiced today. It is interesting how you began your article with statins. It was a doctors prescription for Lipitor 20 years ago that began my distrust in the medical industry. Thank goodness I never filled that prescription. But what I did do is fill my mind with data, facts, and knowledge. I have never gotten another vaccine after my last flu vaccination 20 years ago. I could smell this Covid vaccination 12 months before it even was put on the market. my worst fear came true.
I am profoundly thankful for this blog. I read this aloud to my husband and daughter because I think this information is crucially important to the layman. Through this pandemic both my internist and my husband's internist retired rather than submit to the pressures of practising under the current conditions. The replacement internist lasted all of two months before he left to practise in Thailand . It's crucial to understand the mindset of today's physicians when seeking treatment.
Your work is so beautifully and thoughtfully written. May God bless you for the service and education you are providing to so many.
My Doctor pushed me to take statins for high cholesterol. Test results were barely over the limit so I said no since I have found from experience that medicines may cause other issues and I didn't see my cholesterol being an issue. He then tried to convince me by telling me they are so safe and beneficial that some Doctors propose putting it in the water supply and he obviously thought it was a good idea. That was my last visit with this Doctor.
As for reasons for medical blindness. I would add fear and intimidation, especially when it comes to vaccines. The pro-vax health agencies, medical boards and pharma act more like the Mafia than the Mafia do. Calling out vaccines can end or limit careers. Many refuse to file a VAERS report despite the fact filing a report does not require them to verify the vaccine caused the symptoms. Of course, the time it takes to file a report is also problematic.
I have just cured my long lasting symptoms of facial tics which are likely caused by too many vaccines and stress after consulting with doctor google and taking magnesium suplements!
Another great article. But I have to say (as a retired nurse) that most of the errors I have seen are due to nursing staff just ignoring the 'bleeding obvious'.
Patients discharged with weeping wounds, only to return delirious with sepsis a few weeks later. Patients repeatedly given IV fluids to 'get their blood pressure up to normal' so they can be pushed out the door, only to have seizures from low sodium levels or third space until the go into APO and cardiac arrest...
What I would like to see is nurses paid a small bonus for their patient to have a good outcome (no emergency readmission, no post op infections) and charged a small fine when their patients have a bad outcome - which is for the most part, avoidable.
For that we need a new billing system, and for that, we need a new health system.
Although this plandemic looks very ugly, it might just be the death knell of a corrupt system.
America has been blessed (yes it is a beautiful country) with concierge medicine and now direct primary care - pay cash by subscription, spend more time with a primary care physician, no government or private insurance involvement.
Here in Oz we are setting up first aid courses that come with home medical kits, access to lists of local doctors and nurses and ongoing education.
In Germany the freedom movement has already started buying up private hospitals. In Finland they are creating their own 'parallel health societies'.
Let's use our current predicament to build a new health system. No health bureaucrats, no private insurance, no billing codes. Just back to basics, with good basic care.
Earlier in this series I tried to hit upon the fact you can't do a lot of what you need to do if the time with patients is limited, but my focus here is more on the inability to recognize iatrogenesis rather than all the reasons why iatrogenesis occurs. So I get with what you're saying but it's beyond the scope of an already long article.
I love your articles. They are long, high-effort, very intelligently written, and convey a great deal of knowledge. Thank you for making the obvious effort to write them.
Thank you, these take a lot of time to do, so I only want to put the time in if I feel it's productive. I really appreciate your articles too (I just only comment on Steve Kirsch's because he has more commenters to interact with and he's been really supportive to me/a big part of why I made this substack was because he said I should in one of his articles). I'm sincerely grateful there's a good platform to spread these ideas now.
Hi. I had a strange medical interaction once that still makes me wonder what happened.
Last September, I was at a physical in Illinois. At the end the doctor asked about my Covid vaccination status. I told him that I am not vaccinated. To my surprise, the doctor started pushing me to get vaccinated using fairly insane arguments.
He asked what my top 3 reasons are, for example. I answered
-- I already had Covid
-- My friend's nephew died of Covid vax (blood clots from J&J)
-- The vax does not even work
Anyway, the doctor was pushing the vaccine like it was a used time share or something. I will skip his arguments, but I was shocked by the intensity.
I wonder if he had a financial incentive or it was just an earnest effort on his part to "help society".
Thanks
As far as I know, doctors don't have yet financial incentives to push the COVID vaccines. It's entire due to them having a strong religious zeal in the vaccine and they are essentially projecting their internal emotional process onto you.
I have seen the exact situation you are describing happen countless times, and in no case did the doctor have a financial incentive to push the vaccine.
I am going to try to go into aspects of that in the next part.
In Ontario, doctors have been been paid more than generously to work in the mass vaccine clinics. During the lockdowns, surgeons found new work to do: vaccinating. I believe these incentives to MD’s exacerbate the cognitive dissonance.
Your article is brilliant! Thanks for such great insight.
100% get your point. As I had ethical issues with the COVID-19 vaccine roll out, I never worked at a mass vaccine clinic. Most of the cases I'm discussing are in visits with individual doctors rather than mass vaccine clinics (which are often staffed by nurses rather than doctors).
Thank you! I am breathlessly waiting for the next part!
Good thing you aren't actually short of breath from vaccine complications!
Sometimes doctors have patients that are damaged by covid--losing a limb, for example--so the fear of damage causes them to turn to vaccines for which there's a religious belief in their efficacy.
I recently had a hospitalist physician say that she would definitely recommend Pax for a pregnant woman, because she had seen bad outcomes w pregnant women who had C0\/ID. 😓🙄
Of course there wasn’t any consideration given to the truly safe and effective and safe in pregnancy drug hydroxychloroquine! 😣
It’s supposed to be known by physicians and among physicians that they are prone to bias in this regard. There’s a name for it, but I can’t remember it. Anyway, because they only tend to see the bad stuff, they can easily come to think the bad stuff is common. Kinda like if you work in an ICU, you’re only going to see the C0\/ID patients needing ICU care. You’ll never see all the 95% of folks who never even needed hospital care. So your perspective can get skewed. And even more so when reinforced by colleagues and media etc.
The word is Selection Bias or Survivor Bias. The set of things you see is not necessarily representative for the whole population, not the "average".
This bias permeates every human being's experience. We think we have a conception of "the average person", "the average life", the average anything by looking at our friends, family and acquaintances, and what we can see from our viewpoint. But really our friends and our experiences are a pre-filtered subset of the whole of reality. Not willfully we only live among a particular selection of friends and acquaintances. We went to college, so we know mostly people of the college going class. We live in the suburbs, so we don't know as many downtown people. We have a certain employment, so we meet a certain kind of people from day to day. I call this Filter, with capital F. You cannot collect a sample of observations anywhere in the world or of any sort, and assume you have a representative overview. On the contrary, you will have learned about a certain few types of people/objects/... Powerful concept.
The only people I know of who lost limbs, lost them to the vaccines not to covid. I tried to find the citations for you and I apologize, I promise they are true but can’t put my finger on the three I’ve read about. If you have citations of covid induced blood clots causing limb loss I would like to see it. I will continue to look. One was a black missionary who came back in Furlough and was a nurse or medical assistant, had to get the jabs for work and now has neither leg, and parts of her fingers and hands bilaterally amputated as well. One was a man (don’t remember the history) and the third was a woman who was in minor MSM because she was a local celebrity of some sort (or a model ? I think). The two women were easy to find on line at one time but now I can’t find them, not sure why.
This is from a doctor's conversation with a vascular surgeon.
Anyone with two eyes, a brain, and enough of a sense of "self" (which is resistant to the perpetual gaslighting of reality we are constantly bombareded with from the media) can see by now that the vaccines cause more harm than good...
Yet the physician is often incapable of believing their own observations, since their training has thoroughly and perpetually training them to gaslight their own senses. They also fear malpractice litigation.
