Hierarchy of Function

I have a simple way of breaking down your body systems that makes healing much easier.  

There are something like 16 body systems including the skin as the integumentary system, and others with more familiar names…digestive, cardiovascular, immune, etc., systems.

Here is an even easier way of looking at it.  

Defense System:  This includes the immune system and barrier systems such as the skin, plus the detoxification systems such as lymphatics, liver, and kidneys. 

Stress System:  This primarily involves the brain, pituitary and adrenals, which is what responds to the stressful situation, but includes all stress changes as well, such as the heart pumping blood to the extremities to fight or flee.  

Thrive System:  This includes all the systems that make energy, such as the thyroid, adrenals (included here too), and pancreas.  But every cell cooperates to make energy, so it isn’t so much a structural division, but a functional division.

Reproductive System:  This includes the human reproductive system, but all of the healing, repair, and cell reproduction function as well.   

Now this complex machine we call a body is much easier to manage.  Instead of 16 structural systems, we have 4 functional systems.  Instead of 1600 named diseases, we have 4 functional problems.  Our system is invaded, stressed out, not making energy, and not healing (reproducing).  

And, there is a clear priority system…If your home is invaded, dinner can wait (thrive).  Same with a flooded basement (stress), you may put off dinner for awhile.  And if any of these are a clear need (invasion, stress, or hunger), well, makin’ babies is on the back burner for now.  

Natural medicine has clear advantages to treating this functional system.  

Take invasion for example.  In medicine, the treatments for immune challenges include antibiotics, steroids, chemo, and radiation.  Antibiotics might sound like a viable option, but pay attention…the people who take the most antibiotics get the most infections.  Again and again in most cases.  

Natural medicine has wonderful resources for helping the body eliminate everything from bacteria and yeast, virus and parasites, to toxins from the environment and within (we produce waste as well).  

Stress?  What does your traditional doctor have for stress?  Antidepressants.  Ok, maybe, but I don’t like the idea with messing with my brain function, and they don’t treat the real changes of stress…adrenaline, cortisol, etc.  

Natural medicine has amazing resources for handling high adrenaline and/or cortisol, as well as stress fatigue, often called adrenal fatigue.  

Thrive?  Medicine has one play…thyroid replacement…and if you don’t qualify by the standards a blood measurement called TSH, well then they just shrug their shoulders.  

Natural medicine has research proven thrive stimulators such as the herb Ashwagandha, which has at least one published research study showing it increases thyroid output.  And that’s just one of many resources to improve energy.  

Healing/reproduction?  Nothing medicine ever offers aids the healing process, except perhaps, their one use of natural medicine.  They use an amino acid called NAC to treat acute poisoning.  Everything else is symptom suppression.  

Everything natural medicine provides is to stimulate the healing process.  Natural medicine includes food, nutrients, and plants, and has published research documenting recovery from liver and pancreas damage, and you can trust that every cell in your body will respond to natural medicine just the same. 

My favorite products for defense systems:  Echinacea, Reishi mushroom, astragalus, usnea, elderberry, to name a few.

Stress:  Phosphatidyl serine, lemon balm, poppy, passion flower, skullcap…

Thrive: Ginseng, ashwagandha, Rhodiola, Cordyceps mushroom…

Repair/Healing: Gymnema, milk thistle, gotu cola, hawthorne, vitex…

These are just names of medications, only natural, versus pharmaceuticals such as abilify, albuterol, acyclovir, deferoxamine, etc., etc.  Odd names unless you study medicine.  

Which one would you rather learn?  How to block the symptoms of an underlying problem, or how to stimulate the natural healing process that we are all born with? 

I’m Depressed!

One of my clients recently wondered out loud if she should just “get something” for her depression.  It reminded me of the strange (in my opinion) associations we have with depression.

First of all, we think depression is a thing…some “thing” that attacks us like a virus, and we need the anti-biotic (anti-depressant) to be cured of it.  Second…there is nothing that can be done other than this magic pill, because it’s a “chemical imbalance in the brain,” and genetic, so it is our parents fault.  

One more…we (some?) also have an association that depression means we are “crazy” in some way, or something is wrong with us, so we rationalize that it is some-thing we are powerless to help…but thankfully, there is a drug.  

Personally, I think it is crazy NOT to feel depressed at times.  

Here’s more of my crazy opinions on depression…

Depression is normal.  If it is physiological…like from low thyroid…it is part of your body (regulation), saying…stop, rest…heal.  

If it is psychological, it’s not crazy-ness…it’s more lacking a resource to solve a problem.  

In either case, if it becomes chronic…over 6 weeks for instance…your body needs something to heal (my specialty)…or you are not “seeing” the problem, unconsciously attempting to ignore the problem, and “depress” the feeling.  (I also am quite an expert at pointing out your problems!)

