By Ox Drover
The other night my son and I went to a rodeo with a a couple who are our friends to watch another friend ride in the rodeo roping contest.
My friend is currently somewhat “down in her back” and will be going to a neurosurgeon for treatment this coming week. When we got up to go to the concession stand she asked me to go over and talk to this man who was selling some “pain relief patches.” She wondered if they would help.
We walked toward the man’s stand, where he had a sophisticated electronic display up and pamphlets to hand out. He immediately started his spiel and he started with the bouncing four-month old border collie pup I was holding on the end of a leash. “Do you want me to calm that puppy down? Here, let me put these on her face.” He reached down and took a couple of peel-and-stick patches, one on each side of her face, which of course did nothing to calm down the bored pup who wanted off the leash to go sniff and smell all the new and exciting things.
Then he started working on selling my friend this “new and exciting, scientifically proven” patch that she could put even on top of her clothing and it was guaranteed by “double blind studies” to raise the level of some “hormone” in her blood that would fix her pain in no time!
She looked at me and said “What do you think about this?” Well, being a medical practitioner (retired) I do “believe in” the placebo effect helping some ailments, and I do believe in some “alternative” therapies which are being recognized in real-double blind studies as helpful for various things, but what I do not “believe in” is “snake-oil salesmen.”
First , even if applying these patches to the skin would “raise the level of X hormone” (one I had never heard of by the way) in your blood, where is the evidence that that hormone would relieve your pain, or that it was safe for you? I remember back when I was a child they would X-ray our feet when we bought a new pair of shoes to make sure they fit and didn’t warp our feet. Well, obviously they stopped that practice because there are definite negative side effects of X-rays, and using them to size shoes correctly isn’t enough of a benefit to offset the negative effects of too much radiation on a kid.
Secondly, I saw no way that these patches, applied over the clothing, could have any effect on the hormonal level of the body, of either dog, horse or human.
He was giving a rapid fire speech on how these patches would eliminate my friend’s pain from her severely pinched nerve (which will require surgery to correct and is scheduled for next week). I know my friend truly dreads the upcoming surgery (I’ve had that same surgery) and the associated pain from the surgery and the recovery, and she would love to grasp at any straw that she thought for even one second might give her some relief from the severe pain and disability she is having from the problem.
She looked over at me and I lip read her say, “What do you think?” I shook my head to indicate to her that I wasn’t buying a single thing he said as anything close to “scientific” or “double-blind” or pain relief. Then I turned to the salesman (one of the most pushy I have encountered) and said, “You know, if you are going to sell snake oil, you aren’t dressed properly, you need a black tuxedo and a top hat.”
The man was somewhat startled by my snotty remark, I think. He stopped in mid-sentence and said. “I resent that remark; I am offended.”
I replied, “Well, good, I actually intended to offend you.” His face looked almost like I had hit it with a bucket of cold water, because he was surely not expecting me to say this. I think he probably thought I would become defensive and say something like, “Oh, I didn’t mean to offend you, I was just joking.”
But I meant what I said. He was a “snake oil” salesman preying on people who are in pain, people who want an “easy answer” to their pain. To stop the pain they can’t control.
Psychopaths, just like this pushy salesman, seem to offer us this “guaranteed” and “proven easy way to fix our life’s pain.” They will offer us “surefire love” to make us feel better and immediately cure our loneliness. They will hold out to us the prospect of all our dreams of life coming true just like a fairy tale. There will be no pain in life, and they will take care of us.
Unfortunately, just like there is no peel-and-stick patch that you can put on your puppy to make it calm, or put on top of your clothing to cure your herniated disk pain, or no special cream that will get rid of your wrinkles and make you look 20 again, or a special pill that will let you eat all the junk food you want and still lose weight 15 pounds a week ”¦ there is no other person who can cure all your ills, make you happy, and keep you from being insecure or lonely.