""As long as you are doing what others are doing, and not doing something kooky or as an outlier, you did not breach your duty," said Dr. David J. Goldberg. "If there is no nexus between breach of duty and their alleged damages, they can take you to court but they cannot win." (https://www.mdedge.com/dermatology/article/10316/health-policy/lawsuit-outcomes-often-tied-breach-duty)
Physicians fear being that "kooky outlier" who (God forbid) see reality clearly and advise their patients accordingly. The system has designed an extremely efficient structure which incentivizes doctors to remain blind with fear (litigation and loss of license) and rewards (financial and employment security). It makes perfect sense why the only physicians "speaking out" are already retired and thus have virtually nothing to lose.
People often ask "if the vaccines are SO bad, then why aren't more doctors speaking out?" They are either mentally lost to their own medical brainwashing, or are terrified to (and they do not benefit from doing so).
Regarding the malpractice aspect, the same thing also holds true in the USA; to be liable for malpractice 4 critieria must be met, one of which is "deviating from the standard of care."
A lot of times when you study systems that would put into place through lobbying, you begin to notice all these little rules were installed that give all the power to the oligarchs at the expense of the common people. The "standard of care" requirement for malpractice is an excellent example that ripples out throughout the entire American system.
Doctors fear being fired by hospitals and being reported by medical activists to medical review boards as much as any malpractice lawsuits.
Doctors have no duty to speak up. They have a duty to current patients and that's it.
If we want doctors to speak up, we should take it on ourselves to get laws passed that will protect doctors from negative consequences of speaking up. Medical freedom of speech has been eliminated. It is in our interest to see it restored.
I also don’t think doctors Receive any financial incentive to force patients into vaccination. The thing is that doctors have been caught on the “ wonderful Vs Idiot doctors tale ”. And the “anti-vax” are the later. They simply want to show virtue and high scientific profile. Not caring if any of the “safe and effective crap” is true or not.
I have a very good friend who recently (last week!) was told when calling an immunologist's office for a new patient appointment that she "had" to get the injection so that they could assess her antibody response. She asked how it made sense to give an already sick person something that could make them worse, but they persisted in their insistence that this was the "only" way to obtain the necessary information.
Thankfully my friend is independently minded and won't listen to people like that. I was incensed on her behalf. What about all the patients who, as A Midwestern Doc points out, are still stuck in the paternalistic model of healthcare and would submissively go along simply because "the doctor said it was the only way??!!"
I feel so behind the times. New ones are always being made up, but I had not actually heard that justification for getting vaccinated before.
I have seen a lot of crazy things, but this beats the record
Respect to your friend for standing firm in the face of such idiocy.
For the love of all that's holy, your good friend needs to find another physician.
Oh, she absolutely did. She was as aghast as all of us.
An “expert virologist” my son (24) consulted for a string of strange viral infections subjected my son to similar treatment. The ONLY two questions he asked my son were “Are you vaccinated?” and “Why not?”
My kid is nobody’s fool, and we’re all still fully Covid-recovered and happily unjabbed (with this one, anyway).
But...WTH?
I think there's surely a big financial incentive! And even if not, there's likely an incentive of some kind, such as keeping tabs on doc's who promote the "agenda." Glad you're all keeping safe from this menace!
Pushing this fake vaccine makes the doctor look pro vaccine to the CDC, etc. They are less likely to come after him & bother him. Can it be like a notch on his belt? You know... like a prosecutor (lawyer) when they win a case.
I encountered the same reactions, most doctors are still pushing the vax, even if they themselves got COVID despite being fully vaxed. Even patients who suffered side effects after the first shot are being urged to get the second one. I am really wondering, are they also totally brainwashed by the narrative that the shot is safe and effective , that they are less informed than us, or if that is due to the mass psychosis as Dr. Malone described it so well.
(C) All of the above (why drs are still pushing the injections). And as others have pointed out, it’s becoming very hard for them to admit that they were wrong and that they themselves were duped, and that their advice has possibly harmed people. Most doctors really want to help patients. The idea that they might have contributed to harm is utterly devastating.
My doctor on the other hand never mentioned the vaxx - twice over zoom meeting during the lockdowns and twice during a face to face consult. He even did not mind me not wearing a mask, even though he was wearing one and the clinic had a masking rule in place. Perhaps he is one of the good ones and I should keep him. He is also older (64, I think) that may have something to do with it?
I would blame? the Contracts as they relate to the relative investments to beat that horse more dead. So many contracts down the chain of command, leading (think chain in nose) doctors to become shillers for medicines they have not personally researched in any critical way, and often would not take themselves. Or worse, would. Above that, the hospital supervisors. Let's guess at the number on the patients head....each whackscene pumped into the blood stream = $300? $500? why it's like a slot machine going off, ding ding ding ding ding. I am sure it is quite deafening. Or is that just the tinnitus brain swell from the whackscnene, they can't hear anything./s Tell me how this is anything but slavery, in our faces. The recently departed singer from this band said it well...worth watching the orig video..https://youtu.be/1t-gK-9EIq4
best Igor- that was an unnecessary harsh experience you had in that little office and I would not repeat it; that was a life threatening and a punishable offense you experienced. Requiring effort to process, psychologically and emotionally to be sure. Like a potential mugging or attack on the street. The absence of life in those places, that vaccuum, has filled itself with a bad thing all the way round.
Good on you, you stuck to your guns!
Textbook example of cognitive dissonance!
Have to the private physician who is not within the state insurance system. I think most countries have that, but since you're using GP, I'm guessing you are not within the USA so I can't say for certain in your country.
Superb, but being a surgeon who likes to "cut to the chase" I felt it was long. And every word was worth it. Being a surgeon - all of this applies and more. I recommended my cousin see a surgeon and he did and was very impressed --finding a surgeon who trained in Houston like me. That surgeon said.. "we considered the residency a major contact sport." Very accurate to my personal observation.- As a surgeon I had to be careful commenting on medicines my referring internists had prescribed. Statins - one of them, well explained and even more. it damages neurological cells and may have a role in Alzheimer's and Parkinsons. Or amiodarone - for heart arrhythmia but no concern expressed to the risks of lung injury, often irreversible when on amiodarone, even short courses. And of course the vaccines. Clearly informed consent was not given to the huge majority of the vaccinated. I retired a year ago..so glad because of what has happened. Simply put We the "naysayers" were correct. Still are and the complications continue to appear in the thousands. Be very very careful who you doctor is. Make sure you trust him.
Thank you, and thank you for not getting mad at my for picking on surgery. The balance I am trying to strike is to make this accessible to people regardless of their specific background, which means adding in lots of explanations for things anyone in the medical field will know without being too simplistic.
Amiodarone is one of my favorite drugs in terms of it having an awful benefit reward ratio (outside of codes). I first came across this in a pharmacology textbook and it was one of the early examples of absurd drugs being on the market.
For a lot of people, medical ethics is just something they use when it's convenient, which is why think like informed consent get tossed in the trash when it gets in their ways. It's really surprised me how many IRBs I've worked with that threw a hissy fit over a very simple and safe study I already had subjects who requested to participate in, but at the same time saw no issue with forcing their employees to vaccinate.
Lastly, did you read the previous part of this series? I went into a lot of what you are discussing with prescriptions from other physcians.
On two unrelated notes:
I am of the belief that one of the things which really damaged the surgical field was the switch from scalpels to electrocautery, as scalpels require a much greater attunement to the body to use, and electrocautery is much more damaging to the body.
I have spent a lot of time in DFW, but I don't think I've ever actually made it out to Houston (kept on meaning to but never did).
I find the discussions by MWD interesting and this comment in particular, because I had a recent experience with amiodarone and the prominent cardiologist who placed me on it, in order to perform a cardioversion. I didn't have lung damage, but did have a strong skin reaction (severe sunburn/rash), it affected my thyroid level, and I believe it was beginning to shut down my kidneys. When I informed the Dr's nurse of the skin allergy (confirmed by my PMC doc), she said the amio couldn't be discontinued. Fortunately for other reasons, this doc did later DC the med (it wasn't controlling rhythm), but it was definitely a case of me against the "expert." I am a doctor's widow, and he was quite the critic of Western allopathic med, so I knew something was wrong w this guy, not with me. He is quite the expert - for some patients. For me, maybe not. As for vaccines - I followed int'l scientific/med Twitter, so I knew of dissenter docs & scientists - and have not gotten the gene therapy so far (until they allow us Americans to have a non-mRNA vaxx!)