Now, before someone yells at me for suggesting they are ignoring a problem…let me explain.  This is done unconsciously…it’s a reflex and you cannot NOT do it.  As I mentioned in another article, we are hardwired to look away from our own blood…and this applies to all painful experiences.  And just like with a bleeding wound, health comes from forcing ourselves to look at the problem and deal with it.   

I can’t tell you how many times I was surprised to hear anger come out of me towards my amazing and wonderful wife…only to figure out I had been “ignoring” a problem that I didn’t know how to fix.  Sometimes that outburst is the first clue that you get consciously.  And also the reason I practice and preach noticing the negative.  The better we notice, the less depression, and the less outburst-ing.

Another “weird” opinion…  All symptoms are messages, including the symptom of depression.  It is a signal that a change is needed…perhaps health…perhaps life…but definitely a change.  Using a Five Element model in my practice…which is something like the “life wheel,” requiring balance in all areas…it offers insight into both life and health.  It will not only tell you if you need less inflammation, it might say you need less defending…or better boundaries…or guide you toward the resource you need to resolve whatever problem you are experiencing.  

Seriously, I check all my life problems against the wisdom of the five elements…through muscle testing.  Every “problem” reveals a hidden hurt, upset, or a pattern of behavior that is keeping you in the problem.  And I can say with absolute certainty…no exceptions…the patients that do the best in my care are willing to hear any problem that comes up…large, small, ugly…even funny…and willing to respond to the problem…very important.  

Last “different” opinion...since depression is normal…and really a blessing…I might suggest we are all crazy…and dumb.  And, we all have pure genius within us as well…Regulation.  Regulation is “that something” that keeps our heart beating, lungs breathing, cells healing, adapting to life, and so forth.  Medications by definition are suppressors of the messages (symptoms such as depression) that we receive from Regulation.  If we choose to put into practice the skill of listening and responding to these messages, our lives becomes much more comfortable…sometimes even easy.  

Would you agree that an easy life is more enjoyable than a “hard” life?  Then embrace your depression and look for the message it is bringing you.  KNOW that Regulation is grabbing your attention, for a very good reason, and that reason is ALWAYS for your greater enjoyment in life.  

Disclaimer…I am not suggesting that a person should NOT medicate, as if my health strategies are an either/or with medicine.  I will use pharmaceuticals…AND, begin the process of inquiring into what the message is attempting to bring up for me.  Or, if the message is not so severe, ie. mild depression (or whatever symptom), I will just endure the discomfort and use the symptom as an indicator to know if I am on the right track.  Hint…the message will quiet when you are on the right track. 

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!  

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…!!

The "Ladder of Cause"

“I feel tired all the time…I’m so constipated…my hair is falling out…and I can’t lose this belly!!”

The understanding of why these symptoms exist is often… “I have a thyroid problem.”  I challenge you to wonder why you have a thyroid problem.  Why is the problem there?  This is the “one more question” concept I have written about for years that has allowed me to help people recover from having the problem. 

Let’s take it even further and keep asking why, like the little child who just won’t quit.  You know the one… “why is the sky blue…why does water reflect blue…why do our eyes see blue…why does the retina read it that way…why…why???” 

Rung one:  Why do I have these symptoms?  A: Your thyroid is broken.  They don’t say it quite this way, but that’s the just of it.  Call it hypothyroidism, a thyroid problem…whatever…it means your thyroid is broken.  

Rung two: Why is my thyroid broken?  A: Your body is in stress overload, and when the internal environment detects stress that is overwhelming and not being addressed, it slows down.  You are experiencing the slow down of thyroid function as a survival mechanism to deal with your stress.

Rung three: Why am I in stress overload?   We all have an individual stress threshold, which I call our “stress bucket.”  When this bucket is full, the body slows you down and gives you a smaller bucket…to protect your heart and brain.  (Most people know exactly what I mean…decreasing stress capacity… declining ability to handle life…that’s the overflowing and shrinking bucket)  What fills the bucket of course, are life’s little (and big) stressors, but oh, so much more.  This bucket is also filled by inflammation, blood sugar ups and downs, circulation and oxygen delivery problems, infections, food allergens, chemical sensitivities, and toxicity.  Plus, when you are stressed, your body gets more effective at producing stress hormones, so eventually, a little stress results in a BIG effect.  AND…stress causes inflammation… and… inflammation causes stress.  So, eventually, the negative process going on inside your body is “feeding” itself!  Sounds hopeless, but with a little understanding of how it works, we can step in and pull the “right” domino and stop the whole process! 