Back when I was in family medical practice, people would come to me for diabetic teaching and many didn’t want to hear what I had to tell them, because there is no amount of medication, either oral or injectable, that can control diabetes and let you “eat what you want when you want it.” Caring for diabetes is a combination of diet and exercise at prescribed times in prescribed amounts, and/or medication. There is no easy way out. Yet, just today on a website I saw an advertisement for a web site that guaranteed to “cure diabetes in 30 days.” Gosh, I wonder why the American Diabetes Association doesn’t know about this remarkable “cure?” Maybe I should call them and inform them about it.
Psychopaths take advantage of our desires for an “easy fix” in selling us the modern day equivalents of “snake oil,” whether it is getting us to invest our money in their business schemes, or to buy patches for pain relief, or to give them our hearts and love. None of their plans work out for our benefit though.
So, bottom line, “if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.” BUYER BEWARE. Not all snake oil salesmen wear a top hat and black tuxedo!
MiLo
Oxy –
I have been meaning to thank you for this one – I have been trying to think of the proper title to give our GAL, that best describes her — “Snake Oil Salesman” – PERFECT
Ox Drover
Dear MiLo,
You are welcome my dear! Glad to be of help! How are things going with the sit-u-nation! You are in my thoughts and prayers! Hope the Kiddo is doing as well as can be expected! You too!
The snake oil salesman at least gave me a laugh as well! Made my skin crawl a bit though!
skylar
Hi polly,
Like you I suffered from severe muscle pain especially in my back, neck and shoulders. This went on for about 15 years and I tried every diet & remedy available. I did the anti candida diet as well. It cleared my skin. It did not solve my problem with muscle pain. My muscle pain could not stop completely until I left the P. It turned out he was poisoning my food With small amounts of strychnine And possibly botox. But until that time I learned to control my muscle pain With 3 or 4 supplements: First I discovered magnesium malate And homeopathic magnesium. They both help control muscle spasms and are recommended for people with fibromialgia. Then I discoverd carnitine, an amino acid that helps the cellular mitochondria burn more efficiently. Added to the magnesium, it works even better. Then I began large doses of co-q10, 200 mg and up. As long as I kept up these supplements, my muscle spasms and burning pain was managed. They all work by increasing the efficiency of mitochondria, specifically in muscles. They are often taken for heart conditions for this reason and also to help burn fat but it hasn’t helped me for that. When I left the P I was shocked to find that I no longer needed these supplements, my pain was gone. There were many clues, but the big one was that he emptied the refrigerator the day after I left him. He mustve thought that I had or could discover the poison. But I digress, please try these supplements and also research another : HMB, very helpful, weightlifters take it to increase the amount of time they can lift before muscle fatigue.
I hope you are well soon.
MiLo
Oxy – I’ve been to my share of rodeos, all those sore muscles and broken bones, he probably thought he was in hog heaven. I wonder if it works on horses too. I have been dealing with a lame one for some time now.
Everyone is doing pretty well. Thanks
Ox Drover
Dear MiLo,
Yea it was also for horses’ sore backs. LOL But I would suggest you just get it to a vet and see what they can come up with to help the hoss. I had to put my old mare down 3 yrs ago in the middle of the summer of chaos, she grass foundered (only horse I ever saw who did, but she sure did) she was 32 and in otherwise great health! She got so sore she couldn’t put one foot on the ground and the other 3 were bad too, so it had to be. Nothing to be done. She had a good life though, but was getting arthritis as well, so it was TIME. I miss her though. I have a mare now that looks a bit like her (red roan) and is sweet too, but haven’t been up and riding myself for a while.
Trying to get myself back in order with being too fat and lame myself, and I think when I finish with the “too fat” part some of the other stuff will be improved by default.
Skylar: many times we find out that just the STRESS that they put on us causes us all kinds of pain and disability. Stress that is high and continual can do a number on our health just by itself. I don’t doubt that he was poisoning you…one way or another or both! Just being around them is enough to poison the very air we breathe! THEY ARE TOXIC!!!
skylar
Oxy,
Yep, There is no doubt that many of my symptoms like my insomnia And fatigue were part of being stressed Because subconsciously I knew I was in the presence of evil. So when I left him and starting to feel better I assumed naturally that it was because I was not around him.
