Is Conventional Medicine A Bust When It Comes To Autoimmune Disorders?

If you look up the treatment options for autoimmune disorders, most involve medication. The top search result gave the following list of current treatments:

• “anti-inflammatory drugs – to reduce inflammation and pain
• corticosteroids – to reduce inflammation. They are sometimes used to treat an acute flare of symptoms
• pain-killing medication – such as paracetamol and codeine
• immunosuppressant drugs – to inhibit the activity of the immune system
• physical therapy – to encourage mobility
• treatment for the deficiency – for example, insulin injections in the case of diabetes
• surgery – for example, to treat bowel blockage in the case of Crohn’s disease
• high dose immunosuppression – the use of immune system suppressing drugs (in the doses needed to treat cancer or to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs) have been tried recently, with promising results. Particularly when intervention is early, the chance of a cure with some of these conditions seems possible.”

When you consider autoimmune disorders are chronic – how can people be expected to take steroids and opiates for years? Those drugs are meant for short term pain, and the artificial reduction of inflammation. It is not wise to take them for prolonged periods.

It seems odd that a list of treatments would not include more about managing diet, stress, and identifying aggravating factors. The problem with the list of drugs offered, is in the long term, they do far more harm to the system than good.

Rather than compounding and exacerbating the chronic health problems with long term steroids, opiates, and immunosuppressant drugs, why not search for the cause? There is no single cause, therefore it makes things more complicated. It’s not like breaking a bone. In that case, you know how and why it happened. But with autoimmune disorders, the cause is shrouded in mystery.

Three quarters of the people who develop autoimmune disorders are women. Therefore the root cause might be partially hormonal. It could also be related to the roles of women, and the suppression of stress, or oppression in general.

If our body begins to attack itself, what might it be telling us? Cognitive dissonance, deceptions, discord, stress, contradictions, self-sacrifice, betrayals, conflicts, hypocrisy, spiritual beliefs, and past trauma – all might contribute to the reasons our body will start to attack itself.

Our soul resides within us, and consists of our mind, will and emotions. If we have a huge struggle exercising our will, we will eventually get sick. Why? Because there is a constant inner conflict. There is a suppression of truth. We might want to face reality, but when we do, we are struck down and stifled. Our will does not coincide with the outside forces.

We were given a sound mind to help us discern truth. Our emotions signal distress, anger, peace and joy. If we are getting constant distress signals, we have no choice but to internalize them.

It is possible women are more prone to autoimmune disease, because women are more likely to internalize anger, as opposed to externalizing it. We are conditioned to be nice. It’s not feminine to fight.

It’s a bit of a conundrum. No one wants to be a raging hag, full of anger and complaints. Yet, if we stifle anger for twenty or thirty years, are we better off?

In the process of changing our ways, we need to learn how to manage anger, and how to effectively assert ourselves. When up against brute force, it takes a great deal of courage. For those of us who have had to deal with coercive control and deception about our own lives, it is a snare designed to keep us trapped. There is no easy way out.

There is a place within us for healing, and forgiveness. As we find ways to navigate relationships and the stressors of life, we can begin to sync up the internal with the external elements of our lives.

There is no quick fix for autoimmune disorders. I remember when I was told by an eye specialist to put prednisone drops in my eye every thirty minutes round the clock. It was not very helpful, and came with a host of serious side effects. So I opted out of the steroid route long ago. The same thing with opiates. If you take them, it is a slippery slope, as most of us know.

Every autoimmune disease has some of its roots in stress, and dissonance within. Therefore, all therapies should have some direction with regards to stress management, meditation, and healing therapies.

It helps to look toward non-medicinal healing such as aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, meditation, walking, saunas, swimming, music and dietary factors. We need to find ways to rest our soul, in order to find inner peace.

The biggest contributors to autoimmune disorders in my opinion: Stress, lack of sleep, chronic anxiety and cognitive dissonance, alcohol, inflammatory diet, and fear. Of course the contributing factors vary widely from person to person, and likely involve a myriad of genetic and hormonal factors as well.

I do believe conventional medicine is a bust when it comes to their list of treatments. Short term relief with medication might reduce the acuity, but it will not cure or even minimize the problem.

As time goes on, I am less and less impressed with pharmaceuticals. They are promoted and advertised as the be all, and end all for every disease, but they are little more than a band-aid solution, and often cause more harm than good.

One thing I know for sure – is that I would never get hired to be a drug rep! To those who swear by certain medications, by all means, take them if you get relief, or believe it is the best approach. When it comes to autoimmune disease, I am only speaking from my own experiences.

Even for those who do take a list of medications – the mind, will and emotions are still very important to our overall well-being.

Stress management, and adopting a model of inner truth that can be externalized without punishment or conflict – might help more than you ever thought it could. We have to navigate our lives based on a complex array of stimuli, both external and internal. Finding out how to integrate the two is the tricky part.

When it comes to cancer, I know it might be a controversial opinion – but I seriously believe it belongs in the camp of autoimmune disorders as well. When you think about it, the body is betraying and attacking itself for unknown reasons. It has many similarities.

Perhaps the most important thing to hope for – is inner peace for all. It settles us down in more ways than one.