Deeper messages by Dr. Stone

Remember the SNL bit…Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handy?  Just to remind you…

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself. Basically, it's made up of two separate words — "mank" and "ind." What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why, so is mankind.

If you ever reach total enlightenment while you’re drinking a beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose.

I believe in making the world safe for our children – but not our children’s children, because I don’t think children should be having sex.

                Deep Thoughts-By Jack Handy

Ok, that’s fairly random, and just for fun…but I do have a point here.  

THINKING DIFFERENTLY…yeah…that’s my point.  

If I am having a problem, and I have plenty…I try to attend to it by thinking differently.  Many times, this requires the help of someone to do the thinking (assessment) for me.  When I was struggling with mold allergies, I was completely stuck in trying to think outside my own box and figure out what was going on.  Only when I asked someone else to look at the situation (with a unique way of thinking and processing the situation), was I able to break the pattern.  

I will never stop asking for help outside myself, but I have made some discoveries that sure make my life easier.  

For instance…my shoulder has been bothering me all day…a really sharp pain when I bring it out to the side.  It was “grabbing” and “pinching” when I was driving if I brought my left arm up to rest on the window, or if I reached up to the top of the steering wheel.  I brag about my low tolerance of pain…so it may have been a 2 for the tough guys…but it was a 7 for me (rating pain 0-10).  It had my attention. 

A common thought process would be a rotator cuff problem…or I slept on my arm funny (I hear this explanation all the time and still don’t know what the heck it means!)…or bursitis…tendonitis…maybe even a pinched nerve.  

A common action would be to take a –itis pill…-itises are inflammation, so advil or aspirin.  (I wonder who taught us that association!?)  If it lasts a week or month (depending on your pain tolerance), call the orthopedist, because it is a joint problem, or maybe a sports doctor, or a chiropractor.  If the joint specialists can’t fix your joint problem… “well, I am 40 something…I guess this is how 40 feels.  I’ll just drive with my right hand.” 

But I think differently…and one of those different thoughts is that symptoms are messages.  From eastern medicine associations, I know that shoulder pain is often immune stress.  And I know that association well, because I had an autoimmune disease at age 1, allergies most of my life…and curiously, my shoulders always hurt.  

And I DO differently…so when all the kids were in bed, I sat down and checked in.  

One of the major…and I mean biggest…stressors of the immune system is adrenaline.  Most people think of infections, allergens, even toxins…but fix adrenaline (if it’s a problem) and most of your immune problems fade away.  

As I checked in…I found a weakness of the infraspinatus muscle.  This is one of the rotator cuff muscles, and  it is also associated with the thymus gland.  When I tested adrenaline over the thymus reflex point, a strong muscle I was testing weakened.  When I held a supplement called AdrenalCalm, which is a constant in our “medicine” cabinet, the muscle strengthened.  

Now whether you understand muscle testing or not, here is the result…  I massaged the AdrenalCalm behind my knees, tapped a point for the adrenals, rubbed the thymus reflex…and the PAIN WAS GONE.  I can fling my arm up to the side, pain free.  

How is that for instant gratification…compared to Advil…orthopedist…chiropractor…massage therapist…and finally… admitting I’m old!?  

But, I’m not done!!  Are you kidding me…I just had a 7 out of 10 pain message.  It said I was stressed out.  It said I was suppressing my immune system.  Is a dose of AdrenalCalm and tapping ENOUGH?  Heck no…I have to soothe that stress response into optimal balance.  With a quick look at my stressors…I had doubled up on caffeine the last two days.  I almost always drink coffee, but I had a Monster energy drink the last 2 days on top of my coffee.  

I’m not recommending Monster energy drinks for health…I do it for pleasure and understand the consequence.  In fact, I almost always pour the drink over ice, and squirt a shot of Passion Flower in to “pay off the indulgence.”  Regulation had reported to me that I was still in debt…with the shoulder pain.  Thank you regulation for the warning…I don’t want to get into the allergy bit again!  

So…I may lay off the Monster drinks (I don’t do it too often more because of the splenda than the caffeine)…and I will definitely stay on the AdrenalCalm for awhile.  (Which you should have in your medicine cabinet too!)  And keep checking in on the infraspinatus weakness, which is a “sign” that I missed until the pain directed me to look.  I bet if I would have looked closely in the mirror, my shoulder would have looked slightly drooped and the hand would have been turned inward…long before the pain began.  