Rung four:  Why am I inflamed, oxygen deprived, or up and down with my blood sugar (or all three)?  There is always a first domino…sometimes it is life challenges, sometimes it is immune challenges, and sometimes it is lifestyle.  Life shows up inside us as cortisol and adrenaline, our “stress” hormones.  Immune challenges show up as a vast array of inflammation chemicals that I won’t even begin to bore you with specific names (although I do in other articles).  Lifestyle shows up as blood sugar and insulin problems, from eating the “wrong” foods too often, too much, and for too long.  (We all know “enough” about right and wrong foods to know if this is our first domino…sugar, white flour, processed fats, chemical laden foods…not natural foods.)

Rung five:  Why did I get stuck in such a harmful stress, inflammation, or insulin pattern?  We are all symptom suppressors.  It is taught to us as kids.  Our mainstream health care system practices symptom suppression medicine.  Our culture teaches us to work through the pain, and that suffering is virtuous.  Not absolutely…not in every family…but generally.  And if you have the above symptoms, or others, you most likely (in fact, I’ll take a big fat bet on it) approached your life and health this way.  You are probably much more aware now, probably eating healthy foods most or all of the time.  You did listen, and you did learn…but you have this stress/inflammation/insulin process feeding off itself inside you, and more than likely (another big fat bet), you have one or more organs that are completely exhausted and need reviving.  The kind of reviving that only targeted natural medicines can achieve.  

Rung six…seven…eight.  We could go further…Why is our culture and environment like that?  Why don’t we listen to our symptoms and try to nurture them?  What life patterns drain my reserves?  Why…Why?  

We have gone far enough (down the rabbit hole as they say in quantum physics) to attend to your specific needs.  AND…right now is NOT the time to concern yourself with culture issues or any issues outside yourself.  It is time to focus entirely (or much more so) on you…so that one day you can give that energy to your favorite and most passionate cause.  (Exciting thought isn’t it!)

How far do you want to go down the rabbit hole?!?  Your future depends on your willingness to dig and learn…and respond! 

I'll Give You Something to Cry About!!

This classic parenting comment is called invalidation.  “Your sadness or upset is not appropriate,” it says to the little one.  Meanwhile, the child feels certain their upset is very real, and very important!  

What does this have to do with you and your health?  I see it every day.  Grown adults being told their symptoms are not real...that there is “nothing wrong.”  

Your doctor is “Dad.”  You are the child…Dad reports that your upsets (symptoms) are not valid.  “Look at this test… I can prove your symptoms are not real.  You are supposed to be feeling just fine.”  

It has the same authoritarian feel too!  Does it feel like two adults talking about solving a problem?  No!  There is one “superior being” invalidating another person’s experience.  Meanwhile, you are certain your symptoms are very real, and very important!  

Here’s the good news…you are an adult.  You can choose a different “Dad.”  Maybe you choose someone who is not a dad at all, but an equal human who will get involved in solving a problem with you and for you. 

Not to make light of the pain of your experience, but I find it hilarious that people come to me after “experts” find nothing wrong with them…and I easily find sooo many things wrong with them.  So many things that are easily measured and evaluated.  But not measured if you are evaluating “by the book.”  (What insurance protocols allow)  

Maybe ridiculous is a better word than hilarious!  

How about an actual example…I had a patient recently suffering with IBS symptoms, chronic headaches, and severe fatigue.  Full medical work up (15 years worth!) revealed nothing wrong.  Let’s look at the list of measurable and verifiable “wrongs” we came up with…

Thyroid problems…they never checked because she was an “IBS” patient and not a thyroid patient.  And it was the basic thyroid problem that they would have picked up on, but GI specialists don’t check for endocrine problems.  It would take another 3 month wait to another specialist to check that box on a lab test.  

Intestinal parasites.  Yes, the GI specialist missed checking for intestinal parasites in a GI patient.  Hmmm?

Very low cortisol production from the adrenal glands.  Cortisol is one of the stress hormones, but it functions in healthy people to balance blood sugar (chronic fatigue and headaches??), and has a powerful effect on regulating Intestinal motility (yes, that’s moving the bowels).  

High adrenaline.  Think about the adrenaline rush of a close call or “almost” accident.  If you had to go to the bathroom prior to the close call, it either goes away altogether (constipation) or you soil yourself right there in the car (urgency).  That is IBS by definition!!  

Those were the biggies.  And there were several more imbalances we noted.  I got a kick out of her reaction to the parasites…she was relieved, almost excited, almost happy!!  Was she thrilled to have a parasite?  No…she was thrilled to finally, after 15 years (next stop was the psychiatrist…seriously), BE VALIDATED!  It was real…it was important.  She could PROVE it!  

If you have a symptom…and I mean ONE little symptom…that is your body trying to tell you something…something important!  DO NOT let anybody tell you it is nonsense.  If someone tells you there is nothing wrong, and you CLEARLY feel something wrong…there IS something wrong, and you need someone who will listen to that message(symptom)…listen to you…be willing to dig deeper and ask MORE questions and test MORE systems and organs!

IF you ever want to feel validated!  And…if you ever want to put this health problem behind you!