Amiodarone should not have been licensed. There's a whole long story with what happened with it.
Yes. I read abt it and how it was developed when it was prescribed to me. I kept trying to see it positively, but it's best I'm 2 weeks off it so far.
you were wise to get off the amiodarone! There are other medicines that don't have the awful side effects. I took one for a while, but eventually AFib won out.. So now I am in the group where we look at "rate control" not rhythm control, and clot avoidance with some of the superb new "NOACs" Novel oral anticoagulants.. there are about four, better than Warfarin (rat poison) we used for years. Bottom line is you need or Need(ed) another cardiologist. The decision about the jab should be yours.. My decision was thank you but no. I would never disparage anyone who makes the decision to take or not to take the vax. mRNA is a dice roll and crap shoot. It can and will mess up lots of proteins in the recipients cells.
Maybe a Naturopath who treats with other means would be a better fit.
Thank you, Dr Feldtman, for your reply! This cardio did imply Eliquis is better than warfarin (which I've been on, & husband said does liver damage, but all the Eliquis lawsuits in past scared me, plus no way to reverse it at first). And yes, I've been on rate control for 12 yrs but keep eventually slipping into tachy cause rate meds don't hold forever w me. Oh well! Quite the adventure...
A few doctors I work with believe that Eliquis increases the risk of getting certain types of cancers, but in general warfarin is much more harmful. The primary issue with warfarin is that since it is a vitamin K antagonist, a calcify is the arteries, which is one of the worst things you can do in cardiovascular disease. Oddly enough though, in a certain portion of Covid long-haul patients, the anti-inflammatory effect of warfarin resets the immune function in their body and is curative.
Thank you, MWD - I didn't know that abt warfarin - as of 2019, my arteries were clear, but with age ... interesting effect for some on immune function.
People comment on the fact that a hundred years ago newspaper articles were read easily and eagerly by the general public that would be almost impossible for the average person today.
Newspaper articles were, in the past, written on a fourth grade reading level. They haven't seemed to change, IMO, but that doesn't mean I'm correct.
It sure doesn't, I don't know where you got that idea. There was a full set of McGuffey Readers in our house. I'd read it now and then, but I was really glad we had Dick and Jane. Run, Spot, run!
Gramar and Spelling is a big issue, words that sound alike, F for PH, I Got instead of I have, still ends up with spelling errors proof readers don't catch. They rely on the computer's spell checker.
Your statin example at the beginning of your article is the precise reason why I have refused to ever take them. Every GP doctor I have had, except the most recent, has pestered me, badgered me, gave me disapproving looks and all but called me noncompliant and uncooperative to my face. Once I tried to bring in some articles about statin side effects and my doctor dismissively told me they couldn’t be accurate because they were a couple years old at that point, as if the side effects magically went away with the current crop of medications. My response was to find another doctor who wasn’t going to pester me about it, and that’s pretty much my attitude going forward. “See ya, doc, it hasn’t been a pleasure knowing you.”
That experience prepared me well for all the hoopla surrounding the COVID “vaccines” and immediately aroused my distrust in them. I am still enraged that the mRNA treatments are still being touted as the last best hope of mankind, while all the common, time-tested, inexpensive treatments (Ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, zinc, etc.) are essentially banned and hard to acquire. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this, but it’s plainly obvious that hospital administrators and the government have these doctors over a barrel in insisting that they remain cowed and compliant and tow the party line without question. Patient care? What’s that?
Thank you for writing this and other articles. They are immensely helpful
Thank you. Sadly your experience is very common.
Once the pandemic started kicking off in China, I realized it was critical for me to have a way to treat the disease asap, and by late Feb 2020, I felt slightly nervous but relatively comfortable dealing with it (at which point most of colleagues still thought it never going to matter or come to the USA).
Since that time I've come across more treatments than I possibly can count that seem to treat the disease and I've used so many different combinations of therapies (depending on what was available at the time) I've lost count of which combinations I have not tried, with most of them working.
Despite all of that, 2.5 years, there is still no established treatment, which is just sad and there is really no excuse for.
Yep, my husband has had very similar experience w/ statins. A cardiac NP told him, in not exactly these words, a couple of years ago when she diagnosed w/ him a new, chronic heart condition, that his condition was expected because "you weren't on a statin or on an ACE inhibitor after your xyz like is recommended." No inquiry as to WHY he hadn't been on either, no recognition that his cardiologist had told him to stop the ACE inhibitor if situation x developed (which it had, which was a good turn of events). I wanted to reach through the screen and tell her that if his condition was caused by a statin deficiency or an ACE inhibitor deficiency, then we all should have it.
And yes, our experiences w/ my husband's chronic health condition and the utterly bad standard advice that actually contributed to its onset primed us to be skeptical of the latest round of injections.
After seeing the blatant censorship and lies over the last 2 years, we both have extremely miniscule trust in the medical profession.
As described in the preceeding part of this series, I consider the scenario you are describing to be an example of mental laziness.
Yes, to say the least. And prejudice as well. Prejudice to the cholesterol hypothesis of all things heart-related.
A lot of prejudice ultimately arises from mental laziness because people do not want to take the mental effort to be present to someone with differing viewpoints from them.
Thank you for reminding me about this. Need to add it into the next section.
More than mental laziness, no one takes the time to look up new drugs they are prescribed. I have had an Enlarged Heart with a Mitral Valve leak for ages, not 1 doc I'd seen let me know, nor was it in my med records. When I had reason to see the Neurologist, she said you need to see a Cardio ASAP. While a former Internist kept pushing Cholestrol drugs that hated my body. Crestor became #1 because a multi mllion $$ ad campaign, Liptor #2, while having horrid side effects, Welchol was just as bad. Gout pain on 1 pill for 5 days. Robert Yoho has an excellent section on Statins they are dangerous. There are older now generics that work well and are cheaper. My reaction sheet had by then reached 3/4th of a page, when I started dumping the new scripts in the trash. I use vitamins and Minerals 8 out of 10 times now. Only thing I can't find is a Bronchitis treatment, except to live on Clartin. 80% of your immune system is in gut health. SSRI drugs are just as horrible. The Little Red Pill used in Nursing Homes Nuedexta https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/12/health/nuedexta-nursing-homes-invs/index.html
Neurologists rock!
True. I told a doc that I would use diet and lifestyle to address my cholesterol when she took me to task. Ok. By the time I got home Walgreens called my statin Rx was ready! Doc—you’re fired. I have a great doc now. They are out there.
I had an NP tell me that she just saw me as "a great big, 'ole heart attack walking around." Thank the dear Lord, she left the practice.
I throw a few in the trash, report side effects, on the crap I read up on. And know are harmful. Shuts them down. My old deceased from age Pharmacist knew more about drugs than today's docs do.
I also love your writings. They have helped me understand what happened to me 13 years ago when I developed severe facial pain. As you write about, nobody could figure it out. After a dozen different doctors and dentists I was told it was due to severe anxiety and depression. That began a viscious cycle of drugs and nearly destroyed my marriage and my life. In desperation I finally found a doctor willing to step back and look at a bigger picture. Something I had begged many others to do. He ultimately discovered I had a severe bone infection in my face and multiple fistulas. I had 4 surgeries, lost 5 teeth, and 8 weeks of intravenous Antibiotics and 6 months of oral antibiotics. I still get pain sometimes from all the nerve damage.
Interestingly, the fine oral surgeon who finally figured it out was trained in Scotland and practiced for years in 3rd world countries. And he told me that it should have been obvious to anyone I spoke to that the anxiety and depression was being caused by something and not the cause of my pain. He did not have much good to say about medical training in the US. And he was very critical of the complete lack of any homogenous effort between dentists and doctors.
Again, thank you for all the effort you put in to write. You are helping more folks than you know. Godspeed.
