Bach Flower Medicine [AKA "Rescue Remedy"]

[EccentricM]

Bach flower medicine is a form of organic medicine that uses flowers, herbs and alike to treat emotional ailments, and is considered as a form of Homeopathy. Better known today as the product "Rescue Remedy", which people swear by. A few people and some tests however, stated to think it was purely just "placebo" (when one thinking it works, so it simply works) as opposed to it being genuine.

 

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A newer systematic review published in 2010 by Ernst concluded

All placebo-controlled trials failed to demonstrate efficacy. It is concluded that the most reliable clinical trials do not show any differences between flower remedies and placebos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_flower_remedies

 

 

 

 

However others counter such arguments with the position that "it works on animals and babies" of which would not be tricked by placebo, as they have no concept of what you're giving them. I also found a study, which is in support of Rescue Remedy, and states it is not just a placebo effect, as opposed to the statements made in other tests.

 

https://www.science20.com/news/does_rescue_remedy_work_for_anxiety_yes_says_study

 

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Rescue Remedy contains five flower essences: Rock Rose to alleviate terror and panic, Impatiens to mollify irritation and impatience, Clematis to combat inattentiveness, Star of Bethlehem to ease shock, and Cherry Plum to calm irrational thoughts. Available in a convenient spray bottle or in drop form, it helps to provide better emotional balance and fast, convenient relief from everyday stress.

 

Rescue® Remedy has been around since 1930 but had not been thoroughly investigated scientifically. This study specifically examined the product for the reduction of acute situational stress. A double-blind clinical trial comparing a standard dosage of Rescue Remedy against a placebo of identical appearance was conducted in a sample of 111 individuals aged 18 to 49. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) – a standard means to evaluate anxiety - was administered before and after the use of Rescue Remedy or placebo.

 

The results suggest that Rescue Remedy may be effective in reducing high levels of situational anxiety and were just published in the latest edition of Complementary Health Practice Review.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1533210107300705

 

So I found that quite interesting and encouraging. I myself have just got my hands on some from the local pharmacy when I asked for something to help me with travel (as I need to go to my ASD/ADHD assessment soon which is about an hour drive away, and traveling is very difficult for me). I have been testing it myself and it seems to work well, and I say this as a person who has tried other things before to help calm me, and they did not work (to adress the whole "placebo" claims").

 

I find interestingly that, it does not take my energy away, but only helps with the anxiety/negative thoughts, so I end up with "tigger syndrome" (feeling bouncy) after taking it, since the emotional filter of what my energy is passing through in my mind changes (and this usually only happens when my attention is stimulated by something, or if I'm having a day anxiety free). I found a few years ago I tried the spray version of Rescue Remedy, but it didn't work for me, but taking it in the form of drops seems to work for me this time around, and is much more potent.

 

But that is my very small experience of it so far, thought I'd share!

Edited March 25, 2019 by EccentricM

[dove]

Good topic Matthew..thanks for starting it. I have most of Bach's flower remedies and they do work..they are not placebo..there are several good books on the remedies. If you're interested I could list ones I own and have found helpful..

[Áine]

I have several that I use often,  the rescue remedy,  I use that also on animals successfully... white chestnut when my mind won't stop when I'm trying to sleep! Also I find Walnut is very good for change... 

[Memeber212]

Here is the whole study https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1533210107300705

The trial was made on 111 people, so only half of them were given the herb.
The students (all healthy and young, which already defeats the purpose of that test) were treated against exam stress and results were measured based on their declaration "how they feel".

The study says it "may" work. It does not say it works. I would not rely on that study.

It is always good to read the study and the methodology.

[retroHelen]

I get the impression that Dr Bach, who founded these remedies in the 1930s, was much influenced by spiritualism and Eastern mysticism in what he advocated.  I can understand how he felt about standard medicine, because - pre-antibiotics and other modern procedures, he didn't see enough success in 1930s standard medical procedures back in his day to believe it was the total answer as to why people were sick or what would cure them. He therefore concluded that there was more than just what that science then was coming up with to cure people.

