By Dr. Scott Graves
Heal Naturally from Dermatomyositis?
I am firmly convinced that dermatomyositis has very specific causes, but also very specific courses of treatment that can help someone heal from this disease naturally, without toxic drugs. What will be presented here will be logical, reasonable and hopefully will empower you to begin healing.
What is it?
Dermatomyositis (derma = skin, myo = muscle, itis = inflammation) is a connective tissue disease that is characterized by inflammation of the muscles and skin. Many consider it to mimic or be what is considered an autoimmune disorder, where the immune system is said to be attacking these parts of the body. The body never attacks itself in any labeled “autoimmune” condition and is not confused, but instead the immune system is desperately trying to defend itself and attack a pathogen (virus, bacteria) that is in many cases buried deep into tissue and while trying to get at the pathogen, the surrounding tissue suffers collateral damage.
Signs and Symptoms of Dermatomyositis
Skin Rash – reddish purple rash on the upper eyelids, across the cheeks or bridge of the nose, forehead, hands knees, or in general around the body.
Muscle weakness and aches of the trunk, upper arms, hips, thighs and legs
Muscle stiffness, tenderness, soreness and even atrophy
Edema around the eyes
Chronic Fatigue
Pain
Itching
Swelling
Difficulty swallowing
The Real Cause of Dermatomyositis
I am convinced that from a Western perspective, what is behind this disorder is either the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) or the Shingles Virus (or both more likely). When you look up the symptoms behind both of these viruses, which are actually a part of the same family (herpes), you will see that between the two, all of the symptoms for dermatomyositis are included between these two viruses. If this is the case, and this has been loosely considered in Western medicine, why is this knowledge not more pervasive in Western medicine? A couple of reasons exist for this discrepancy.
Medical Medium
I stumbled upon this information from a gentleman by the name of William Anthony, author of the book Medical Medium. He mentions that they are over 60 different varieties of EBV and over 31 varieties of the Shingles virus, and all of them do different things and their expression is also very different. Western medicine is still unaware of all these different strains of both viruses. He also mentions that people with EBV, which is an alarming number of people today (could be as high as 80-90%), go through four stages. Some are not yet in stage 3 or 4, but many are.
Stage 1 – Birth, exposure or initial expression of the virus that is triggered by a hormonal change in the body (puberty, pregnancy or menopause) or by some particularly negative emotional event, which lowers immunity, cause the virus to find a home and start building.
Stage 2 – “Mono” or full blown initial large infection. Otherwise known as the “kissing disease”, most people think that when you get mono that you are laid up in bed and can’t do anything for weeks or even months. This is only the case with around 10-15% of cases, while the other 90% simply go through a period of time where they feel very tired or exhausted and just have worn themselves down, but continue to fully function in the world. The immune system has launched a full attack at this point, which is why the fatigue is present. This is when the virus really finds a home (normally liver, spleen or even the thyroid). This is significant, because from a Chinese perspective, this disease must be addressed by dealing with both the liver and spleen and there are many wonderful herbal formulas to deal with this very thing. The Chinese alone has successfully dealt with such things for thousands of years.
Stage 3 – After mono, the virus is thought to be dealt with, but this isn’t the case. It is now building an army and the only thing that will show up on a blood test is antibodies, telling doctors about the “past” infection. But modern medicine has no way to check for the virus building an army inside an organ or endocrine gland. The byproduct or waste (much like human excrement) of the virus becomes neurotoxic (toxic to the nervous system) or dermatoxic (toxic to the skin – rashes). It is at this stage when severe disease may begin to arise, such as Lupus, Hashimoto’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Lyme, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and others.
Stage 4 – The ultimate goal of EBV is the central nervous system where symptoms include inflammation leading to muscle pain, joint pain, back pain, tingling or numbness in the hand or feet, migraines, ongoing fatigue, insomnia, night sweat, and rashes. Dermatomyositis full blown means that one has entered into Stage 4 of the expression of the virus.
Even if Western medicine knew with this type of clarity that this was the actual problem, what would they do about it? The answer is….not much. They have some antiviral drugs, which don’t actually kill the virus, just stop or slow its growth, and they have anti-inflammatory drugs, which never actually deal with the source of inflammation. To say that they don’t have much ammunition when dealing with these viruses is an understatement. These viruses actually feed off of heavy metals and chemicals as well, which Western medicine doesn’t have good tools to deal with either. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against Western medicine at all, but I am just pointing out facts as to the limitations of this medicine. Western medicine can’t deal effectively with killing the virus, boosting or strengthening the immune system, flushing out heavy metals and chemicals nor does it have a way to deal with releasing the emotions from the body that most likely caused the lowering of the immune system in the first place.