Undiagnosed dental infections are an extremely common cause of all sorts of complex diseases (had someone with a cancer that originated from a tooth infection recently and another person with years of unresolved sinus problems and facial pain that resulted from a tooth infection that was incorrectly treated the first time), but theres a very small portion of physicians who consider this in their differential diagnosis. Hopefully you read the preceding part as I'm guessing what I said about dentistry hit home for you. Except for some ENTs, doctors seem to have a major blind spot to what goes on in the mouth and it's basically just out of sight out of mind. Glad this helped you!
Indeed! It helped me understand a bit about what transpired. I kept saying that they were all missing something. Eventually I was proven correct, but it was a long road. Thanks for your note and again for the effort you put in to your writing.
I had constant sinus infections for several years. One side of my face would swell up. I took big nasty antibiotics (one which I was sensitive to and made me kind of crazy) . I went to the nose guy severttimes and prednisone helped some. I could barely breathe right. Then I had my dentist appt (I hate dentist visits so had put it off)an x -ray showed a festering abscess at the site of an old root canal so to the oral surgeon I went. Dropped 3,000 dollars. Never had another sinus infection. Why did not the nose snd sinus guy check that obvious source of infection. It was so deep I didn’t really have pain. This was 2011. It seems something showed up on a cat scan after an accident in 2005 but the antibiotics the er doc gave didn’t do much.
Infected root canals are one of the most common causes of chronic complex illnesses in people. This has been known for at least 50 years in the integrative field but most conventional doctors are still not aware of this. It's lucky for you this was a local issue because often they create a lot of nasty systemic diseases no one can find the cause of.
I had all my root canals removed several years ago by a holistic dentist. They seem to often be the source of ‘hidden’ (unlooked-for, actually) infections. I became aware of this after I began seeing a functional medicine MD. No more ‘regular’ doctors for me. They never helped me improve my health...quite the opposite.
"Root canals removed", means "the tooth pulled and implant placed'?
I do not like root canals. But removing the tooth and replace it with an implant is also not great.
I hate these loose-loose - situations that seem so typical in modern dentistry...
No, that’s not what I did. No implants for me. Root canal teeth that were pulled, were in the back...left an open space. Fine with me.
Thanks. I’m very aware now since I had several root canals done in the 80s.
I suspect that my dear mom who died 38 years ago from a massive heart attack had some kind of untreated infection in one of her teeth that was allowed to fester for years. She eventually went to a dentist, but it was probably too late. My mom was of the generation who viewed illnesses as something one didn’t discuss with anyone other than a doctor and didn’t go out of her way to schedule appointments anyway. She just toughed out the pain, whatever it was. Her example is why I try to be scrupulously careful with my own teeth and get regular checkups twice a year.
I'm sorry that happened to your mother. One reason older adults are harder to deal with as patients is because they grew up in the generation that really got hit with all propoganda that science would bring us a magical better future (and it was when all the new pharmaceuticals were being discovered), so they have this blind faith in the standard model of medicine.
The one caveat I'll give is that a lot of the problematic infections are often not caught during basic checkups though.
I had a dentist in 1968 get my lip caught in the dental pliers when he was extracting a tooth. I made a lot of noise but he didn’t stop. My face was black and blue. Bleeding lip. Probably why I had a hard time with dentists to this day. 😲😱
Thank you. It used to drive me crazy that my mom would just shrug off severe headaches, aches and pains, etc. and go to work as if it was just another day. She was a high school secretary and once she tripped on a step in the cafeteria and broke her wrist. She probably did go to the doctor, but I recall that they thought it was just a hairline fracture that didn’t need a cast. They told her to stay home. She bought a wrist brace and went back to work the next day.
We had to be bleeding badly before we went to doctors. I think I broke my clavicle once as a preteen but didn’t want to tell anyone. I thought I would get into trouble. It was weeks I couldn’t move my arm fully but no one noticed. Big farm family. I survived.
One caveat I need to give is that while many parts of standard medicine are harmful, I have met very good natural medicine people who refused to ever go to a hospital, and I had 2 cases where they died bc they wouldn't go in for something which is very simple and straight forward to treat with conventional medicine and they died not long after.
"A Midwestern Doctors'" Substack platform is thought-provoking and also provides a sounding board to understand and value the real-life experiences of people who post here.
I want to validate your experience, MoodyP; thank you! Your post reminds me to try to take better care of my teeth. I will explore the science of various methods for doing so.
I have had a fistula in the roof of my mouth since birth; having Cleft Palate and Double cleft lip surgeries. The fistula remains; and I have had to fend off sinus and systemic infections my whole life. Personally, I have had bad reactions to antibiotics after so much use; so I am always refining the best practices toward my own Standard of Care by reviewing as much information and implementing or discarding methods that haven't been beneficial to me individually.
The approaches that I have found most useful to me are called "Alternative/Complementary" traditions like Chinese Medicine Theories. I focus on preventative Optimization of Health and Wellness.
Along with Dental care, to keep on top of the fistula infection potential, I use a Neti Pot (1/8 tsp Himalayan Salt in distilled water) and Nebulize w/diluted FOOD GRADE Hydrogen Peroxide (1/8 tsp to 1 oz Saline; that amount divided over a few days). Many Organic Herbs from my garden (especially Stinging Nettles and Herbal Antibiotics only as needed), Whole Organic foods, making my own yogurt cultures, as well as many other lifestyle habits like HIIT exercise, Qigong, Lymphatic Drainage, Hot Epsom Salt baths, being outside in sun, many more things...that keep me healthy and Rx-free, go to Dr. only for Annual Physical now...
MwD... Another excellent chapter in the saga! Simply reading through all of the comments confirms my own observations over my near 50 years as an MD. Though a boarded Ophthalmologist with solo practice for 30+ years (thousands of cataracts and LASIK), my medical direction took a serious turn following the loss of my paramedic son to PTSD in 2012. As a result of that event, I was forced to re-examine every aspect of my life (and practice) and I morphed into the cannabis physician I am today. I have now seen thousands of patients with every Dx imaginable and have seen first hand the failures of mainstream medicine (I was always a contrarian, however - fighting against statins and pushing Vit. D since the 90s). When all else has failed, people often show up in the "pot doc's" office - and, they get better! This is not to say that the cannabis plant is some miracle elixir (close, though), but it is an important part of healing in every chronic disease, IMO.
How can this be? Most disease, dysfunction can be traced to trauma. Life trauma (can be emotional, sexual, physical, socio-economic) dysregulates the autonomic nervous system (and the HPA axis). Our own endocannabinoid systems regulate these systems and return homeostasis to the body. Hence, things get better when cannabinoids are provided to the body. Humans (and all living things, for that matter) have tremendous healing and repair mechanisms and "medicine" really should be directed at assisting the body to heal itself, but it turned down the allopathic road long ago. A drug for this... A drug for that...
Space does not permit explaining this in depth, but suffice it to say that 90% of the patients who show up in my office have significant PTSD and most have no clue that their physical stems from their past and on-going trauma. Most have been to many physicians - all specialties - and almost none are ever queried about life events, family, etc. Sadly, psychiatry has failed massively, IMO, in that these specialists pigeon-hole their mental health patients into myriads of labelled boxes (bipolar, schizoaffective, mood disorder, ADD/ADHD, OCD, etc.) and their only "cure" is one psych drug after another. 99% of these conditions in my experience are actually rooted in trauma (usually family dysfunction - if there is an alcoholic in the family, everyone has PTSD, for instance). I use the VA's PCL-5 test and the Adverse Childhood Event (ACE) tests as screening tools with my patients now and these have been incredibly accurate in uncovering trauma that is repressed or ignored. Patients cannot heal, IMO, from trauma unless it is recognized and dealt with by working with a trauma therapist. Failure to "drain" the trauma abscess leads inevitably to physical dysfunction, disease, and death.
Dr. Peter Breggin (American) does a great job on discussing the insanity of psychiatry today. It is worth watching his videos on the internet. Dr. Gabor Mate' (Canadian) has been working with trauma and addiction for near 40 years and he has become one of my heroes, He expresses what I have learned in my own little journey through life. His recent movie, thewisdomoftrauma.com , is worth watching and he has written numerous books on the centrality of trauma to disease and dysfunction.