 

He was written of being observed using 'spirit/divine guidance' to tell him, as he travelled through gardens, local lanes and fields of Oxfordshire to find which flowers' 'energy' would help him with which emotional ailments, (which in his view were causing all physical ailments) otherwise we would never have known which plant 'energy' is best for whatever we suffer.

 

He claimed to be able to capture this spirit energy or divine 'essence' by treating the fresh blossoms with dilutions so that only the divine spirit energy remained, that could draw us from our physical self to the inner soul of humans to awaken it.

 

Described as a metaphysical mystic healer,  in his writings such as' Free Thyself' he did not see that his looking for spirit guidance, like spiritualists, as anything bad, neither did he seem to see astrology as anything other than other ways of people searching for linking the Divine spirit to the soul of humans to guide/enlighten or 'perfect' people. He preferred to encourage his 'found'  flower energy essences as the way to awaken people to their spiritual path/enlightenment, improve their calmness and decision-making.  He seems to be influenced by Eastern mysticism and philosophies with some of these ideas.

 

He wrote that our physical bodies get diseases because they have disassociated themselves from our perfect souls and need to reunite with the Divine perfect energy of our God-given  souls by developing our personalities more in line with the Divine to get well ( ideas similar to Christian Science) and taking on the spirit/divine energy drawn from plants/flesh flower treated in certain ways . He then lists the plants with their different emotional energies that can strengthen people's link with their inner Divine souls and get away from their diseased sinful physical bodies.

 

Do we really have Divine perfect souls separate to our physical bodies that need harmonising or reuniting by using other various energies?

 

How could he know if he had captured flower energies/essences/spirits by his methods? That this method was the way to do it? He claimed to have 'been told it was right' by a feeling he got that told him (?)

 

Can we get spiritual enlightenment by taking on the God-given divine essences of plants and flowers that work on different emotional states to help us eventually reach our perfect inner souls?

 

Healers like him do feel that there are energies out there that heal us and we just have to find a way to capture and use them. They claim that Jesus merely tapped into the energies/ life forces around him to heal other people and that is all that they are doing, but do we believe this is how God works? This is very like Reiki, Kinesiology and other tapping into life force energies/spirit/souls ideas? How is this different from chakras of gemstones or crystals waving them over people? Who is to say it is different when they claim it is tapping into earth energy or  part of the great divinity of everything (seems to be originated in Hindu philosophy)?

 

 

[EccentricM]

@retroHelen That is true. His framework was a strange one full of false beliefs. However I do think there is something scientifically genuine to his research (as tests have shown), just that he attributed these treatments to something "beyond science", where as in reality I think he just did not understand the science behind what was going on (and so just said "must be spiritual!"), and even perhaps today, just what chemicals and what have you are in these mixtures that are having an observable effect we are not fully knowledgeable on, since people try these treatments with no prior knowledge of what Bach's beliefs were, and yet find it worked just as they would take any other pill or medicine, which is why they sell it in clinics, yet these clinics do not sell anything else do to with superstition.

 

Just like accupuncture, this came from the belief of "energy" being in the body, akin to the immortal soul, yet the physical treatment works, just that the framework these people were using at the time was the false part as they had no other explantion for it but saw that it worked, but clearly something that is "not spiritistic" is taking place that is having a healing effect, since it does not require foreknowledge or involvement in such spiritistic beliefs or practices, there is no supernatural faith componant, though the creators orginally may have "falsely attributed" it to such. Where as other practices (like cystsals, Reiki, etc) "do" involve and "require faith" in some sort of supernatural force and have no scientically documented benefits at all. 

 

 

I think with this, and similar treatments, the first people to dicover these natural remedies were people who already had religious or supertitious beliefs, and so they simply attached that label to it as they had no other label to attach to explain what they were doing. In history the most educated healers, doctors, herbalists and what have you usually were religious people (which is why in the middle ages tradtional herbalists were labelled as witches and were burned at the stake for it). And I think Bach was simply a herbalist who didn't know any better of what to attribute to his success.

 

We "do" have to be mindful of course of where a line is crossed to going to just pure witchcraft or voodoo healing.

Edited September 19, 2019 by EccentricM

[retroHelen]

Your choice of course.