I don’t perseverate or agonize over my health (clearly…since I was busted drinking poisonous energy drinks for a “buzz!”)…I trust that Regulation will give me a message (like the shoulder pain), and if I know how to listen…and respond…Regulation won’t have to kick my butt to get my attention.  

Now…Deeper Messages by Dr. Stone…

If your hands get numb and some orthopedist names it Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, a “bad” condition that needs scalpel discipline, perhaps you should love your pancreas, because this is an insulin problem.  (An extra dose of fish oils and protein every couple hours is a good start for insulin problems)

If your knee aches, and your orthopedist says a shaving and cleaning are required, perhaps you should be kind to your adrenals, because this is a cortisol problem.  (AdrenaCalm works on cortisol and adrenaline) 

If your low back “goes out,” consider inflammation or infection of the colon…especially if you have some bloating.  I have a product called Inf-Fighter in our medicine cabinet that is a good go to for tummy infections.  

Also, always consider your lifestyle.  Just a quick look at what I was doing revealed I wasn’t being very care-ful.  Don’t be perfect, but note where you are not “caring for” Regulation.  If you are like me, these little (or big) messages are there to adjust lifestyle as well as respond to the imbalance created with the lifestyle choices.  

  

These Deeper Messages will save you from feeling old (or coming to the conclusion that you ARE old)…suffering for great lengths of time…and wasting tons of cash on docs and therapists who will only consider your problem based on their specialty.  And I bet the knife doctors will find a “need” for surgery… and the pharmaceutical doctors will have a med for you…that’s the old, “if you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail” process.  

I…I will simply ask what regulation wants…and provide it (or recommend it).  Sometimes the need is an adjustment…or muscle work…or nutritional/herbal…and once I did find a need for surgical repair in one of my patients.  Most often, I find the associations I describe above…plus a little body work to heal the physical damage of being “out of balance.”

The George Costanza Law of Health Recovery

Do you remember when George, in a desperate attempt to end his suffering, decided to do everything opposite of what he thought he “should do?”

The “punch line” went something like this…speaking to a woman at the café counter, “Hi, my name is George, I’m 40, out of work, and live with my parents.”  It was something like that…and the approach worked.  

My point…not a bad idea to consider…if nothing you know “should be” working…is working…consider ANYTHING.  And in George’s case, the complete opposite was a great insight. 

I see struggling health seekers stuck in a similar quandary…creating “stories” and likelihoods from their struggle.  In George’s experience, he was sure that if he was wealthy…if he had hair…if he specifically was an architect…or an importer/exporter…he would have a successful relationship and/or feel good about himself.  

In some of my patient’s experience, they are sure (hopeful) that if they eat well enough, avoid the “right/wrong” things…they will have a successful health recovery.   And, yet they don’t.  

I can think of several people who just wanted a doctor to finally diagnose (and treat) their candida or yeast overgrowth…others needed to know what their food allergy was…many people tell me they need an adjustment, even though they have had several hundred adjustments and the pain returns!

As an unbiased reporter…every one of them was…as they say…barking up the wrong tree.  (for those who let me check their trees...there have been some who wouldn’t give up the idea!)  

Now, just so this doesn’t seem critical…or superior in some way…it was the same with me a couple years ago.  Maybe even worse…I knew too much, so I didn’t just do a candida or food elimination diet…I had hundreds of protocols to attempt before I finally said… “Doc, show me the way.”  (and I drove 5 hours one way to my doctor).  

The crazy thing was…I felt better after the first visit.  It was crazy that I allowed myself to struggle for so long when I knew of someone who could end my struggle.  (If you haven’t heard me complain before, I had over a year of sinus infections and congestion).   

I still had many bad days after that, but week by week I improved.  

One lesson I learned the value of diversity.  The “golden key” that my doc found was something not in my list of possible keys (supplements I had for testing).  For me, my magical earth remedy was a plant called Cats claw, along with a huge dose of buckwheat leaf juice.  