Apologies for the ramble. MwD and all of the groupies here are doing a wonderful job in dragging these long hidden truths into the light of day. Keep it up! Peace and Hope to all here...
A lot of people in the integrative field have gotten on the cannabis plant in recent years. I've always thought that if the theory humans were genetically engineered by aliens was true, then they made that plant for our species. It just matches every human need (my personal big interest is hempcrete).
Do you have any opinions on the best forms/brands to use? I've so far put off using medical cannanaboids, but it's been on my to do list to look at at some point.
One of the recent experiences I've been having is how directly traumatic experiences alter the structure of the unconscious mind which then changes the whole physiologic system.
If you ever want to write a detailed summary of your experiences with cannibus in a manner that would be a useful guide for other people (who either want to learn more, or clinicians who want practice guidelines) I'd be happy to publish it.
Very kind. Will consider putting something together. It is a huge topic, as you know, and there is still so much that we don't know about the plant and the way it interacts with Humans.
Another great doctor -- the comments section here restores some of my faith in doctors and prevents absolutist pigeons holes (always/never etc).
I've seen numerous shrinks and only one of them ever asked about childhood trauma. The rest just seemed to be scanning for what to prescribe for symptom suppression, with zero interest in cause and little to no regard for me as a human being. Your patients are lucky to have you.
Thank you. Very kind.
Ever heard of Jerry Tennant, MD? Ophthalmologist who in the course of surgery on a really sick patient got 3 viruses in his brain, a bleeding disorder related to the pancreas and spastic movements. He could see a patient and know what was wrong with them but couldn't remember how to write a prescription. Top doctors in the land said nothing they could do and so he slept most of the time for almost 7 years. In the brief lucid period he had each day he started having the thought that if he knew how one cell worked he could get well and started reading cellular biology books. He's hale and heart today in his 80s and published Healing Is Voltage. I heard about him from Mark Starr, MD whose specialty is Pain Medicine, but he's hypothyroid which motivated him to read 100 years of the best research starting with the Clinical Society of London report in the late 19 C. and published Hypothyroidism, Type2--The Epidemic. I asked for a blood test when I was 66 y o to see if that's why I was so cold. The blood test said my thyroid was fine and dandy, nothing to see here. When I heard Starr on the radio four years later I was elated--I finally knew what was wrong with me and what I could do about it. I excitedly told my Internal Medicine doctor sister about it. He just wanted to sell a book. Undaunted, I took my basal temp, 2 degrees below normal, and as I read the book I made a list of 40 signs/symptoms out of 100 or so. I soon found an integrative doctor who started me on desiccated thyroid hormone. I was very tired and WEAK by then. I'm in better condition at 82 than I was at 70. When Tennant and Starr met, Tennant had already determined that the chief cause of low voltage was the thyroid, but didn't know that hypothyroidism was not being correctly diagnosed and treated. And Starr didn't know about Voltage. He credits Tennant with saving his life, he had a fungal foot infection down to the bone.
I'd learned about suppressed cancer cures long ago (Politics In Healing, Daniel Haley is the best I know, it will make you want to weep). But this is just as scandalous. "There's so much unnecessary suffering", said Starr. For a long time I shook my head so much I joked about developing Parkinson's. My physician father, brother and sister knew nothing about this, and I was a RN. Today I get most of my supplements from Tennant Products.
My sister said she was a really good endocrinologist, now I suspect she was one of those "fine tuners" Starr wrote about, they could get that blood test to come out just right. And there were plenty of pharmaceuticals for the remaining symptoms that didn't resolve with the synthetic T4 doctors are ordered to give. But she was a good doctor who went into medicine because she truly wanted to help people and her patients loved her and she helped me many times.
I read politics in healing when it came out, and through an inordinate amount of work, I was able to get ahold of a lot of the things mentioned in the book and test them out.
All the other stuff you mentioned here is quite interesting. Thank you.
I did a lot of reading and looking around while I was waiting for a hysterectomy for a malignant tumor. I decided if it was necessary I would go with Bob Beck's system, tiny electric current. He was on CoasttoCoast am years ago, the guest host was Hilly Rose (sp?) who was very skeptical almost hostile. Then the calls came in--"I appreciate your skepticism, but not in this case..." and caller after caller described their success. I and my older two children got the polio vaccine with cancer viruses in them, my daughter died of Hodgkins' at 42, I had the tumor, hoping for the best for my son. Ed Haslam was on c2c talking about his book Dr. Mary's Monkey , the inside scoop of what went on, his father was an orthopedic surgeon and colleague of Dr. Mary, little Ed remembers sitting on her lap when she visited in their home. I think he's still active, writing books, etc.
I've messed around with some of Bob Beck's things but I never knew that one could be applied to cancer. Also the best thing we've ever found for neutralizing the cancer viruses from the polio vaccine is Sanum Nigersan
I wrote that down. Thanks.
Yes. Met Dr. Tennant several times years ago - visited his office, as I was also an early LASIK surgeon.
Very interesting, another one of my favourite fields is the endocannabinoid system and CBDs. It's always worth reading through the other comments.
I live in a country that has not legalized medical cannabis. But this is not a significant issue if you want it. We have beautiful weather and lots of nature spaces to hide our crops. And then fairly simple and completely natural methods of making use of those crops. I particularly like cannabis infused organic chocolates.
Thank you Also for being an MD advocating for the best care for people in need. I feel your loss.
Personal trauma helps me relate: Widowed at age 20 after 3 months of marriage, I lost my brilliant first husband to suicide, which occurred in close proximity. Since, I have sought understanding, meaning and methods that would help with grief. Might I offer what I found best helped? It is Qigong and Chinese Medicine. Specifically, focused on Shen, Heart Shock, The Psyche in Chinese Medicine and Treating Emotional Trauma with Chinese Medicine. Also, EMDR and EFT...High Intensity Interval Training/Running stimulate Endocannabinoid system...I found so much comfort in Psychiatrist Dr. David R. Hawkins' works, and the Spiritual in God. As far as herbs; I grow and also buy others; I always try to find best source: Wild-crafted, GMO, Organic (toxins applied growing or processing?)
Books by Dr. Breggin are on my winter read list; also Dr. Mate' (In the Realm of the Hungry Ghost), Bessel van Der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score), Peter Levine (Waking the Tiger), Judith Herman(Trauma and Recovery), and many more. Have you read Michael Pollans' How to Change Your Mind?
You might want to look into the emotion code too.
Also I think classical Chinese medicine has one of the best models I have come across for treating emotional issues since many of them originate from the channels.
Grandmasters' Level 3 Teachings (Chan and Yi Jing Heart Energy Distinctive Healing Method), which builds on 5 Element Theory, Ba Zi, 4 Pillars, and those books I mentioned all build on this. It is where my heart is; I really get it, and want to help others; eventually to teach, with Grandmasters' blessing.
Yes, I have that one also...and more, like Healing Through the Dark Emotions, The Emotional Brain, many more...Can you tell my heart is resonating on this topic? People will need some direction with awakening...
Andrea... Sorry for your losses, but you are a survivor and are doing great. All of your "trauma aids" are excellent. Mate' just published a new version of his Hungry Ghost book and I have ordered it. Be safe. Be happy!
That was a great book
Agree wholeheartedly with your comments on trauma. Under appreciated and over looked.
Have you had much success with cannabinoids and treating some of the jab injured?
Only anecdotally. I have several women (50-60) suffering with myocarditis/percarditis following "boosters", numerous young women with bleeding for months, several with clotting issues and venostasis, one lady with sudden onset of severe rheumatoid arthritis following her booster (this is a known side effect of MANY vaccines, BTW), my mother-in-law had a CVA following her 2nd shot in Germany (now deceased, she had mild left hemiparesis for her last year of life). None of these patients had been told that their conditions might be connected to the vaxxx and none of them had a clue! A terroble situation. Most of my patients come to me seeking help with chronic pain or sleep or "anxiety" (most of which is actually PTSD) and, so, I have to tease out a lot of the info associated with their complaints. There is ALWAYS a back story to their conditions that is at the root of their problem.
