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Alternative medicine - 6/6/2007 11:52:29 PM   
cyberdude611


Posts: 2596
Joined: 5/7/2006
Status: offline 		Does anyone have experience with herbal medications and such? I was wondering if in your experience if they actually worked or made any improvement in whatever you were trying to treat?

The other day I was looking in the drug store and picked something to look at it and the person with me said, "Oh, that won't work...it's herbal."
And any time I ask doctors about it, they just smirk and say "maybe..."

Yet you always hear the odd friend or co-worker that swears by them or you read 10 dozen testimonials on the net that claims what a miracle they are. etc, etc,....

So I was just wondering if anyone here has actually put a full effort in trying them and what was the result?
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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 12:23:42 AM   
moose


Posts: 29
Joined: 4/25/2004
Status: offline 		I'd be interested to hear others' views on this too.

Plants contain all sorts of chemicals, some work against your body (a 'poison' or 'toxin', that at its worst can kill you) and some work with your body, either nutritionally or helping your body's functions to become more efficient and balanced. Doctors are now pretty hot at asking if you take any prescription or non-prescription drug, or any herbal or homoeopathic remedy now, as there have been occasions where a natural remedy is actually working, so the prescription dose the doctor gives is too high for the body's need. There have also been occasions where a natural remedy counteracts or reacts negatively with a prescription drug.

For example, if you are on certain cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs, you are strongly advised to avoid grapefruit juice and items containing high levels of grapefruit.

Also, remember that the active ingredient in Aspirin is salicylic acid, a derivative of willow bark, which people used to chew or use as a tisane prior to the 'invention' of Aspirin.

My Owner swears by my homemade athlete's foot powder, as it works within 48 hours and doesn't leave the skin hard and cracked like some manufactured treatments can do.

If you don't believe that some plants have such properties as being antiseptic/antibacterial/antifungal etc, cut a lemon in half and do the same with an apple. Leave them side by side in a warm room and see how long it takes for each of them to go mouldy.

However, beware commercially produced natural remedies for a number of reasons - they can be costly, they can contain a number of less-natural ingredients, and they don't always do 'what it says on the tin'. Best advice I can give? Read, read, read. Not just testimonials, but look into how the plant is said to work, what it contains, how this interacts with your body. Quite often, with a little effort, you can produce at home something to a similar standard, at a fraction of the cost.

Edited to add the following disclaimer: If you're looking at treating something substantially more serious, discuss it at length with your doctor. Never quit prescription drugs without seeking advice. The above was written with minor ailments and daily inconveniences in mind, not the big stuff.

< Message edited by moose -- 6/7/2007 12:27:44 AM >

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 9:50:42 AM   
bliss1


Posts: 497
Joined: 3/14/2007
Status: offline 		Herbal healing has been around alot longer than western doctors have been.  So  there must be something to it.
Yes I do use herbs for various things.
I use them to help control pain, insommnia, ect.
Doesn't mean I don't use western medicene also - but I have found few doc's who give credit to herbs (after all it does cut into their emperical way of thinking).


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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 10:05:21 AM   
SimplyMichael


Posts: 7229
Joined: 1/7/2007
Status: offline 		Most medicine was first isolated from plants or in the case of penicillin, mold.

If you think herbal won't do anything, try a nice hemlock tea, it will really calm you down forever.

A nice way to discuss how stupid herbal stuff is and how ineffective is to do it over a cup of coffee.

Google "patent, genetics, witchdoctor"

Western medicine is great if you need your arm sewn back on or a heart replaced, but for chronic systemic problems it falls short.  Chinese medicine ain't gonna fix your severed finger but is vastly better at systemic problems.  Western medicine doesn't believe in anything till it can measure it, they denied vitamins were important for years, they denied that women could ejaculate, they denied the g spot existed (despite being known for a few thousand years in the East), they deny everything till THEY discover it.  Mainline pharmaceutical companies are spending billions researching herbal medicine, witchdoctors/third world countries are refusing to work with them because they steal the material, patent it and don't give back anything in return for the knowledge.

Herbs aren't magic but they are very real and like anything there is hype and there is reality.

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 10:27:43 AM   
Real0ne


Posts: 21189
Joined: 10/25/2004
Status: offline 		well lets see.

i was put on a 400+ buck per month regime that after 6 months did nothing to resolve my issues.

Being me, i got pissed off.

i spent 3 months doing research on herbals. Then went out and bought every vitamin and herbal that could remotely help.

They all but cured it.

Then decided to narrow it down byt the process of elimiation.

Over the next year i discovered that not taking magnesium was the REAL source of the problem.