But the biggest lesson in all of that was ignorance…I suffered many months attempting to know what I “should do,” and every intuition was wrong.  Heck, it wasn’t intuition…intuition is more like listening inwardly to true genius…I was trying to think my way through it, with the most ignorant part of my brain…conscious thought.  

Looking back to when I was younger and so much smarter…after graduation, I knew how important it was to eat raw veggies…and later knew (I read research that said so!) that I should drink green tea.  And, in both instances, I kept doing so despite intestinal distress, bloating and gas.  Even earlier, during grad school, I believed it true that diet Mt. Dew would improve my health and concentration, despite the fact that I often fell asleep during class!  

Clear enough??…I am an idiot!  But, I’m not stupid enough to not learn from my experiences, and currently I learn from that internal genius as much as possible.  And in following that guidance, and accepting that my thinking brain is ignorant, I am enjoying the best physical health and energy of my life.  

Care to join me in the club of ignorance?!  Listen… instead of knowing…

You’ll be glad you did! 

You Think You Have It Bad!?

With all the options to struggle in this world, I think this might be one of the most miserable.  Imagine an allergy to happiness.  You have a wonderful day, and the result is something like the flu.  You receive an award from work and your body feels sick.  I wish this were just a joke, but there is such a condition!

 

Your body’s immune system can make antibodies to serotonin, which most people have heard of from drugs like Prozac.  Serotonin is like an internal birthday party.  It is the feel good, happy chemical in our brain. 

If your body mounts an attack against serotonin, every happy moment is followed by inflammation.  What a kick in the pants that is!!

Researchers have found a “high prevalence of Serotonin antibodies” in patients with fibromyalgia. 

Think about this for yourself.  Do you feel awful when trying to accomplish something?  That could be serotonin antibodies.  If you have a good day…are you consistently punished with a bad day?  That could be serotonin antibodies.

I have a patient you have heard about…she shared something very interesting with us in this POST!

Yes, she is doing much better, but she is still on a very restricted diet to maintain her improvement.  And I mean strict…she can eat any protein, about 3 veggies, and most nuts and seeds.  Any fruit and she starts losing hair…any bread and the hair falls out…anything off this crazy diet, and she gets a kick in the pants.

 

If you look at the diet, you might assume she is sugar sensitive.  And she gets a serious butt whoopin’ if she were crazy enough to actually eat sugar.  But many things happen when we eat carbs…in fact, the reason for sugar addictions and some cravings is the surge of serotonin from sweets.  Most people love the feelings they get with sweet treats.  Serotonin feels incredible (the birthday party feeling!)… unless your immune system attacks your happiness like a bad virus!  

This is actually a new revelation for me.  I just put this piece of the puzzle together recently.  And in doing so, we are responding to the reaction by soothing her immune system. (which can only be done with natural medicine.)  As wonderful as the hair staying in her head has been (along with better energy, mood, etc.), she has since reported that she was able to eat half an apple without a reaction!  

I have a new appreciation for the struggle this person has endured.  Allergic to happy!?!  Trying to explain her extreme diet to friends and family!  She felt the reactions…and nobody understood.  Now, she has validated her experience even more…she’s not crazy, and she can tell you why!  

What a wonderful and interesting passion I have chosen!  

Yours in Health,

Dr. Todd Stone

PS.  We are extending our special invitation to experience our process through March…at 45 for the initial exam (normally 195), and 85 for our full system lab testing (normally 170)!  Learn why you feel lousy, and create a plan to feel incredible again…using safe, natural methods, and scientific lab testing to guide the process.  Call right away to reserve your slot!  

PSS.  For the science minded folks…and for those who just wonder “how the heck can your body become allergic to happy?” …Autoimmune conditions have increased 500% in the past 20 years (and this is diagnosed, so the number is probably much higher).  There are growing numbers of stressors to our immune system, including stress, but more so our overuse of antibiotics resulting in damaged immune systems and super-bugs, chemical manufacturing and genetic modification of our foods…plastics…chemicals for pests of many sorts (herbicides, pesticides), chemicals in our water supply, added purposely and incidentally, chemicals in our hair and skin products…you get the idea. 