Sadly, once these events occur, I am not sure there is really anything that will return one to normal.
Having said that, CBD (legal in all 50 states in the US) is anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and neuro-protective, so IMO there is wisdom in taking it regularly (I and wife do). Products with more THC can help with anxiety/PTSD issues, sleep, chronic pain, etc.
Hope this helps.
Hello Dr. Dotson,
As a boarded ophthamologist, you may have seen a pattern of meibomian gland dysfunction amongst patients who used oral or topical retinoids for acne (isotretinoin/tretinoin) in the past. Many of them are unaware that their dry eye disease was caused by the "safe" (according to dermatologists) acne treatment given to them in their childhood/youth.
The problem with isotretinoin toxicity with the meibomian glands is that the damaging effects are not always immediate. A patient may have normally functioning glands whilst using isotretinoin ("Accutane") and even for months/years afterwards, only to develop this sometimes debilitating disease many years later. Due to the delayed pattern of toxicity, dermatologists do not see it (and also choose not to see it due to their own cogntive biases to dermatology practice guidelines) and opthamologists sometimes fail to recognize that an adult onset of MGD could have been caused by retinoid use in previous years. I've known people who used Accutane at age 16 and developed symptoms of severe MGD (which does not run in their family) 10+ years later.
Most of these MGD patients do not have a clue that previous use of Accutane is the reason for their ongoing suffering, and sometimes their ignorance even leads them to ironically drug their own children with the very same toxin that harmed them.
There are endless examples like this, I was just wondering if this is something you have encountered in your past years of opthamology practice. Failure for patients & doctors to recognize iatrogenesis allows it to continue.
Yes. Saw this a lot when I was in private practice. Of even more concern is the high incidence of depression (suicidal level) that accompanies the use of these drugs. I was particularly attuned to this as I did a lot of refractive surgery and these drugs really mess up tear production which leads to significant healing issues post-operatively. In general, most physicians are so busy that they miss the potential for pharma side effects and the pharmacentric health care system that we have downplays or ignores the disastrous side effects that accompany so many drugs. The blindness to the side effects of the experimental COVID vaxxx illustrates the problem perfectly.
To my knowledge, you are the only genuinely holistic ophthalmologist I have come across (or for that matter of anyone in a ROAD* speciality) so I view it as quite a shame you are not practicing ophthalmology anymore as there are so many areas a truly integrative approach could greatly improve the discipline.
*Radiology, Opthomalogy, Anesthesia and Dermatology are highly competitive specialities because they pay well and have a relatively easy life style so they are known as the road to success.
Actually there are a few loose cannons in the specialty, but the Academy and Academe control the narrative pretty tightly! At 70+, I just cannot stand the thought of going back into any remotely "mainstream" area of medicine. As I seg'd into cannabis medicine near ten years ago, I genuinely feel that I am now helping more souls than in anything else I could be doing. The biggest lesson for me has been to see the massive failures of mainstream medicine reinforced in the frustrated (and, often medically abused) patients who show up in the "pot docs" office as a last resort... And, they all get better once they are empowered to care for themselves! THE real health threat on the planet is actually life trauma. We can and must do better for each other.
I tried a couple CBD products but didn't notice anything. Do you recommend a source? Also, dose range?
The biggest problwm with CBD products is that they are unregulated. So... There are many mislabeled and fraudulent products on the market.
It takes at least 40mg/day in adults to do much, ,so that is a good starting point. Young kids and elders (80s) tend to be more sensitive and often respond to much lower doses. Chronic pain conditions, migraines, seizure disorders, Parkinson's frequently use in the 80-120mg/day range. If you hit the "right" dose, you should see a reduction of chronic pain and mood stabilization up to 50%. With things like IBS/Crohn's, dysmennorhea , migraines, you can get more than 80% reduction in sxs with the correct "dose". The variability of dosing is large, however. Genetic makeup, nutritional state, and environmental factors ALL can influence how it affects one.
CBD and its many variants (CBG, CBN, etc.) are neuroprotective, antiinflammatory, endocine regulating, anti-cancer, anti-viral (actually, anti-COVID), anti-Alzheimers, and on and on... I take an average of 75mg a day for all of the above reasons - an anti-aging play on my part.
There are hundreds of sources, so it is overwhelming. I have used products from sunsoil.com; charlotttesweb.com; letitgrowhemp.com. All are legitimate CBD companues and have excellent products. I prefer gelcaps as they are more exact for dosing, but there are drops, gummy bears, even CBD flower that one can smoke!
Hope this is of help.
Oh... Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE!
Of course not! But thanks anyway, think I'll try those sources.
Thanks so very much for clearly and thoughtfully articulating these observations in this post and the last two. I'm printing off hard copies for the "philosophical/moral" section of my binder of articles which I've been collecting over the last year and a half. Stuff that's worth reading again, or good to have for posterity, for looking at in another 50 years when people wonder what went wrong and why.
I cannot begin to describe how deeply grateful I am for your putting all of these things into words. It's difficult to attempt to reconcile for non-physicians how and why so many well-meaning, compassionate, good physicians end up dismissive of patients' concerns, of patients' choices, of the corruption that has invaded the professional organizations, research, medical journals, and governing bodies.
Thank you too. I'm just happy there are people who are actually receptive to this message. Putting stuff like this together is a form of artistic expression for me and it's nice I get to do art that helps the world.
A few years ago if I'd tried doing something like this no one would have cared, so I'm hopeful that's a sign messages like this can go viral and positively affect the culture.
Keep writing! I also enjoy your discussions! I was wondering your thoughts on adrenal exhaustion and disease. Thanks.
I have seen a lot of different therapies proposed for it all of which seem to work in certain cases. My default it to just treat the pituitary gland since that is easy to do and works in many cases, but I still don't feel like I really understand the best way to address adrenal fatigue because all the different approaches take a while to kick into gear, can overload the system, and often don't look at what is actually causing the deficiency.
Dr. Bryan Walsh, ND, has an excellent Module class on this subject (I found it quite elucidating, backed by scientific research papers.)
A deeper dive into root cause via Chinese Medicine is on my to do list for this topic...
👍🏼
Thank you for the response. I feel as if the times we are living in are putting a terrible strain on our endocrine system.
Superb post, yet again.
I decided to share this anecdote not because it is unique, but because it isn't. Probably every single person here has a similar story, and that's the problem. My primary care doctor is a wonderful person who has been my doctor for decades. The last time I saw her was in March 2021, for an annual physical. She immediately asked me if I had gotten my first vaccine. I said no, because my Leiden V blood clotting defect made me leery of getting blood clots from the vaccine (I discovered I had Leiden V in 2009 when I ended up in the hospital for five days with multiple PE blood clots). She immediately dismissed these concerns, saying it would be fine and that I should get a vaccination immediately. Only good manners prevented me from asking her if she was then willing to be sued if things were not fine, or if she was willing to pay my family a death benefit if I died because she told me it would be "fine" to get the vaccine. No suggestion was made that it was sensible for a person with a blood clotting defect to avoid a vaccine known to cause blood clots. No suggestion was made to monitor me in the hospital after vaccination. I was just supposed to go to my nearest vaccination destination, get the shot and go home. What my doctor didn't know, and I think no doctor really realizes, is that patients remember what their doctors tell them, but doctors never remember what they have said to patients. That is the nature of things. So I remembered that one year my doctor told me not to bother with the pneumonia vaccine because it was a scam, but the next year she told me I should definitely get it. One year she told me I should absolutely get the killed virus shingles vaccine when it came out, but the next year she told me not to get it because it was "nasty." That makes me think it would be likely that were I to go in for a physical this year, she would have no recollection of having told me to absolutely get the COVID vaccine without a worry right after it came out, and she might actually say this time that I should be careful about getting it--maybe. I don't know. But what I have learned from these vaccine experiences with her is that, wonderful person or not, I really can't trust what she says when it comes to vaccines, and that I should just ignore her. She is going to say whatever she feels that particular day, and none of it, absolutely none of it, is based on any kind of science or data.
