Resisting Medical Fear-mongering

I listened to one of Pam Popper’s video clips on “How to Address Health Anxiety,” which got me to thinking and noticing the kinds of things doctors and the “medical world” are telling me.

(I recommend you listen to Pam’s message here.)

Examples . . .

Email from Medicare, subject line: “Are you at high risk for developing glaucoma? Find out.” Uh-oh, I’d better click on that link . . . (I did not.)

I saw an ophthalmologist for the first time last year. Is that why I got that email? Or is this just something they send to all us old people, to scare us?

The past few months I’ve seen several doctors, as I was due for “routine” medical tests, like a colonoscopy and DEXA scan. (I was warned by a doctor not to miss my annual Medicare checkup. She missed hers, and was told she had to start over as a new patient, even though she’d been seeing that doctor for 30 years! What gives here?)

Colonoscopy/endoscopy results: no cancer, some inflammation in esophagus. Diagnosis of GERD. Doctor says I must go on Omeprazole for 3 months. That’s to reduce the acid in my stomach. But my research and symptoms indicate that I might possibly have low stomach acid.

Why do I need to be treated? “GERD can lead to Barrett’s esophagus and cancer” is the rationale given for medications to reduce stomach acid and treat GERD with the medications. But my research has brought up that “the number of people who develop Barrett’s esophagus is relatively small. . . . In the absence of Barrett’s esophagus, there is no strong evidence that GERD is a risk factor for developing cancer.”

These acid-blocker medications also likely increase the risk of hip fractures, possibly by 44% according to one study, if taken long term. Three months is not long term, and it may be good to try the acid-reducing meds. But I’ve had this issue ever since I was pregnant with my son, 32 years ago! It hasn’t seemed to do any long-term damage yet.

I have noticed that the healthiest people I know take few medications, and the unhealthiest people are on a lot of medications. Of course, you could argue that they take the medications because they’re unhealthy.

But I can’t help but wonder if the medications to treat symptoms are the actual cause of other symptoms, which then are treated by yet other medications. And before you know it, you’re a walking medicine cabinet!

Besides all that, I’m cautious about doing anything that may compromise my bone health.

Which brings me to the osteoporosis scare.

First, some background.

Decades ago I had surgery by an endocrinologist, who took out half my thyroid because of a cold nodule (that wasn’t cancerous). Of course I then had to take thyroid medication for the rest of my life. I respected this doctor (he’s now retired), because over the years he showed that he took a broader view of medicine, e.g. would prescribe supplements, talk about exercise, and prescribe things “he wasn’t supposed to,” such as Armour thyroid. He seemed to look at the research carefully, and he usually explained things to me. I think he got more open-minded as he got older (I saw him for something like 35 years!).

But he also told me, years after the surgery, that he deliberately gave me higher doses of the thyroid medications “to kill off the thyroid so we can control the Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.” So you destroy the thyroid before the Hashimoto’s can? What kind of medicine is that?

Osteoporosis in human bone illustration
Image by brgfx on Freepik

He also told me that the reason he had to do a DEXA scan every year or two was that the thyroid meds harm my bones. And that I needed to go on Prolia, a shot to strengthen bones, to prevent fractures. He shrugged off any potential side effects when I asked, saying, “My patients do very well on it.” He did tell me if I broke a hip, that would be the end of me. “Most people die within a year of a hip fracture,” he said.

In those DEXA scans over the years, the hip scores would remain on the line between osteopenia and osteoporosis, but would fluctuate: now the right hip was osteoporotic, then that would be OK, and the left hip would be. That happened a number of times. The doctor said, upon seeing the improvements, “You’re on Prolia, right?”

I said, “No.” He repeated again, “You’re on Prolia, right?” As if that was the only explanation for any improvement.

Again I said no. When he said nothing, I said, “I guess I should keep doing what I’m doing, right?” He had no answer.

More recently, after my latest DEXA scan, I visited a nurse practitioner specializing in bone health for followup. After questioning me about a number of things, including whether I take drugs like the one my gastroenterologist is prescribing for the GERD, she showed me a chart. (She didn’t ask about thyroid, but my research uncovered this: “Too much thyroid hormone or an overactive parathyroid or adrenal gland can bump up your risk.” The endocrinologist, in giving me too much thyroid hormone,  likely contributed to the osteoporosis.)

The chart depicted a continuum from healthy bones, to osteopenia, to osteoporosis. “You are off the chart low in the osteoporosis zone,” she said. (Actually, on the chart here, I’m still on the chart.)