Concurrently I was wondering why he would empty out the refrigerator. Only thing he left was the catnip. Finally it dawned on me and then I remembered how many times he said, ” You would be so easy to poison because you take so many pills.” He was referring to all the vitamins supplements I took to deal with my muscle pain.
Sociopaths like to drop hints.
Ox Drover
Dear Sky,
Yep they do like to drop hints—and he WAS poisoning you, even if it was only through the STRESS…and believe me…high stress can literally KILL us. I’ve seen it do it to animals and I’ve had it almost kill me by wiping out my immune system making me get infections easily!
Taking care of ourselves, and LOWERING OUR STRESS as much as possible, being good to ourselves, eating right, sleep, exercise etc. is VERY important.
It has taken me a lot of false starts to get it “all together” and to FOCUS on myself, my health and my well being. Stopping smoking, eating right instead of gaining 10 pounds a year for 6 years. Sure it is less than a pound a month, but it ADDS up….and taht is what stress does to us, it is like DROPS of water into a bucket, it EVENTUALLY fills it up to over flowing. No matter how big the bucket is, if it keeps on DRIPPING it fills up.
We have to STOP the DRIP and be at PEACE. It is NOT easy to do. We have to keep the CHAOS out of our lives, and the PEOPLE WHO CAUSE CHAOS. In my case it was first one, then the other, but slowly I’ve accomplished the most of it. ONE DAY AT A TIME. One STEP at a time…
Just ordinary life has enough ups and downs and stress of its own, but when you add in the high stress of dealing with a psychopath it becomes a great burden. I haven’t been able to get rid of ALL the stress in my life (no one can) but have CUT it DOWN as much as possible.
We can only cut out the stress we can CONTROL…and get away from the psychopath (NC helps us control more). We can’t stop them from being what they are, we just get as far away from them as we can. I’m not quite by myself on a desert island, but if that is what it took, I think I would go there happily! It beats the heck out of putting up with the CHIT OF A PSYCHOPATH!
pollyannanomore
Hi One Step 🙂 How are things with you?
Hi Erin! How’s your spath battle going? Winning the war I hope 🙂
Skylar – thanks for that info .,.. I have read about those supplements being useful for muscle pain – I take magnesium at present but will look into the others. I’m also having trigger point therapy to loosen the knots.
I have no doubt the stress with the P at a minimum contributed to the pain – it developed after 2 yrs with him. Chronic health conditions are awful =- you’re always searching for the right solution and putting your hopes in the next big cure. I have definitely been vulnerable to snake oil sellers in the past but now try to be more discriminating! Hope all is well with you – thanks for the good wishes 🙂 The pain is much less now the P has gone. I’m just trying to work out how to undo the last bits of it all
skylar
Polly,
I feel like there isn’t anything I haven’t bought and tried. in addition to the thousands of hours spent online researching supplements, tens of thousands of dollars went into buying supplements. I’d do anything to ease that horrible pain. I have closets full of supplements at my house, my BF’s house and more at my parent’s house. So I know what you mean about snake oil. Price is an issue so I shop online at Vitacost.com where they have the cheapest, best quality supplements I can find. Prices are equal to wholesale from Mountain Peoples Warehouse – where I used to shop, but no tax and $5 shipping is good. I also look online for coupon codes.
What I find works best is taking 3 of each at a time. seems like alot but that’s the way I could tell right away if it was going to work.
Magnesium loosens the bowels so it might be an issue for you to take that much –or not. I found that a loose bowel was actually what I was aiming for. Now that I know I was being poisoned, I believe that magnesium worked so well because it was eliminating the poison more quickly!
one/joy_step_at_a_time
sky and polly – check out: http://www.healthpursuitsgroup.com
solid, honest people. lead is worth double her weight in gold – extremely knowledgable.
polly – well ya know some things are better, my desire for vengence does not wain. am doing some work in that area. how are you? dating??? 🙂