The the fix, magnesium, costed me 2 dollars and 79 cents for a kilo.  i have more than 1/2 left and it was puchased in 2003.

Herbals speak for themselves, regulating them would be a crime against humanity.

Last my uncle had severe allergic breakouts from eating certain foods.   i put him on cocarboxylase, (predigested vitamin b1) taken sublingually and he now has the freedom to eat whatever he wants.

i could go on for a few pages of cures that i and others have done using herbals.


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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 10:28:53 AM   
Real0ne


Posts: 21189
Joined: 10/25/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: SimplyMichael
Western medicine is great if you need your arm sewn back on or a heart replaced, but for chronic systemic problems it falls short.


exactly right on target!!!!


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"We the Borg" of the us imperialists....resistance is futile

Democracy; The 'People' voted on 'which' amendment?

Yesterdays tinfoil is today's reality!

"No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 1:41:20 PM   
GoddessDustyGold


Posts: 2822
Joined: 4/11/2004
From: Arizona
Status: offline 		I also believe that Western Medicine has made great advances regarding things that were a death sentence not that long ago.  Surgeries, broken bones, etc.  Antibiotics are a good thing, when used judiciously.  Garlic and onions, by the way, are natural antibiotics.  Just in case you are ever in a pinch.  And if you have to take a course of antibiotics (sometimes necessary, no doubt!) then get some acidophilus or multidophilus to put the good bacteria back into your body.  Eating natural 
yogurt is also a way to boost the immune system and replace good bacteria.   
But I am also a firm believer that everything we need for the normal systemic problems we suffer as humans were already put here on earth for us, and all we have to do is tap into it.  The one thing I would caution you about it buying herbal remedies in a drug store.   These are usually in capsule, full of binders and not in the natural state or close to it, that is most effective.  They can be just as much a marketing ploy and the regular pharma.  Somewhat effective, but not the same as getting closer to the source. 
Get some literature, or google it, and then get thee to a health food store.  Liquid form is usually good, although more pure herbals in simple capsules are good to, and many herbals designed to work homeopathically are also a boost to the immune system which enables your own system to straighten itself out without putting western drugs into your body. I have a great PA, and she often gives Me alternative ideas and always listens to her patients regarding natural remedies that have worked well. 
Remember that many vaccines were and are designed to actually put  a tiny bit of the disease into your body so that your own immune system builds up a natural anti-body.  That is how much of homeopathic medicine works. 
 
Here's a link for a website.  I have listened to this Doctor on talk radio, stumbled across him one Saturday morning while I was working away and turned the radion on.  It is interesting regarding alternative health and alternative medicine. 
 
http://www.doctorbob.com/2004k_06_18news04.html

Good luck!   

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 2:30:23 PM   
littledove00


Posts: 50
Joined: 6/2/2007
Status: offline 		herbalists can work wonders.

not everything works all the time, but don't write it off simply because Pfizer didn't charge you an arm and a leg for a patent.

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 2:44:00 PM   
LuckyAlbatross


Posts: 19224
Joined: 10/25/2005
Status: offline 		It's funny how people talk so much about eating right and sleeping right and stuff- but apparently when it comes to eating herbs/natural chemicals or mental energy work it's all supposed to be fake.

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 2:58:02 PM   
SageFemmexx


Posts: 240
Joined: 1/2/2007
Status: offline 		I've been a practicing empirical midwife delivering babies in the backwoods of Oklahoma for twenty five years. Herbals, diet and nutrition make all the difference in not only preventing most pregnancy complications but treating them as well. Always remember every person is a unique individual and every herbal is unique. You have to match the herb, the dosage and the problem to the person as an individual.

Always bear in mind-- gender, ancestry, size and age of the person needing treatment. This can take not only research but commonsense and observation as well.

Remember, just because ginger works for your nausea and vomiting, it might make the next person feel much worse and not work at all. Then you have to try peppermint and/or keep going down the list. Sometimes, reflexology or acupressure points would help moreso than swallowing a capsule or drinking a tea. Become your own expert because the person that knows YOU best is yourself.

Sage Femme means midwife/wise woman in French.

be well everyone

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 4:49:58 PM   
darkinshadows


Posts: 4145
Joined: 6/2/2004
From: UK
Status: offline
I do take paracetamol and ibuprofen, but that is about all.
I rarely use prescribed medicine and prefere herbal and aromas.
 
I had a terrible first birth with drugs I didnt really want.  My second was more organised and I used no 'synthetic' drugs.  It was completely fine.
 