In our “allergic to happy” patient, she had lived with an intestinal infection for who knows how long.  She thought she had figured out her troubles when she realized she had yeast problems.  By the time she saw me, she had resolved the yeast problem (no yeast on testing but significantly high antibodies to yeast, so she was right, and successful, but the damage had been done).  Throw all that into the mix of a toxic environment which we are all challenged with…and you have the recipe for allergic to happy…or allergic to energy (thyroid antibodies)…or all the other allergic to myself diseases…MS, Fibromyalgia, Crohns/Ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, pernicious and hemolytic anemia, Parkinsons, type 1 diabetes, ITP, etc., etc. 

There are a growing number of names of suffering labeled as autoimmune, but not a single advancement in the treatment of autoimmune diseases.  Chemicals (pharmaceuticals) simply cannot treat this kind of condition as they are part of the problem.  But rest assured, we do have answers…there is research validation…there are case studies, including many of my own patients…of overcoming this destructive and frustrating process!  

You Never Know How It Will Get You…

Stress that is…!  

How it will get you will depend on your parents.  Stress accumulation through a lifetime triggers your weaknesses found in genetic coding.  We all have them…weaknesses…and parents for that matter.  So what do you do when they grab your attention through severe and disabling symptoms?  (Your weaknesses, not your parents)

Respond to them!  Nature provides support for all our genetic weaknesses…if you know how to listen and respond with nature’s medicine!  The following is a perfect example of how stress overwhelm causes DIS-STRESS in the form of symptoms…symptoms affecting your “weakest link” and how you can respond to your Distress signals (symptoms) through natures medicine.  

Rhonda had heart palpitations that were driving her crazy (and scaring the heck out of her)!  Her family history revealed that her parents had heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and mom had 2 strokes.  So surely her stress overwhelm would cause symptoms related to her blood pumper.  

Of course, she went to her doctor and a cardiologist to get checked.  (Natural is the alternative as I often point out!)  The doctors spent six million tax dollars (medicare) on testing to inform her that she is fine.  DR: “Nothing is wrong with you.”  Rhonda:  “But why is this happening?”  DR:  It’s probably stress…would you like to try an antidepressant?”  (The six million was a joke, but this is sadly true).

Step 2:  Consult with the supplement store owner.  Result:  Progesterone cream.  The supplement store owner, in fact, improved Rhonda’s life more than the six million dollar doctors.  She felt better!

But, as is the case when you don’t hit the top priority, it doesn’t fully resolve, and it comes back.  Still, not bad for NO diagnostics (versus the six million)…to hit at least a top five priority and help her feel better! 

The symptoms came back, and felt overwhelming…almost disabling!

When we finally got to serious diagnostics…she had overdosed on progesterone.  That complicated things a bit, but we dug deeper for a priority.  Without any diagnostics other than a pulse oximeter, we found low oxygen, which Is often caused by high adrenaline.  Well, that would cause heart palpitations, but why was her adrenaline pumping out so much?  Gotta keep asking why!!

We put her on the miracles of nature called Skullcap and Gingko.  These plants help your body to decrease adrenaline and histamine (allergies), and improve circulation.  In fact, there is a study published in the National Library of Medicine comparing Skullcap to the top selling OTC drug in the US for allergies…and kicked the drugs butt.  

More tests come back…we find an immune reaction to gluten (wheat).  We provide an enzyme that gobbles up the inflammation associated with Intestinal gluten reactions, along with Vitamin D, which acts much like an adaptogen for the immune system.  That means it helps the immune system respond to whatever stress is occurring.  Like all things, Vitamin D only works when you need it though (she did).

Then we added a Black Radish supplement.  This works to clear the intestines of the effects of an immune battle…pus, dead cells…that sort of gunk.  (Come on…is that not cool to cure a problem with a radish!?)

Next up is a plant called Shepherds purse.  This plant changes the pituitary gland hormones to “request” more progesterone production (no hormones required, plants make it happen!)  And, it will not overdose her…it will produce normal amounts.  

On her last visit, about four months after starting care, she reported just a couple episodes of heart palpitations (no instant cures here, it’s a process of creating balance, but each week and each month will feel better if we are on target, hitting top priorities).  