She immediately recommended Tymlos. Fortuitously, I had received an email just the week before about osteoporosis meds, the pros and cons, and I knew that this was a drug that you could only stay on for 2 years because of the negative things it does to you. After two years, you had to go on the bisphosphonates like Fosamax for the rest of your life, presumably.

Not only that, but the potential side effects were scary. Two of them would have made my other issues worse: “ulcers of the esophagus” and “upper GI irritation.” (Why don’t they scare us about the right things?)

The nurse practitioner didn’t acknowledge this, but she did add that it’s not covered by insurance and it costs about $1000-1200 per month. I said that wasn’t an option, so she moved on to Prolia, which is covered by insurance (at $2000/shot, twice a year). Here we go again. I asked about side effects. She gave me a brochure about Prolia, adding, “Don’t let what they say about it scare you.”

What they said in the brochure, and actually emphasized, was that you can’t go off it or even delay the timing of the shots, or else you’re at greater risk of vertebral fractures. (And my spine is fine, it’s my one hip that’s osteoporotic.) So I’m not supposed to pay attention to the clear warnings from the drug manufacturer itself, or the research?

And I need to be on it for life, given the risk of stopping it? Sounds like a great business model to me (for the drug companies, that is).

I could actually go on with examples. You may well have your own stories of medical fear-mongering and entrapment into taking medications for the rest of your life.

I should also say fear-mongering does not only come from the world of allopathic medicine. Plenty of people touting alternative approaches also use fear.

Here are three subject lines from emails I just got today:

• “Could mineral deficiency be holding you back? (find out with big savings today)”

• “Olive oil’s dirty little secret”

• “Scared of losing your ever-loving mind?”

Why use scare tactics? Because it works. Our survival brains are geared to look for danger and avoid it at all costs. It does sell products.

What’s the answer?

I turn to some words that were dropped into my mind out of the blue several months ago. All perspectives exist in the quantum realm. Choose the perspective that keeps you in gratitude, joy, and peace.

As I prayed to know the truth about the root causes of my symptoms (I was told by allopathic medical people that “you can’t know the root causes”), and opened myself up to new perspectives, it’s been remarkable how I’ve been led.

Re: the acid reflux, several different things surfaced for me to try before I start taking the meds (which I may do; I’m not categorically against all medications).

I feel led to do more bone-strengthening exercises, including dance and resistance training.

I have a device I’m exploring that scans the body and sends out frequencies to balance the imbalances in the body. It found all of my issues, by the way.

And I’m exploring a whole new perspective, Meta-Health/German New Medicine, that has a very different take on symptoms: they are part of the healing sequence, and actually a sign of healing. As I reread the article I wrote before on this, it fits my experience to a T. I believe I’m in a healing response to the triggering event of settling my mother’s estate and dealing with my family of origin and the unhealed issues that whole experience dredged up for me.

Meta-Health talks about introducing “Regenerative Triggers” into the mix to foster the healing responses. I’m doing that, with The Healing Codes and the other methods I’ve been led to develop. (Email me if you’re interested in my new program that will coach you in these new methods.)

I sense I’m moving from Regenerative Phase A (where the symptoms flare) to Regenerative Phase B. It comes in waves, they say, and that’s been my experience.

I refuse to fall into the fear mindset. In the energy medicine models, fear is a major cause of illness and disease. And I remember research saying that fear of getting COVID-19 is actually one of the biggest risk factors of getting very sick with it.

I choose the Meta-Health/German New Medicine approach, and I’m doing interventions that make sense to me, addressing things not only on the physical level but on the energetic/spiritual level as well, to resolve the “conflicts” that are the actual sources of my physical issues. When I’ve done this in the past, it’s always been successful. It even closed up a hole in my heart!

I seek medical intervention when it makes sense (for instance, when I broke my foot), and I encourage you to, also. But I also embrace the view that the body is intelligent, knows how to heal itself when given the right support (which may include medications at times), and that a number of modalities and approaches may need to be tried. (I find my energetic testing to be invaluable here, to discern which modalities would be best to try.)

How about you? Will you trust your body’s and your heart’s innate intelligence, and look to heal the SOURCE of whatever bothers you? Will you open yourself up to a number of modalities and not give in to fear-mongering of any kind? I hope you will.

And if you want to know more about The Healing Codes and the tools I’m using to trigger the regeneration response, send me an email: diane at HealingCodesCoaching.com.

Medical disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, and this article is not meant to provide anything other than my experience and perspective. You are encouraged to seek the help of a licensed medical professional for any medical condition you have. Just remember: You are in charge of your own health.