 

There is a science not fully understood about hypnotism as well. it is often used in clinics nothing to do with religious/superstitious beliefs, but I personally would not like to be involved with sciences not yet fully understood, just in case we are doing it wrong and in the long-run do more harm than good.

 

Until we fully understand the harmonic frequencies of the planet and how to harness them safely, most of our harnessing of frequencies at the moment is disonnent and seems to be harmful. For instance, at the Macro end of the scale of energy/ frequencies -  the rolling out of 5G from thousands of satellites. Too close to trees the signals were seeming to microwave the water molecules in the trees and they were slowly dying.

 

Industry has not done recent enough research into the effects of so much microwave frequency stimulation from all the devices around us - They seem not to want to either. FDA did fund some studies, but when the results did not suit them as the frequencies were causing possible dissonence and could affect our health,  they chose to ignore them as countries' governments know that the more connected we are 'in realtime' the better they can monitor us all - while fooling us that the more devices we have the more convenient it is!

 

This leaves the scientists involved having to just organise seminars and hope people listen to their evidence before it is too late. Humans fiddling with frequencies and accumulating them in their homes, when they don't really know what they are doing hasn't done well in this system. We need higher guidance and intelligence - Truth - to act with. More and more people in smart-meter areas where they have put the meter on the wall near the bed headboard have reported getting migraines and tinnitus and then it goes when the meter was moved. There was more evidence as smaller frequencies were enacted on cells in vitro that likely could replicate in real life - Just listened to the 5G Crisis Webinar with some physicists and engineers giving their input. 

 

Thankfully, we know the Last Day will come when we least expect because only Jehovah knows when muddling or greedy humans have brought us too near to the End Event Horizon and will have to step in or we will eliminate all he has carefully created with it's harmonics between species that we don't truly understand and are messing about too much with it!

[dove]

1 hour ago, EccentricM said:

@retroHelen That is true. His framework was a strange one full of false beliefs. However I do think there is something scientifically genuine to his research (as tests have shown), just that he attributed these treatments to something "beyond science", where as in reality I think he just did not understand the science behind what was going on (and so just said "must be spiritual!"), and even perhaps today, just what chemicals and what have you are in these mixtures that are having an observable effect we are not fully knowledgeable on, since people try these treatments with no prior knowledge of what Bach's beliefs were, and yet find it worked just as they would take any other pill or medicine, which is why they sell it in clinics, yet these clinics do not sell anything else do to with superstition.

 

Just like accupuncture, this came from the belief of "energy" being in the body, akin to the immortal soul, yet the physical treatment works, just that the framework these people were using at the time was the false part as they had no other explantion for it but saw that it worked, but clearly something that is "not spiritistic" is taking place that is having a healing effect, since it does not require foreknowledge or involvement in such spiritistic beliefs or practices, there is no supernatural faith componant, though the creators orginally may have "falsely attributed" it to such. Where as other practices (like cystsals, Reiki, etc) "do" involve and "require faith" in some sort of supernatural force and have no scientically documented benefits at all. 

 

 

I think with this, and similar treatments, the first people to dicover these natural remedies were people who already had religious or supertitious beliefs, and so they simply attached that label to it as they had no other label to attach to explain what they were doing. In history the most educated healers, doctors, herbalists and what have you usually were religious people (which is why in the middle ages tradtional herbalists were labelled as witches and were burned at the stake for it). And I think Bach was simply a herbalist who didn't know any better of what to attribute to his success.

 

We "do" have to be mindful of course of where a line is crossed to going to just pure witchcraft or voodoo healing.

John Christopher was another herbalist that believed that 'higher powers' directed some of his cures..

[thegreenjudy]

There is alcohol in that stuff - I think that's the only reason why it helps 😂 

 

I personally prefer some gin in my tea 🙈

[Áine]

... I recently rescued a bird from my murderous cat! I did my usual... put it into a small box etc.  It was led on its side bleeding and unable to open its eyes or stand... I put rescue remedy in its beak and coloidial silver on its wounds... within two minutes it was standing and 5 minutes later I let it go...

