Iatrogenic Disease and Anhedonia
I have noticed a trend in the last several years. More and more relatively young adults (20s & 30s) have been coming into the Reddit forums describing their experiences with Anhedonia, especially induced by prescription drugs.
What is Anhedonia?
And just as importantly, what is iatrogenic disease?
Iatrogenic disease from medical errors is the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States.1
We cannot rely on the medical system to admit to their own pattern of errors or rely on MDs to admit their mistakes in specific cases.
We cannot rely on the medical system to admit wake up to how dangerous most pharmaceutical drugs actually are, especially the psychotropic drugs.
We therefore cannot rely on the psychiatric system to repair the damage done to society or the injuries to individuals. The injury to an individual often results in a condition that seems like the onset of a psychiatric disorder (or the worsening or return of an older one). Therefore, the standard response of MDs and psychiatrists is to gaslight the person and insist in upping their medication, further increasing the harm.
We have the internet. We need to talk to each other.
The internet is a very valuable tool for learning and communication. But we need to understand that it is not like it was 20 years ago.
The internet is now a commercial candyland where the opinions and interests of governments and for-profit interests are attempting to drown out free and open discussion of human problems and their solutions. It takes more effort to search it and dig down to real answers.
I’ve changed my practice as an herbalist / healer
I am listening. I previously thought of myself as mostly an herbalist. But as more and more people came into the Reddit forums complaining of total loss of enjoyment of life — very often after just a single dose of a psychiatric drug — it got my attention. I had to start reading, listening, and learning.
My heart goes out to these people.
I intend to be part of the solution.
The truth is that I have also been injured by multiple drugs. Those injuries — episodes of extreme toxicity and/or alterations in personality or behavior — were relatively transient. But I did experience confusion, anxiety, some insomnia, chronic fatigue, periods of depression, migraines, and more.
Herbal medicines, nutrition, and learning how to protect my liver were empowering. Learning these things from herbalists and Naturopathic doctors helped me turn things around.
When someone is injured to the point of experiencing anhedonia, herbs may be little or no help. The range of herbs that works narrows down considerably and it can be hard to predict what will help each individual.
Too many people are stuck in limbo. They are suffering something unexplainable and need help.
When you are in this kind of limbo your mind isn't functioning normally. Cognitive impairment steals your ability to reason and think through solutions and make decisions that move your life forward.
You too easily become a statistic no one even knows about.
Well, I am listening. Even if I don't yet know your name, in the abstract I know you exist. I know you are suffering. I know you deserve better. You deserve to learn from this whatever lesson is there for you — and to move on with your life.
This can only happen to you if it is part of your evolution as a human being towards a higher purpose and greater power.
The Tautopathy Solution
Everyone is different, so everyone's recovery may look very different. However ...
In my opinion, Tautopathy holds the greatest potential for the greatest number of people experiencing these things. Tautopathy is a kind of homeopathy. The term is taken from Greek and means using exactly the same substance that made you ill to make the medicine. The poison is the cure — in repeated dilution.
The good news is you can make the medicine yourself!
You just need a small sample of the drug that (last) injured you.
With some people, it is not so simple since a series of drugs may have caused the condition. But we start with the last one to be layered onto the pile.
Basic directions for making the remedy
Take a small sample of the last substance to cause you harm (a half tablet/capsule is enough). If it is a tablet, crush it into powder.
Put the sample in an empty 16 oz water bottle (that has only ever been used for water) and put 1 tsp of water into it to dissolve it.
Fill the bottle with water. (You can use tap water if that is easier, but purified water is best.) Shake it a bit and pour out the water — again leaving only about 1 teaspoon of it.
Refill the bottle with more water.
Shake the bottle a bit, and pour out all but about 1 tsp.
Do it a total of at least 6 times (write down tic marks to count it) and keep the last refill in the bottle.
Drink one or two swallows of that final solution.
Label the bottle with the name of the substance and with the number 6 (if you repeated it 6 times) and 'tautopathic'.
Keep that bottle in the fridge in a spot where it will not accidentally freeze.
The procedure in the steps is what matters, not an exact formula or measurement. The method I described above makes a 6c remedy that is usable by persons with long-term skin conditions (acne, eczema, psioriasis, or similar since toddler age or younger). Those people almost always have an extra sensitivity to homeopathic potentized remedies and cannot take the higher potencies. It is best to start in the low 'c' potencies (centinel: 1/100 dilution) and work up from there as/if needed.
Follow-up to the first dose
Many people get relief with the first dose. But not everyone.
You may have to take another dose, or raise the potency a bit first (with at least a couple more refills/dilutions) and then take another dose. That will be determined based on your response to the first dose.
If the first dose does not help at all, this is an indication that you need another, possibly larger dose, or that the potency needs to be raised. Or you may want to follow a slightly different guide to making this remedy as seen here:
https://hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/the-aggravation-zapper/
Contact me if you need help with this. I am available free of charge to walk you through it.
This solution is a type of homeopathy. Homeopaths often say that disease is in layers and we have to peel back the layers, like peeling the layers of an onion. We first deal with the most recent layer and work back from there. So if there are multiple drugs or substances that each left your health damaged, write down the chronology of them. That chronological list will guide you.
Most of the time, when we experience a drug that is bad for us we throw it away. This article will hopefully keep you — or someone you love — from doing that. Keep at least one dose of that drug so it can be used for the Tautopathic solution.
There are some homeopaths making these kinds of Tautopathic remedies. It is a small minority of homeopaths, especially in North America (where we have too few affordable homeopaths to begin with). Very few Naturopaths have heard of this problem (anhedonia), so few have experience dealing with it.
Homeopathy has actually been using some Tautopathy for a long time. When a person gets a bad case of poison ivy and is treated with the remedy Rhus-tox (homeopathic poison ivy), that is Tautopathy. The same substance that made the person sick is used to enact the cure.
Some people may need the more dilute version of the remedy as described in the aggravation zapper page linked above. That is where all the water is poured out of the bottle, leaving only drops clinging to the inside of the bottle.
Just know that if your first attempt does not succeed that your second (or third) attempt will. You will get relief.
Help is on the way.
https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2016/10/14/medical-errors-the-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-us/