How to approach chronic illness

I wrote this originally to someone asking about fibromyalgia, but it really applies to all types of chronic illness, so I thought it might be generally useful.

The key is that treatment for chronic problems has to be individualized for each person, and is usually multidimensional, so there’s not just one thing that’s going to wipe it out. Everywhere are testimonials that someone “cured” fibromyalgia or arthritis or heart disease with this or that supplement or alternative treatment, so it’s assumed that this or that technique or substance is THE answer for that problem.

But no one knows whether it will work for the next person, because no one’s looking at what the true causes are in each case. In other words, ten people with fibromyalgia symptoms may all need different treatments.

Sometimes one simple intervention like getting off diet soda or cutting out wheat or improving sleep habits makes a big difference, if the problem is minor and isn’t deeply rooted. But usually it takes more than that.

The very first thing I’d ask is what was going on in the person’s life when the symptom first appeared. And I’d find out whether they’re taking any drugs that could have side effects like the symptoms they’re having. Very important to rule that out. All too often, doctors don’t take that into account, and slap on a new diagnosis when new symptoms come up.

Fibromyalgia, for example, is just a fancy way of describing the symptoms of muscle pain and fatigue. It’s not a true diagnosis, but an allopathic label, so it doesn’t disclose the cause of the problem, and only tells you what you already know (you have pain and fatigue).

There’s no such thing as an entity called fibromyalgia (or arthritis or diabetes or ADD or heart disease, etc..) which is the same for everyone who has those symptoms, although of course most practitioners do try to treat it that way.

This means that every person who has those symptoms may have different underlying causes. So the approach they will take depends on whether they want to get to the root causes, or whether they just want to suppress or palliate the symptoms. It depends on the person’s inclinations and what he/she is prepared to do.

Just to give you an idea of possible causes of that and other chronic conditions -

• emotional blockages;
  latent inherited diseases that are triggered into action by physical or emotional trauma (including vaccinations);
  past shocks and traumas;
  severe nutritional imbalances;
  toxins such as aspartame and mercury;
  cellular dehydration;
  infectious agents like Epstein-barr virus or Lyme;
  deep fears and false beliefs.

Often with complex, chronic conditions it’s a combination of all of those, and susceptibility is key.

For example, we know that mercury dental fillings aren’t good for anyone, but one person might become very destabilized from them, because they have a lot of other things going on and that was just the last straw. Whereas someone else might be able to handle it without becoming destabilized, until they get a vaccine or have an emotional trauma.

Also there are many opportunistic microbes like mycoplasma, which are more the effect than the cause, but contribute to making the person feel sick. There are many pleomorphic microbes which are generated internally under stress.

The tendency is to focus on those, but that’s misguided, like killing the messenger. Or if you lost something in a dark alley but you’re looking for it under the street light just because it’s easier to see there. Reducing some of the microbial load can sometimes help the person feel better in the meantime, but doesn’t solve the problem.

The root cause of disease is not on the material level at all, so all treatments aimed at getting rid of things on the material level are working on effects, not causes.

The ideal is to work at the causative level, while helping the person to manage symptoms, but the aim is not simply to get rid of symptoms (effects). Even in alternative medicine, usually the focus is on symptoms, and if the symptom goes away, they consider it a success.

Well, from the patient’s point of view, of course it’s good that they feel better! But if the symptom has simply been suppressed, the problem will emerge again later and probably more seriously next time. And it’s not only drugs that suppress, but herbs and nutrients can be used suppressively too!

But let’s step back and look at some possible scenarios:

1. If the person is conventional medicine oriented, but willing to try a few other things on their own:

• Look at how your soul/spiritual life is being neglected, and what would nourish you on that level.
• Look into improving the diet, and eliminate common culprits like aspartame, MSG, gluten.
• Look at diet typologies to determine what type of diet suits your particular metabolism
• Improve the amount and quality of water and salt you’re using.
• Use some super-food type supplements - start with basic ones like cod liver oil, concentrated green foods and fruits, hemp seeds, minerals especially magnesium, B-vitamins and C, etc.
• Look at stress and emotional issues and consider learning EFT or Buteyko breathing or some form of meditation/relaxation technique.
• Look at lifestyle - exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.

2. If the person is willing to do various unconventional treatments, some of these may be useful in addition to the above basics:

• Homeopathic treatment for the acute problem
• TCM (traditional Chinese medicine)
• Use a Zapper to reduce the microbial load.
• Do oil pulling for a gentle liver cleanse, and some other detox methods depending on their particular constitution, no one-size-fits-all methods.
• Anything that regulates the autonomic nervous system like Buteyko, qigong, yoga, cranial osteopathy, etc.
• Body/mind techniques like Feldenkrais, Rosen work, etc.

The most comprehensive approach I know of is treatment with a practitioner of medical Heilkunst, www.homeopathy.com/clinic. Heilkunst is the complete system of medicine that includes homeopathy.

Putting together a strategy can of course be overwhelming for anyone, especially figuring out how to individualize it, where to start, prioritizing and coordinate everything. I can help people do that.

All natural healing methods are potentially useful - the trick is to know what you’re really targeting beyond the symptom, and which is the right tool for that, for this particular person at this particular time.