Luckily, both Chinese medicine and naturopathic medicine have TONS of things that can be done to address all of these things killing the virus(es), strengthening the immune system, cleansing the body and releasing the negative emotions from the body. I have a very specific plan for this that has proven to be wonderfully effective clinically for those dealing with either of these viruses.
First, the body must be cleansed of heavy metals and chemicals. Most people today are loaded full of chemicals and metals. Vaccines, mercury dental amalgams, eating tuna and other fish with high amounts of mercury, antiperspirant with aluminum, body soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, perfume, makeup, cleaning products, toothpaste, mouthwash, laundry detergent, pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, and many other things build up in the body are destroying the health of almost every American today in one way or another. All of these toxins inside of the body cause the immune system to be overwhelmed and unable to defend itself against the real problem – pathogens (virus, bacteria, parasites and fungus). This is also a prime source of inflammation. Inflammation is a reaction that the immune system is having to these things.
Using many different herbal remedies and Chinese herbal formulas that have been known to target and eliminate the EBV virus, the body will begin to have a fighting chance. Many things can be used to target it from all angles, which allow these things to go deep into the tissues of the body, search out the virus and eliminate it.
Since dermatomyositis is an inflammatory condition, dietary sources of inflammation are one of the most critical aspects to deal with in this disease. The largest contributors to inflammation are dairy (all forms including yogurt and cottage cheese), refined sugar of any kind, wheat products of any kind, soy and eggs. If you wish to heal, you must stop consuming all these things immediately. There is also a very specific detoxification protocol and after that a diet regimen that must be adhered to if you are going to heal.
The trigger to an EBV or Shingles outbreak or infection leading to a chronic condition is normally brought on by some particularly negative emotional event that one has gone through. The entrapped negative emotions that are still present in your consciousness from past events must be released so that this heavy load can be lifted from your body, which will cause a massive strengthening of the immune system. When we go through abuse of any kind, relational breakups, divorce, bankruptcy, pregnancy, the loss of a loved one, or any other kind of powerful negative emotional event in our life, we must understand that though we may consciously not think that those negative emotions from that event are still affecting us, it is very important to understand that that they still are, even though we may not be aware of it. Every health problem has a mental/emotional/spiritual component or consciousness to it. EBV and Shingles are no exception. Here are the consciousness aspects to both, some may apply to you, and some may not.
Epstein Barr Virus – Oversensitive, not feeling good enough, lacking confidence, constantly changing your mind. Carrying a lot of negative suppressed energy. Uncontrollable aggression toward people who are close to you. Feeling guilty about your incapacity to stick to one thing. Disconnected from who you truly are. Focusing on other people’s dreams instead of your own.
The Secret Language of Your Body
Shingles – Loss of power and inability to deal with life; too many suppressed emotions. Regression to a childlike state, requiring constant attention from others. Overwhelmed by life, wanting to escape to another time. Not wanting to remember or to be present. Feeling lost and confused. (The Secret Language of the Body, Inna Segal).
Consciousness releasing techniques are indispensable for dealing with this, which is much different than talk therapy. I have seen pains, aches, health conditions and even entire diseases literally disappear when the emotional root of the problem has been released from the body. These tools are very easy to learn and just require time and dedication to make it effective.
When all four of these aspects are addressed together in a holistic way, you will have the very best chance of healing from this disease. All of the specific protocols, dietary aspects and the consciousness releasing techniques are things that I give to people through a course in treatment. If this makes sense to you and you would like to go this route because you would like to heal, please give me a call at 407-255-0314 to schedule an orientation and I would be happy to help. All of the work I do can be done over the phone with people, so you do not need to come to the clinic here in Orlando, FL in order to get help. Hopefully this has given you direction and confidence that you don’t have to continue suffering with dermatomyositis and can begin to get your health and life back.
Also read:
The Sun Is Not Causing Your Skin Cancer
The Consciousness Or Emotional Factors Of Vitiligo
Vitiligo: Is Full Natural Healing Possible?
Emotional Patterns Behind Skin Cancer
By Elizabeth M. Dugan, Adam M. Huber, Frederick W. Miller, Lisa G. Rider [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Dr. Scott Graves ND, MA is a Florida-based Naturopath and Intuitive who specializes in Nutrition Response Testing, NAET, EFT, and Psychokinesiology. He offers free 15 minute phone consultations and is available for radio and TV interviews. Read his Blog here. Like him on Facebook.