I have seen doctors reflexively assert so many things to patients as fact when my thought process has been "you have no basis for asserting that as fact."
I never really thought about (doctors don't remember what they say patients but patients do remember) since I tend to remember most conversations I have (since they vary rather than being monotonous) but that is a really good point.
There is so much conflicting data on everything that citing data for a lot of people is just a process of cherry picking something to support what they want to rather than seeking the truth. I know I am biased but I make a sincere effort to look at both sides of each argument.
"I make a sincere effort to look at both sides of each argument."
And that's why I think you're wonderful
Couldn't help laughing silently, you told that really well.
Psychoneuroimmunology. Is this field of science something commonly discussed or talked about?
When you mention doctors dismissing fibromyalgia and FND as psychiatric manifestations. It somewhat frustrates me to hear this.
I have CFS/M.E. It sucks.
Putting it simply it is a frustrating condition. But more so, I used to be a special operations army medic who loved competitive boxing and adventure sports.
I was very interested in performance and absolutely pushing your body to the limits. And now gentle yoga is sometimes too difficult. I can't eat fast food. I can't get too hot or too cold.
This is not a small or subtle change. But polar opposite ends of the activity spectrum.
I haven't personally faced it too often but it is a common theme within complex chronic condition circles that often these are considered as "psychiatric manifestations" and it does come across as insulting.
However I do believe there is a psychological component. As stress levels certainly play a role in flare ups.
But so does exercise. Diet. Alcohol. Or stimulants - what goes up must always come down.
I sort of got a degree in it. However, it's fairly rare for me to hear people discuss it (outside of the people I did the degree with).
I have heard quite a few doctors directly say they think CFS does not exist and is a made up disease. I disagree with that, and very few people from an outside observer's perspective get how hard people with CFS struggle to maintain a basic sense of dignity and self responsibility with their lives and just assume they are being lazy. Quite a few close friends I know have gone through this process.
There are a lot of possible causes of CFS, but did you ever look into Garth Nicholson's work? Based on your background, it might apply to your situation.
Short answer is no. I was not aware of Garth Nicolson. I had to google him to see what his research was focused on. And it does look very intriguing to me from a glance so thank you, I will follow up on that some more.
I have seen so many theories as to the cause or potential causes of this illness/syndrome and have been following the science with a fairly passionate interest for around 6 or 7 years now. And GWS (along with fibromyalgia and post lyme disease) certainly were illnesses that I also kept an eye on. As although not identical, seemed similar enough to be related. Like cousins.
My theory is and still holds that these are likely genotoxic illnesses, a result of mutagenic changes or if not, at least epigenetic changes that occur frequently and habitually, as I reckon cells have the capacity to develop habitual responses themselves.
However I cannot deny some of the other theories and the findings. HPA axis damages. Neuroinflammation. Retroviral theories or immune/autoimmune type responses taking place too.
But sort of like a chicken and egg situation. Which comes first? And I think it starts at the cell. The rest are symptoms of that initial process.
I think and I would love for you to show me any evidence that confirms or disproves this notion so I can scratch this off my list.
That like a petrol engine and carburetors. The slight change to mitochondrial function makes my body run too rich. Creating excessive oxidative stress. This particularly seems to occur within nervous tissues.
But elsewhere or perhaps is slightly different between individuals.
Early on. I used to be able to hike up hills and do push ups. Yet foreign movements were very stressful and always resulted in a crash. Even just small amounts.
I think this is to do with proprioception or the nervous systems ability to adapt to this. As in, those exercises were built into me and performed on the nearly daily schedule as a soldier. The nerve pathways controlling the fine movement and muscles were well conditioned and developed. Yet unfamiliar movements were not. So those movements I was familiar with were mostly fine. Those unusual were not tolerated.
Unfortunately as time passed. My energy went to other things like my health and safety career. The pushups stopped. The hiking too. And now those are also hard to do without having a flare up.
Something you may want to look into trying is ultraviolet blood irradiation (provided you use a device that uses a spiraling quarz cuvette, other ones don't work as well). It can affect a lot of the potential causes for CFS.
Ok very interesting. I'll investigate this further. Thank you.
"I think this is to do with proprioception or the nervous systems ability to adapt to this. As in, those exercises were built into me and performed on the nearly daily schedule as a soldier. The nerve pathways controlling the fine movement and muscles were well conditioned and developed. Yet unfamiliar movements were not. So those movements I was familiar with were mostly fine. Those unusual were not tolerated."
You might consider exploring ZHealth education. There are a handful of "master practitioners" on the website plus, for the DIY-er, free 30 day access to a sampling course. It overlaps with "functional neurology" (Dr kharrazzian has a few books for laypeople and workshops for practitioners).
Man, that must be difficult as such a fit athletic person to have this happen. Have you heard of Runners' Dystonia? Many high mileage long distance runners have reported having dystonia, some following Lyme Disease or injections and your description reminded me of their experiences.
I love the analogy of energy, like a carburetor, running too rich. I also like the reference to PNI; which interested me in the 1980's with Candace Perts' groundbreaking studies. There is a lot of research pointing to mitochondrial dysfunction, as you noted, which cascades to the other systems functioning improperly.
I wonder if you've tried Lymphatic Drainage? A simple mini trampoline also?
A lot of people who get these drug injuries tend to be extremely high performers.
I heard this podcast yesterday which gives an excellent synopsis of this issue:
https://robertyoho.substack.com/p/153-a-premed-student-is-butchered
Yes...I was a good runner (effortless qualification for Boston Marathon-ran it 8 x-until Lymerix, Hepavax, Pneumavax, years of allergy shots, ~2 yrs on Tetracycline and then Levaquin destroyed some tendons.
The number of people with CFS/M.E. seems to increase every day; so many disclosed to me in the very first Qigong seminar I took with a Grandmaster from China. Many people there with CFS/M.E. said it was the only thing that worked. It is very yin and the world is very yang; perhaps a balance might help.
And there are so many toxins now...Detoxing protocols can be harsh; Qigong is not. Dr. Bryan Walsh, ND, has a class on Mitochondria that I took that includes a detox protocol; which requires being able to have the toxins circulating to get rid of them. There are so many different forms of Qigong; I love my Emei Form and am trying others.
I have also heard this from many people with CFS/ME/Lyme that a good Qigong system was one of the only things that ever helped them. Since Qigong is free though it will never be standard of care in America.
Our Emei school of Qigong is so enlightened, it is free or small charge to cover meeting place cost...that is how you know it is the real deal; it isn't about making money...it is heart-centered to help others. I am very glad I found the path of Eastern Medicine when I lost my bearings for Med School when widowed at age 20...
I’m with Igor. Same.
Nice article. Good job interposing facts with personal anecdotes.
This (what you’ve written) is the problem. What is the solution?
I’ve worked for doctors over 30 years now in admin.
I’ve seen almost all of this in terms of the paternalism, the “I went to school for x years, who are you to question me?” Etc.
In the context of “why aren’t more doctors speaking the truth?” I’ve been responding “liability”. But you mention that as only one part of a larger issue.
I’ve never, ever thought about psychological trauma to doctors except once when my old trauma doc (great man) said he lost a child after an MVA. Interesting. He literally cried for that child. But he was unique. He was able to compartmentalize trauma unless it was a kid. He’s retired now.
I work for a mid size eye group now. I have this one doc. I love the man . He is a man of faith. But he and spouse were so trained in medicine (she’s also a health care provider) to look on vaccines as sacrosanct. Not the word he would use , maybe “inviolable”. I’ve presented multiple facts to him and he basically ignores. On the other hand he and wife seem to give me a great deal more respect seeing the effort I’ve gone into researching all this.
If you have any advice for the direction my next step should be, I’m all ears. Facts don’t seem to matter to them.
I find it fascinating, albeit understandable, that almost 100% of DCs and NDs are redpilled but I guess that comes with their training and “bent” as well.
I may work for docs but unless I have something acute, or non-reparable by natural means, I do NOT trust them. Most of your colleagues would rather throw a statin at someone than call out lifestyle.