 

Yes I do wholeheartedly believe that rescue remedy works both on animals and humans... I don't believe in this hocus pocus that Bach used at the very beginning... however the plants that are used do help 

[retroHelen]

The thing I find hard to believe is that Bach said he could capture the energy of a plant by soaking it in fluid in sunshine and then removing the plants and diluting the results in alcohol lots of times.  Bach couldn't explain how he knew this was the correct way to capture the energy of a flower other than that a spirit guided him.

 

Yet if this were true, then the energy of anything paddling in water or alcohol would be still in the fluid and according to the theory, influence whatever follows it into the fluid. However, Fluid itself is not a stable form for energy as it easily moves into gasaeos forms in heat or solid at very low temperatures. What if the heat energy of the sun merely evaporates all energies of what was in the fluid away - how would you tell? There is nothing known as to the use of such possibly minute energies of other things to influence energies in us - It is all an idea or theory without any substance other than anecdotal evidence.  

 

Each to their own, buy and use them if you wish, but scientists have tried to test the results of these dilutions and found nothing of note affecting anyone. How do we know that what we buy in the shops is done the correct way and they are actually capturing anything useful in the fluid? How does the company know how to charge people for bottles of alcohol with nothing but a claimed energy of something in it?

 

This is very like the theories around magnetic energies of earth affecting copper bracelets for rheumatism - There's more magnetic energy from the PC or the DVD machine given off and taken in by us than that possibly given off by metal from bracelets. Rheumatism would be better/ is better treated by looking at the things put in us or on us or in our environment that is causing our autoimmune system to misfire and set up inflammation to cause us pain and swelling.

 

I personally prefer to stick to herbalism where science can see how the botanical chemicals work on the human system as this is too vague and uncertain.

 

It may be placebo or alcohol affects of the Bach remedies - I don't know, I merely observe and think what I do and I believe those making Bach products don't really know either and may be very sincere, but may be misled by the intellectual alternative theories that were based on studying human philosophies and eastern religions.

 

Acupuncture may have been explained by hocus pocus energy meridians in the past by practitioners who used it and found it worked, but now at least Science has shown that the meridians tend to follow the body's nerve paths that can respond to long needles or electrical stimulus to cut pain, so we can see how it really works. That's why I use a TENS machine almost every day to relieve a 20 year old back injury that still is very painful as MRI has shown the bust disks between the bent vertebrae are not operable in this system of things and I don't want to end up a junky on opiod type painkillers - just keep them for emergencies.

[EccentricM]

42 minutes ago, retroHelen said:

but scientists have tried to test the results of these dilutions and found nothing of note affecting anyone

Did you see the links to the scientific studies I posted?

[dove]

Don't they say the same about homeopathics, and yet they have been proven to work on both humans and animals..

[Áine]

7 hours ago, Dove said:

Don't they say the same about homeopathics, and yet they have been proven to work on both humans and animals..

I feel that the Bach remedies work along the same lines.... like cures like 

[retroHelen]

9 hours ago, EccentricM said:

Did you see the links to the scientific studies I posted?

Yes I did look at Sage Med Pub and I checked out the people involved in the trial.

 

1. actress Alicia Sirkin who also runs a home building business and goes all over USA giving upbeat Life Coaching talks. She took a course with Bach Remedies and set herself up with a Life Coaching foundation to promote them. So she is not a scientist, I presume she provided the remedies for the small trial.

 

2.Robert Halbertstein is a behaviorist observer and lecturer in the Anthropology Dept of Miami Uni. 

 

3.Vivian Padron-Fajedo is a General Practice nurse affiliated to the Uni who helps with liaising with patients on trials Robert is asked to do. The rest of the time she travels around the world helping as a nurse in disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti, etc. Only other trials she has been involved with are also behaviour observations of how people react to counselling on sexual health in Haiti, and similar.

 

4.Maria Ojeda-Vaz is also a general practice nurse from a medical centre who helped with Robert Halbertstein's patients he was observing.

 

5.Lydia De Santis is also a behaviorist observer. Most of any other trials she has been involved with are behaviour observations on cultural conflicts. 