I would not use anti-depression drugs, and used herbal which assisted me.  St Johns Wort, Bachs Flower Rems and a mixture or aromas.  Before that I had been suicidal with severe post natal depression.
 
And I am a huge fan of arnica - a must have in any BDSM health/medical kit.
 
Peace


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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 6:01:50 PM   
smilezz


Posts: 2156
Joined: 6/18/2004
Status: offline 		I have a tendancy to get UTI's from time to time.  I know why i get them, i now know how to treat "mine".   I take D-Mannose capsules when this happens, it's better than any anti-biotic crap that a Doctor can give "me". 

I have HUGE issues with the medical system and the pill industry.  I will not go into them because just typing this pisses me off to no end, but......i wanted to share what helps "me".

After some big health scares here lately, Doctors not knowing how to deal with it..or not wanting to deal with it...and me researching natural remedies and finding out just how much they are working and how much better i am feeling...i am now interviewing naturalists for my physician(s). 

As you noticed.....i did not say this is for you or anyone else.......this is for "me".  I will not make the assumption that what is good for me is good for anyone else.

~smilezz~

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 7:35:50 PM   
subfever


Posts: 2895
Joined: 5/22/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Real0ne

well lets see.

i was put on a 400+ buck per month regime that after 6 months did nothing to resolve my issues.

Being me, i got pissed off.

i spent 3 months doing research on herbals. Then went out and bought every vitamin and herbal that could remotely help.

They all but cured it.

Then decided to narrow it down byt the process of elimiation.

Over the next year i discovered that not taking magnesium was the REAL source of the problem.

The the fix, magnesium, costed me 2 dollars and 79 cents for a kilo.  i have more than 1/2 left and it was puchased in 2003.

Herbals speak for themselves, regulating them would be a crime against humanity.

Last my uncle had severe allergic breakouts from eating certain foods.   i put him on cocarboxylase, (predigested vitamin b1) taken sublingually and he now has the freedom to eat whatever he wants.

i could go on for a few pages of cures that i and others have done using herbals.



It's refreshing to see someone address causes instead of symptoms.

Unfortunately, the vast majority will do the exact opposite.

(in reply to Real0ne)
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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 8:51:52 PM   
Termyn8or


Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline 		Herbs aren't really that different than spices, as such, they might do a body good.

You see, 80% of your ailments are caused by mineral deficiencies, but on the USDA and other websites I have found a few things out.

Potatoes have potassium, that' about it, all plant matter has potassium. Green, actually any darker colored vegetable is better for you. Eat those skins, I do on baked potatoes, but I don't have them very often. That is because of an eating strategy. We shall see now long I live.

Of all the researchable veggies, I went to nuts. I found that nuts are manyfold the mineral content of the best, greenest or reddest, veggies just can't compete. And I find spices to be better by orders of magnitude. This is just an analogy, but here goes : You might convievably get the same mineral content from a 55 gallon drum of a vegetable, as you do from a couple handfuls of nuts. And then, those couple handfuls of nuts cannot ever think of approaching the spices for mineral content.

Mineral content ?

A chromium or vanadium deficiency, if untreated WILL cause diabetes. Almost everbody in the civilized world knows it, but American pharm cos are milking it to the last drop. At our expense.

A sulfur deficiency WILL result in gall bladder problems.

I hate to do this, but I like this group and I think yall are good folk. So here I go.

A symptom of a sodium deficiency is hypertension. But the salt we eat is not salt. With the agents added to make it not clump, it adheres to certain molecules in our bodies, the incorrect ones. In this way, table salt does cause hypertension by cloggin up things, especially organs, which, in case you hadn't noticed, are essential to life.

So we have a lack of properly absorbable sodium and a poison form of sodium at work here. Your FDA allows this. It settles in the capillaries in the glands, and decreases organ efficiency. Then it moves on. It interferes even with your absorption rate of other minerals.

And sugar is even worse, it cranks up part of your metabolism and excretes minerals that should not be excreted.

And anyhing fat free, check it for anything that even sounds like olestra. That shit goes through you digestive tract and REMOVES the minerals you have managed to ingest.

So herbs probably are a good cure for some things. Thing is, I see it as repleneshing the mineral supply to the body. Certain minerals are absorbed better or worse in different herbs or spices. "This is pungent, this is sweet, this is whatwever", for that to happen there must be some atoms in the veggie that are not in potatoes.

I have tried to say it neat and quick. There is alot more.

Alot more.

T

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 9:54:36 PM   
CrazyC


Posts: 949
Joined: 9/28/2006
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: cyberdude611

Does anyone have experience with herbal medications and such? I was wondering if in your experience if they actually worked or made any improvement in whatever you were trying to treat?