That's going to be in the next part (I cut this one short because I realized it was too long but I think I can fit everythig into the last part). I also have to give a caviat that my solutions are just ideas, so I'll probably refine the list a lot in the future after I get a bunch of feedback from here and my colleagues.
Normally all you can do with these types of people unless you are really good at breaking their hypnosis (which is kind of a dangerous process) is to plant seeds of ideas and let them sprout later.
I have friends in every single medical field. One thing that's sad is that the naturopathic medical schools have gone all in on pushing vaccines because they want more acceptance, and it's likely the newer generation will be less redpilled. Also I know a lot of chiropractors who are ardent promoters of the COVID vaccine.
Sad that naturopaths and chiropractors are jumping on to the Covid train.
I have no way to give an accurate statistic, but I would guess most of them have not, only that more than I would have expected to have.
It absolutely blows my mind! My acupuncturist and her DC husband were first in line for mRNA and boosters too. I've considered stop seeing her b/c she cannot even fathom that my sister (who sees her too) has a mRNA injury. It's just nonsensical.
Wow. Just wow. I’m blown away by the acupuncturist doing that.
I can understand the pressure of the licensed realm (there I blame the corporate desire to keep access to insurance handouts) but I totally don't understand why so many unlicensed herbalists jumped into the fray too.
No offense to the good doctor here but I haven’t met any herbalists or NDs or DCs except one PhD pharmacist affiliated with a major local pharmacy who are pushing jabs and the narrative. He is working for a pharmacy here that is unique in our area for employing DCs and NDs and for promoting vitamins and natural healing while still being a working normal pharmacy. No others. He (the pharmacist) may be pressured by his company. He has seen a vaccine injured person too. I am aware of this through my own ND who is comanaging the case of this injured woman. So I do not know the pharmacist’s personal position.
My own ND is so anti jab he’s probably worse (ha ha) than most of us here. Although I admit I know individuals who were big into natural medicine who drank up the vaccine narrative thinking they were “doing the right thing”. My brother has three friends , all highly educated, all very lib, one a PhD biologist, one a Pharmacist. I can’t remember the third ones background. All pushing the jabs at him. All of them firmly brainwashed and in cognitive dissonance. Justifying their own positions. So I see how it could be true but I haven’t met anyone personally like that.
It's a mixed sample. It's just a lot more mixed than I expected, which I view as a testament to modern propaganda.
In CA, ND licensure required following the script. OR or WA mandated vaxxes for all manner of licensed health care workers (including NDs, zoom based therapists)... And some of the key people in the large herbal guild would live to have vax requirements for future conferences.
I appreciate your comment but that makes literally no sense whatsoever. Why would ANY naturopath (unless corrupted, which is possible), want to be or encourage vaccination? My own is not (if you think you and I are anti-jab come meet him, and he has an MD, MBBC (?brit degree I think), PhD, ND and DC). and so I guess my rose colored glasses were firmly placed on my face to see the ND profession through his life. Colleen Huber on substack is similar. What little I know of her is very good. Great advice she gives. But it flabbergasts me others would tout a natural healing lifestyle and study it and yet promote the jabs. Huh? Illogical and sad.
That’s sad on both the ND and DC side.
It’s really really sad that my docs may not change their minds until they themselves have an injury. Or very close loved ones.
For a lot of people that's the only thing that can break their hypnosis.
This is excellent work. I appreciate the "real world" examples you provide and the presumption that these professionals believe they are acting in good faith. That is certainly the case for most.
Thank you. I believe (most) humans are good and want the best for others, but situations often force them to do actions that are harmful. One of the major issues whenever anything gets politicizes is that everyone wants to believe their side is good and the other side is evil (especially if they have had a traumatic experience from someone in it), but it's very rare on any topic which attracts people to both sides that's actually completely true. My own philosophical viewpoint is that the only way to fix these sorts of situations is to break the polarization and bring everyone together.
That all said, I will admit I am quite angry at many of the people I worked with for how aggressively they've pushed the vaccine and refused to listen to any type of reason on this subject.
I too struggle with this tension. Breaking polarization, yet many of the people I know have themselves contributed to the polarization with their aggressive stances and refusal to consider alternative points of view.
Let’s face it. Doctors follow the script they were given because they can never be at fault for causing harm. Most doctors do not do their own research because they are too busy following mainstream procedures and becoming experts at reciting the script. They are robots in a way. They are protected from any harm they may cause a patient as long as they are doing what the narrative tells them. I’m not blaming doctors, personally. This is the way medicine is practiced today. It is interesting how you began your article with statins. It was a doctors prescription for Lipitor 20 years ago that began my distrust in the medical industry. Thank goodness I never filled that prescription. But what I did do is fill my mind with data, facts, and knowledge. I have never gotten another vaccine after my last flu vaccination 20 years ago. I could smell this Covid vaccination 12 months before it even was put on the market. my worst fear came true.
I am profoundly thankful for this blog. I read this aloud to my husband and daughter because I think this information is crucially important to the layman. Through this pandemic both my internist and my husband's internist retired rather than submit to the pressures of practising under the current conditions. The replacement internist lasted all of two months before he left to practise in Thailand . It's crucial to understand the mindset of today's physicians when seeking treatment.
Your work is so beautifully and thoughtfully written. May God bless you for the service and education you are providing to so many.
My Doctor pushed me to take statins for high cholesterol. Test results were barely over the limit so I said no since I have found from experience that medicines may cause other issues and I didn't see my cholesterol being an issue. He then tried to convince me by telling me they are so safe and beneficial that some Doctors propose putting it in the water supply and he obviously thought it was a good idea. That was my last visit with this Doctor.
As for reasons for medical blindness. I would add fear and intimidation, especially when it comes to vaccines. The pro-vax health agencies, medical boards and pharma act more like the Mafia than the Mafia do. Calling out vaccines can end or limit careers. Many refuse to file a VAERS report despite the fact filing a report does not require them to verify the vaccine caused the symptoms. Of course, the time it takes to file a report is also problematic.
I have just cured my long lasting symptoms of facial tics which are likely caused by too many vaccines and stress after consulting with doctor google and taking magnesium suplements!
Magnesium can be very helpful, especially if you take the right form of it!
Which form is the best?
Threonate or Orotate.
Sulfate is also good, but has to be injected or bathed in (that's what epsom salts are).
Citrate is the best easily available one. Malate is also good.
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for the insights.
Another great article. But I have to say (as a retired nurse) that most of the errors I have seen are due to nursing staff just ignoring the 'bleeding obvious'.
Patients discharged with weeping wounds, only to return delirious with sepsis a few weeks later. Patients repeatedly given IV fluids to 'get their blood pressure up to normal' so they can be pushed out the door, only to have seizures from low sodium levels or third space until the go into APO and cardiac arrest...
I ended up writing lots of blog posts about these stories. https://wikihospitals.com/blogs/
What I would like to see is nurses paid a small bonus for their patient to have a good outcome (no emergency readmission, no post op infections) and charged a small fine when their patients have a bad outcome - which is for the most part, avoidable.
For that we need a new billing system, and for that, we need a new health system.
Although this plandemic looks very ugly, it might just be the death knell of a corrupt system.
In the UK a group called the People's Health Alliance has just started up and already has 50 health hubs across the country https://gab.com/Wikihospitals/posts/108260939965649141
America has been blessed (yes it is a beautiful country) with concierge medicine and now direct primary care - pay cash by subscription, spend more time with a primary care physician, no government or private insurance involvement.
Here in Oz we are setting up first aid courses that come with home medical kits, access to lists of local doctors and nurses and ongoing education.
In Germany the freedom movement has already started buying up private hospitals. In Finland they are creating their own 'parallel health societies'.
Let's use our current predicament to build a new health system. No health bureaucrats, no private insurance, no billing codes. Just back to basics, with good basic care.
Earlier in this series I tried to hit upon the fact you can't do a lot of what you need to do if the time with patients is limited, but my focus here is more on the inability to recognize iatrogenesis rather than all the reasons why iatrogenesis occurs. So I get with what you're saying but it's beyond the scope of an already long article.