Unfortunately, there are side effects to natural medicine.  She was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the left knee about 10 years ago.  This incurable condition often results in knee replacement, and the pain worsens over time.  It had caused her to be verrrry careful…the pain was in fact worsening (those doctors sure are smart)…  The side effect she noticed…. was almost NO pain in that incurable osteoarthritic knee (one short flash of pain since last visit).  

I don’t do genetic testing…in fact, I only test for things that we can change and improve.  To date, I have not found a way to improve your parents, but, I have found ways…natural ways…to support the weaknesses that we all have from imperfect parents that we all have (and are)!  

Case Study: Raven

Raven came in with a number of problems.  The first priority was her thyroid.  She had thyroid problems for 35 years, and her symptoms included hair loss, intestinal bloating, constipation, low body temperature, insomnia, and daily exhaustion.   And this was just her first issue!  You really have to see (or experience it!) this misery first hand to really understand it.  Imagine never being able to sleep for more than a few hours WHILE feeling completely exhausted.  Your body is always cold, nothing you eat digests well and your belly is always bloated from whatever you eat…then your hair starts falling out to top it all off.  Then you go to your doctor for help, and he gives you the magic pill for thyroid problems...you don’t feel any better (in fact, I’ve seen many that it makes worse)…but your doctor is out of options.  There is no other treatment for thyroid problems!  (Until now)

She also had chronic pain for the past 15 years.  This is very common with autoimmune type thyroid conditions, because it is inflammatory, and of course, inflammation amplifies pain.  She had been in a car accident, and now had headaches, neck pain, both arms were numb.  And this wasn’t a sore neck you pop an advil for…advil or not, it was there with her every morning…day after day for 15 years.  

She wasn’t a quitter though…she had been to so many doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, alternative practitioners.  And she was still battling to find that answer when she met me.  The typical physical treatments she had with chiropractors and physical therapists does not combat inflammation, does not get to the source of the problem, and as she relates, sometimes made her pain worse.  

Somehow, she knew there was an answer to be found somewhere out there.  

Just to fill in the whole picture, she also suffered from severe brain fog, weight gain, sensitivity to sunlight, blurry vision, allergies, sharp pains in her hip and knee, and feet pain.  Can you get an idea of the misery her life has been!?!

So what do we do different for someone who has been “everywhere” and tried “everything?” 

Full system analysis.  Nothing can get well if the immune system is off…inflammation trumps everything else.  Start at the top and work down.  If we meet her greatest need, which is what I call the “right diagnosis,”  her health and life will begin to change for the better.  

Everyone she had been to was a specialist of some sort.  Specialist in thyroid, specialist in bones and joints, muscles…none of them evaluated or addressed the immune system.  

The immune system uses oxidation to defend…so oxygen was Raven’s first step.  We used a supplement with Gingko in it, along with Reishi to rebuild the immune system.  We took her off dairy, gluten, and MSG (which is found in sooo many foods).  We used a transdermal glutathione cream to rub right over her thyroid to decrease inflammation and balance her immune system.  We detoxified her lymphatic system with powdered vitamin c, and her liver with a pretty standard liver formula.  We added some B6 to help detox estrogens.  We had her brew up some ginger tea and drink that for a week.  

We reset her muscles and chronic injuries, and used a simple exercise for the discs in her neck. 

We added fish oils at a pretty high dose to work on inflammation.  We added selenium which is critical for thyroid function and immune function.  Then passion flower to slow down her body (a very soothing plant that actually changes adrenaline levels).  Then an adrenal exhaustion formula plus a couple bottles of magnesium to soothe her tight muscles.  

Nothing too earth shattering, is it?  The key is the timing of it all.  First things first, and next things next.  And, every visit we used acupressure to balance her energetic systems.  (Even Mayo Clinic is now using acupuncture and acupressure for pain!)  

The results are fairly earth shattering however.  Her energy is up 75%, and her pain is nearly resolved, the only bad days being when some MSG slips into her diet.  (It’s challenging to avoid as I mentioned!)  Now, when she takes her thyroid medication, she gets a headache…so of course she is listening and dropped it completely.  And that is what I would expect…if you take drugs when you are healthy, it makes you feel bad…and that is what she experienced.  She is sleeping again, which allows her body to heal.  It also means her body is no longer in survival mode…we have met her needs!  

Listen to Raven as she describes the changes she has experienced…!!