The other day I was looking in the drug store and picked something to look at it and the person with me said, "Oh, that won't work...it's herbal."
And any time I ask doctors about it, they just smirk and say "maybe..."

Yet you always hear the odd friend or co-worker that swears by them or you read 10 dozen testimonials on the net that claims what a miracle they are. etc, etc,....

So I was just wondering if anyone here has actually put a full effort in trying them and what was the result?


I know that it seems there is a wide diffrence in western and eastern medicine, but you might want to look else where if that is the case. Many now combine both forms of healing both in the mental and medical feild. I have even had a couple VA doctors give me herbal or holistic options in taking care of my body, and i had one therapist sit down with me and go over all th herbal options i had with the medication i was taking. He then went on to talk to me about meditation and his personal experience in it.

My father on the other hand is old school on counciling, and with me studing of modern psychology....we have butt heads many times. But he has admited that he learned alot from our discutions since they have always been very educational. I just learn a better understand of how close minded his generation was.

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 10:20:00 PM   
subfever


Posts: 2895
Joined: 5/22/2004
Status: offline 		This is true, which is why I avoid refined sugar and ordinary table salt as much as possible. I haven't had a soda pop for over three years now, and I've only eaten junk fast food once in the past year... maybe 3 or 4 times in the past two years. 

At home, I use only organic raw sugar and sea salt. I cook mostly with organic olive oil, but sometimes I'll use organic butter. No frankenfoods! If I do eat sweets, I'll treat myself to either organic fruits, organic cookies or organic chocolate.

I limit my meals out these days, as it's too difficult to eat healthy meals. Well... at least in my immediate neighborhood, anyway. 

Prevention is the key. Moderate regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and avoiding as many toxins as possible... and there's a lot of them to avoid!  

So far, so good. But if and when I do have a problem that I can't figure out and resolve on my own, I'll seek an alternative practitioner.  

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/7/2007 10:52:35 PM   
astarri


Posts: 265
Joined: 4/22/2007
Status: offline 		http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7260/536?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=st+johns+wort+vs+imipramine&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

This article was printed in 2000 comparing the use of St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and Imipamine for the treatment of depression. To sum it up if you are not interested in actually reading the article:
"Hypericum is therapeutically equivalent to imipramine, but is better tolerated by patients. These results taken with conclusions from recent overviews 6 14 and other large comparative trials 7 13 provide compelling evidence that hypericum is therapeutically equivalent to standard antidepressants. In view of the mounting evidence of hypericum's comparable efficacy to other antidepressants and its safety record, hypericum should be considered for first line treatment in mild to moderate depression, especially in the primary care setting."

I would not completely rely on either eastern or western medicines. Do your research and talk to people who are informed.



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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/8/2007 8:11:36 PM   
proudsub


Posts: 6142
Joined: 1/31/2004
From: Washington
Status: offline 		I have been taking a lot of vitamins and supplements for years to help prevent disease by improving my immune system and fighting free radicals. I do believe they help as I seldom get sick or even catch a cold .

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/9/2007 11:46:51 AM   
philosophy


Posts: 5284
Joined: 2/15/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: LuckyAlbatross

It's funny how people talk so much about eating right and sleeping right and stuff- but apparently when it comes to eating herbs/natural chemicals or mental energy work it's all supposed to be fake.


......if you can't patent it and make a handsome profit from it, it must be mere folklore.........after all, the more you pay for things the better they are.........apparently.

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RE: Alternative medicine - 6/9/2007 12:08:51 PM   
velvetears


Posts: 2933
Joined: 6/19/2006
Status: offline 		All i can say about herbs is that some don't mix well and can be dangerous if taken in conjunction with certain meds - so if you are on any meds i would ask my doc first before taking the herbs.

i do have experience with using a homeopath.  my daughter was born and for months after her birth had what seemed to be an eye inflamation or infection. The doctors treated her for months with antibiotics, creams etc and finally when i asked them what was wrong with her, why wasn't it clearing up they told me she had a yeast infection in her eye from passing through the birth canal.  You should h ave seen their expression when i informed them she was a c-section. That's when i realized they were as clueless as i was after months of trying to clear it up so i took her to a homeopath. He gave me belladonna drops (to drink not put in her eye) and within a few days her eye was clear as a bell.  If insurance covered them i would go to them - unfortunately they are very expensive and i cannot afford them as my primary care doc.   

< Message edited by velvetears -- 6/9/2007 12:14:14 PM >

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