 

None of the above did any more than 1. Provide the Bach remedies. 2. Wrtie up the behaviour of the people  when 111 took them. 3. Helped the people who were in the trial as assistants or nurses -  Giving them instructions and seeing they followed them. with no more qualifications than my cousin who is a university educated nurse 25 years at General Hospital.

 

There were more people in the study, but another report said that there was a large drop out rate among the participants. Results on some tests were written up as insufficient, so were revisited. Other peer reviewers write that the remaining results would seem to have been too influenced with a bias and not proper trial among proper people with anxieties to treat ( all subjects were mentally healthy) and more proper research scientists.

 

SAGE Pub itself provides a critique on another page and I found 2 other sensible reports from other countries.  There were other critiques by other scientists, but after presenting their criticisms, they then blog with personal criticism that tends to get unscientific and emotive, so I have not counted them as they could be seen as biased as well.

So-called 'studies' even on babies and animals were also regarded as mere observations and not too scientific. Other factors, such as the baby or animal had been nursed through a trauma with love, diet and other care would also be part of what got them better and the remedy could have been a harmless  placebo side-line. The Brandy in the solution may affect a smaller body more than an adult human in ways that may be a factor as well. Amount of alcohol in the bottle wouldn't affect an adult - that's why they aren't banned as they are seen as fairly harmless.

 

It was interesting though that some of these researchers found that some of the 'profiles of personalities' to match the different flower remedies were word for word the personality types that are listed in older publications of persons who would benefit from doing certain rituals associated with astrology when stars cross in certain quadrants on their star charts. Some scientists feel that this is where Bach cribbed his descriptions from, then put the 'personality profile' with certain flowers instead of star configurations - a bit like how Joseph Smith put the Book Of Mormon together and claimed it was spirit guided.

 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/153321010000600114?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695424/

https://smw.ch/article/doi/smw.2010.13079/

 

If people want to take this stuff then it's up to them, but if I get irritated or self-centred or suffer other personality flaws, then we are encouraged to work on our thinking and personality by looking to the example of Christ and the organisational help to support us and relying on Jehovah  - the true source of all energies, who understands them better than we do and has not yet recommended energy based medicine - likely because it has been hijacked by Satan to influence people with false beliefs and false hopes. I prefer to pray more when under stress and look to the inflammatory incursions to my body to cut them back - diet, environment and unnecessary stressors. Those I can't remove with support or relaxation techniques or other counselling therapies, the New World  will have to rid ourselves of. 

 

Unless Science has truly studied and proved where the efficacy really lies, rather than ephemeral 'How you feel' taking it. I tend to leave them alone or you could be taken in by people making money or sincerely misled/false philosophy premises as they haven't the Truth base we come from about human imperfection of body and personality and what influences us.

[EccentricM]

@retroHelen Fair enough

 

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if I get irritated or self-centred or suffer other personality flaws, then we are encouraged to work on our thinking and personality by looking to the example of Christ and the organisational help to support us and relying on Jehovah  

 

 I don't take Bach for "emotional healing" or personality things. It was given to me over the counter by a nurse without any explanation of what it was, other than "it will help stop your panic attacks", pure habitual chemical reactions in my body. Since I needed something for when I was traveling. And it aided me, when other things did not. I've taken other things in the past and felt no benefit whatsoever, so you'd think if it was "just placebo" other things would work on me in the same way. At least that's the conclusion I came to.

 

When I take it, I feel and almost immediate release of my adrenaline spike and even obsessions (which I have found no other way of stopping other than riding them out), where as usually with coping mechanisms or what have you take time to work, can a panic and obsession attack be quelled "that" quickly without some sort of sedative quality in something? It works better for me at home of course, when travelling I have to take consistant hits of it since the adrenaline rises and falls so long as I am out away from home.

 

But if it "is" just placebo, I wish I could achieve that with other treatments I've tried, or even better just my own mind by itself. Even when I pray I do not get release from my panic attacks.

Edited September 24, 2019 by EccentricM

[Memeber212]

20 hours ago, Dove said:

Don't they say the same about homeopathics, and yet they have been proven to work on both humans and animals..

Homeopatics have not been proven in any ways. There are no double blinded trials that have proven that Homeopathy works. It simply cannot work by definition.

It you eat a tablet where it says 50C, that means the tablet has been made from 1:100 soltuion diluted 50 times. So this is 0.01^50, which is 1*10^-100, while 1 drop of water has 5.01 x 10^23 molecules of water. So there is no single molecule present in a drop of water (statistically).

For example there is a popular medicine called Oscillococicnum that is made form a Canadian duck. For the whole production since the product were introduced to this date they have not even used 1 duck. That is the most expensive duck in the world.

[Áine]

.... I was thinking that this club would be up building,  evidently not... we may agree to disagree... everything has it's place and I hope that no one has joined this club to brow beat or belittle anyone. 

 

If I find that the tone continues to go that way then I'll delete the club. 

[retroHelen]

On 9/24/2019 at 5:22 PM, EccentricM said:

I don't take Bach for "emotional healing" or personality things. It was given to me over the counter by a nurse without any explanation of what it was, other than "it will help stop your panic attacks",

My total sympathy as I get panic attacks. My cortisol and adrenal cycle is totally out of whack, so in the wee hours of the mornings I often cannot get to sleep and then, in the dark, it starts and then won't stop, with my heart pounding and breathing all wrong and feel the walls coming in on me and I visibly shake without any control. Horrible feeling!

 

Mine is exhaustion as I have a long-term back injury caused when I fell on an icy road on the ministry 19 years ago. Can't take strong painkillers - even though the Doc says I should, but they do nothing and I could get addicted, so have got a TENS machine. It helps with the pain signals. I also have a pocket radio with earphones by the bed for comfort. If I can get up, I have a warm comforting drink and play some relaxation stuff. A couple of times, at night.  I shook so much that I felt something in my back go again and then more weeks of agony, unable to even stand up. Now I have been told osteo arthritis is setting in - great - not! But the osteopath reckons it may fuse some vertebrae together and stop them sliding about causing me so much grief as there's little he can do for me these days - Bring on the New World!

 

MRI shows 2 bust disks and a bulging disk and 3 lower vertebrae out of kilter. This causes pain and no comfort at night, so often awaken with panic and pain going on - Grrr!

 

Please don't let me stop you doing whatever makes you feel OK for yourself, but keep an open mind to anything that will get to the bottom of why your cortisol/adrenal cycle is out of harmony rather than just settling to tackling the nasty ensuing symptoms with one idea. I know you aren't so daft as to be doing voodoo hocus pocus to get yourself better, but just thought you best know the origins of  Bach and the truth of their efficacy, so you don't get too deep with it and then not be open to other ideas that could be better.

 

I have been told by a hospital bone consultant that I should slowly do 3 yoga exercises as just stretches - not the religious twaddle - as they pull the remaining disk back between the vertebrae. I don't recommend yoga as it has too much religious connotation, but if warming up at the start of the day with a 'Down Dog' or Cat or other daftly named contortion gives me relief then I'm uncricking myself with whatever works until we get to the New World and can learn, unencumbered by imperfect hopes and paths, the way to better health.

[EccentricM]

@retroHelen Yeah, a lot of eastern exercises do have physical benefits. 

 

I used to study Taijiquan (Tai Chi) as a martial art, as well as Qigong (slow movements and body alignment exercises with syncronised breathing and mental visualisation for health), but I stopped because of the religious ties and symbolism I discovered in the arts and their ties to ancient Chinese shamanism, animism and ancestor worship. Though the scientific benefits can still be attained through other innocent health practices so long as a person knows the physical science and princibles behind what is going on in the body.

 

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but keep an open mind to anything that will get to the bottom of why your cortisol/adrenal cycle is out of harmony

The core root is my ADHD and Autism I'm pretty sure. Started when I was 18 seemingly randomly and I've been like it ever since (26 now), possibly was to do with sudden development and maturity, but who knows. Doctors haven't really done a good job at getting to the bottom of it so far, only sending me to places to learn "coping" methods, aka treating the symptoms, not the cause.

 

But I got more help looking into self health methods in books, as opposed to what doctors tried with me. The issue was that they were treating me for a misdiagnosis, where they assumed I had "general anxiety" caused by stressful events in life, but nothing stressful was going on in my life to cause my panic attacks at all, just that year it suddenly started out the blue and left me in an agoraphobic state. When I told my therapists this, they didn't know how to help me and sent me back to my doctor, and he'd send me back to them (this happened back and forth for years until I demanded to be tested for mental health conditions like ADHD and Autism). I developed "Pure OCD" just a couple of years ago when I was starting to overcome my agoraphobia, which then set me back to square one, which shows something "else" is going on in my brain.

Edited September 25, 2019 by EccentricM

[retroHelen]

Totally sympathy with your problem there, my husband and I have suffered similarly and muddle along best we can.

 

I was diagnosed with IBS and social anxieties and agrophobia. Sent to hospital for all kinds of yukky physical tests. Then psychotherapy for the social anxieties. Yet, I never felt secure - felt dizzy for seemingly no reason, but told I was overstressed. This went on for years, so I felt unsafe learning to drive. Struggled to meetings and ministry, fell sick a lot. Fell ill on holidays/conventions, so got afraid of going away. People, including family regarded me as a nervy unreliable person.

 

Then we got a new Chinese Doctor at our practice 2013. She was very thorough. She did lots of blood tests and personally called me into her office one afternoon. She sat me down and with a shocked face, told me that she was very sorry that she had found that I was a diabetic. That I had been an undiagnosed Type 2 diabetic for years. This was at the root of most of all my suffering. Blood sugars were far too high, kidney and liver stress and neuro-fasciitis in the feet, etc. The thing that clinched it was that I went to Specsavers for an eye test for new glasses. The optician had sent a letter to my Doctors surgery to say that my right eye had developed a retinal bleed and I could lose my sight if the cause was not treated. This had sent alarm bells to the Chinese Doctor who went over my notes and took more tests and realised what was happening. I didn't fit the usual obese profile, so no one had picked up on it, nor tested for it.

 

However, I went against the Doctor's advice and wouldn't just go on Metformin and Statins. I found Dr Bernstein (diabetic Doc in his 80s who helped develop blood/sugar monitors) and Dr Mowll - diabetic coach USA and decided to go on a low carbohydrate diet as meds don't stop retinopathy and I was seeing red mist with my right eye and other diabetics lost their sight in the congregation with this problem. Retinopathy healed and cleared, other symptoms cleared . I could have got bitter about the wasted decades of life of being undiagnosed and 'walking wounded' with no confidence, but thankfully this life isn't all there is!

 

I wrote about my diet findings instead of meds and links to the Docs to the support charity -  Diabetes UK and they promised to look into it via Dr Mowll/Dr Hyman/Dr Osborne in USA and they later sent to tell me that they had set up a Low Carbohydrate Diet forum. It now has over half million members - many type 2 diabetics have reduced their meds and are doing much better. Even our local surgery has taken it up - and the diabetic nurse, who criticised me, now asks me what I eat each meal for ideas as she is on it herself now.

 

Not cured though - went to a sister's home for a meal. Told her I don't eat carbs - haven't the pancreas for dealing with it and she said OK. Had a meal there - very kind of her, she's a lovely lady. But afterwards, at home, I came over weird. Took a blood-test and blood sugars were sky high. Transpired that, though the main course was OK, she made the first course soup with a whole blended potato  and large sweet apple -( both pure carb/glucose , only goodness in them is the skins/just below the skins, but these were removed) and curry powder that disguised it. Took some chromium & chelated zinc and went on a long walk to try to burn it off.

Edited September 26, 2019 by retroHelen

[retroHelen]

Andrew Saul PHD; Dr Joshua Axe and Dr Berg give some interesting information to help ADHD and associated problems. Couldn't decide which video to recommend, but I found Dr Berg explains things the easiest and in the shortest time - though Dr Saul can be amusing with his teaching: 

 

[EccentricM]

@retroHelen Yes it's all linked. I'm well aquainted with the B vitamins. I have a lot of foods that contain these things and I don't eat any refined food anymore if I can help it. Important to note as well that one does not have to have "all symptoms", but a collective of them. I never had the temper or agressiveness for example, but the others I do.

[retroHelen]

1 hour ago, EccentricM said:

I never had the temper or agressiveness for example,

Glad to hear it! Lol!  Your also  not a kid, it was just the best easiest video to cover the subject.

 

Sometimes we deplete   our stores of vitamins and minerals because we are living on our adrenalines/cortisol, so need to supplement beyond what's in our food to support ourselves or we will never be well enough. Much supermarket inorganic food has been depleted of it's minerals and vitamins because of the way it was grown or hybridised, sprayed and stored. For instance, apples in the supermarket often have no vitamin C because they are a year old - kept in cold store for months and use up their vitamin C, which is a preservative for themselves, to stop themselves rotting.

 

Vitamin D is a difficult one for Northern Hemisphere folk like us - we can only get 1000s of ui of it between April-October at midday for 20 minutes as the sun is only hitting UK at the right angle for efficient synthesis through our skin at that time and unprescribed supplements for wintertime are pathetic - 2-25 iug mostly! Doctors in Glasgow prescribe a higher dose for dark skinned folk I heard on BBC radio 4 news recently, as they were getting more rickets and depression for the lack of it than us palefaces.

 

Sad fact is that not only is our food depleted, but government guidelines for RDA for vitamins and minerals is merely the safest amount that they think prevents diseases, rather than the optimum amount for humans to use to be well. Andrew Saul PHD -, as a pupil of the late Dr Abram Hoffer, a neurologist dealing with ADHD kids and treated depression and anxiety  of the founder of AA in USA with B3 & counselling -  took over from nobel prize winner Linus Pauling in how much vitamins we need to be well, learning from animal studies as to how they survive in the wild either making their own nutrients via the liver or what nutrients they eat for the needed amounts to stay well. I am a bit wary of taking the large amounts he does. He took years of building up to it and knows and can afford the purest unadulterated products, but I certainly take quite a few myself, - fighting inflammation is ongoing for me, so I deplete easily. 

 

 Very good website with research studies to check and download that you may find helpful for all sorts of health issues. Just listened to his Vitamin Masterclass and Vitamin Movie from his facebook site/website. A warm human being, now in his 70s and retired from teaching. I was told he is  Mormon, but maybe in future he will hopefully have his eyes open to what we know: http://www.doctoryourself.com/

[Girl81]

On 3/25/2019 at 10:22 AM, EccentricM said:

Bach flower medicine is a form of organic medicine that uses flowers, herbs and alike to treat emotional ailments, and is considered as a form of Homeopathy. Better known today as the product "Rescue Remedy", which people swear by. A few people and some tests however, stated to think it was purely just "placebo" (when one thinking it works, so it simply works) as opposed to it being genuine.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_flower_remedies

 

 

 

 

However others counter such arguments with the position that "it works on animals and babies" of which would not be tricked by placebo, as they have no concept of what you're giving them. I also found a study, which is in support of Rescue Remedy, and states it is not just a placebo effect, as opposed to the statements made in other tests.

 

https://www.science20.com/news/does_rescue_remedy_work_for_anxiety_yes_says_study

 

 

So I found that quite interesting and encouraging. I myself have just got my hands on some from the local pharmacy when I asked for something to help me with travel (as I need to go to my ASD/ADHD assessment soon which is about an hour drive away, and traveling is very difficult for me). I have been testing it myself and it seems to work well, and I say this as a person who has tried other things before to help calm me, and they did not work (to adress the whole "placebo" claims").

 

I find interestingly that, it does not take my energy away, but only helps with the anxiety/negative thoughts, so I end up with "tigger syndrome" (feeling bouncy) after taking it, since the emotional filter of what my energy is passing through in my mind changes (and this usually only happens when my attention is stimulated by something, or if I'm having a day anxiety free). I found a few years ago I tried the spray version of Rescue Remedy, but it didn't work for me, but taking it in the form of drops seems to work for me this time around, and is much more potent.

 

But that is my very small experience of it so far, thought I'd share!

I've heard good reports directly from some individuals who swear by RR.  I personally have found 5htp, tryptophan, and fishoil supplements to be beneficial beyond words for my anxiety levels. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Michelle81