Real meaning of COLD!

[Guest guest]

Zenisis and Nancy, thank you kindly for your input. You are right in

what you said about how to figure out if you have " cold " according to

TCM or not. I wonder what the standards are, though, for judging

extremities. Aren't my feet supposed to be cold under the

circumstances described in the next paragraph?

 

In the winter, we don't always have enough wood

for the stove and when I get up, it is anywhere from 48 degrees F.

to, maybe, 58 degrees F. And I feel uncomfortable and it is torture

to remove the ol' pyjamas and get into daytime clothing. Just to

spice

up this tale, when I was a child at home, our house was poor and when

we got up in the morning, it was literally freezing. Frost on the

walls; painful to put one's hand in the bucket of water, etc. (Little

film of ice.)

 

I am wondering if some folks are so strong and healthy (not

hypermetabolic) that they don't mind being naked for a couple of

minutes in a room that is less than 48 to 58 degrees. Anybody here

fit that description? Just curious! My point here is, are people

getting weaker & weaker every generation and therefore our definition

of " uncomfortably cold " temperatures are being ratcheted upwards

accordingly? I think so. - Lu Barley.

[Guest guest]

The poster who did not know what her TCM practioner was talking

about when asked if she was cold is probably not cold in the sense

that we are talking about. A person who suffers from cold disorders

knows they are cold - it is a major theme in their life. They are

always reffering to being cold - they feel sensitive to the

atmosphere and even light breezes or airconditioning makes them cold

and uncomfortable. Here in tropical South India where it has been

very hot recently a lady told me the other day that she feels like

she will catch a cold every time she takes a bath. This same lady

told that if she drinks anything cool (not cold) she has stomach

cramps and shivers. This is cold disease. This has nothing to do

with what others may or may not be experiencing - it is a subjective

feeling caused by pathological conditions.

 

These symptoms are very different from ordinary cold in the

extremities or of the nose in cold weather which is not a pathology.

The symptoms being discussed here are a pathological condition of

the Yang. The patholgies being discussed are also not caused by

external cold invasions and although the Wei Qi is generally

weakened in these cases it is not the main problem - usually it is a

generalized Yang defeciency (a Jing/Yang defeciency)but it can

manifest in many ways - example if Liver is defecient from

stagnations (damp/heat)then sugar is not utilised and distributed

well (hypoglycemia)so this will often be experienced as

hypersensitivity and feelings of cold (lack of or qi defecient) on

the surface as well as a trembling in the legs and in the abdomen -

there is not enough energy being delivered to the cells to keep us

warm.

 

Many aging people lose circulation on the surface which makes them

much more suseptable to the environment - they are losing their

temperature regulating ability which may or may not have a thyroid

hormone component. This same deminishing of the circulation occurs

in more and more younger people as more people are having depletion

of the Yin and Yang from exhaustion processes.

 

This same poster asked if there are people who do not suffer these

ordinary reactions to cold. Yes - those with suffecient or excesses

of Yang often do not experience cold as others do.

 

I was recently discussing these issues with several Zen monks in

Japan. When I was in Japan it was very cold and the monestary where

I visited has large drafty halls and freezing cold bath rooms. The

monks seem to do fine in the face of this cold - which would

overwhelm many. They wear special kinds of underwear with a special

flannel waist wrap worn by all older monks (a basic understanding

that these men have is to keep the Kidneys warm)- their robes are

quilted cotton with cotton batting. They follow a warming winter

diet - most would think of this diet as being very 'light' - but it

is much heavier than their summer diet. Everyone said the same

thing 'We are healthy and hearty - people have always lived and

worked in cold climates - so we do not get cold' - one person said -

' My family were traditional farmers and they never suffered from

the cold it is normal'. Even in Tokyo many people do not heat their

homes. A common practice is a special table that has a heater under

it - people set for meals with a blanket around their waist that

holds the heat from under the table in. A person with Yang

defeciencies would not be able to do this.

 

Experience of heat and cold (many cold sensitive people are also

heat intolerant) is a subjective experience and if ten people are

setting in a room or standing outside each will have a different

subjective experience of the environment.

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Vinod Kumar " <vinod3x3

wrote:

>

> The poster who did not know what her TCM practioner was talking

> about when asked if she was cold is probably not cold in the sense

> that we are talking about. A person who suffers from cold disorders

> knows they are cold - it is a major theme in their life. They are

> always reffering to being cold - they feel sensitive to the

> atmosphere and even light breezes or airconditioning makes them cold

> and uncomfortable.

 

I just want to emphasize this because it sums up what happens when a

person is cold sensitive. The person knows. It does become a major

theme.

 

In my case, I have been known to sleep under a heavy quilt in June,

and that's the beginning of summer where I live. That has been going

on for many years. But it got worse. When I was living in southern

Arizona - where it doesn't even get that cold in the winter - I was

having to soak in several hot baths per day to warm up. Layers of

clothing, an electric blanket set to high, and 3 heavy quilts on top

of the blanket weren't enough to do it. I remember lying under all

that and having a sensation like the heat from the electric blanket

couldn't really penetrate me. I knew the blanket was hot, but it was

like my body was completely neutralizing that heat. It was like it

sucked it up and neutralized it. Like putting something warm into a

freezer.

 

I also want to point out that southern Arizona is desert. The air is

very dry. The reason the hot baths worked when the electric blanket

wouldn't is that moist air holds more heat than dry air does. Moist

air and dry air can be the same temperature, but the moist air will

hold more heat than the dry air does. (You can check this out in an

introductory physics book.)

 

> Experience of heat and cold (many cold sensitive people are also

> heat intolerant) is a subjective experience and if ten people are

> setting in a room or standing outside each will have a different

> subjective experience of the environment.

 

When I was younger, I was very heat tolerant. Other people could be

very uncomfortable, but I would feel comfortable. As I aged, I lost

that and became heat intolerant too. Extremes of any kind bother me

now.

 

Bing Yang Deficient and Cold sensitive is a range. It may start out

mild, but if not treated, it gets worse and worse. While it's still

relatively mild, the Cold person may discover little things that help.

For me, it was eating pork sausage. I didn't realize it at the time,

but many of the spices used in making sausage have warming energy.

 

So how does one tell when a person may have a tendency to Yang

Deficiency but hasn't reached some of the extreme manifestations? The

person often will talk about loving the summer and hating the winter.

Doing and feeling better in the summer than in the winter. If you've

ever known someone who is Yin Deficient or tending that way, they

sometimes will talk about loving the winter and doing better in winter

than in summer. (I want to stress that whenever a person is Kidney

Yang Deficient, s/he is almost sure to be Kidney Yin Deficient too

though to a lesser extent. The same applies to Kidney Yin Deficiency.

This person is almost sure to be Kidney Yang Deficient too but to a

lesser extent. If both aren't supplemented at the same time in the

proportions the individual needs, it can create problems. This is also

why self-treatment eventually starts to be less and less successful

unless the person knowns about Yin and Yang and is supplementing both

in the proportions needed.)

 

BTW, I find Hot and Sour Soup at Chinese restaurants to be very

helpful to me. When I have a bowel, I immediately start to feel

better. My muscles feel more flexible and stronger. I have more

energy. I can feel the energy flowing in my body better than it did.

I judge Chinese restaurants on the quality of their Hot and Sour Soup.

But I want to point out that this may not be a good soup for someone

else who suffers from Cold. It just happens to have a combination of

things that I particularly need.

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Vinod Kumar " <vinod3x3

wrote:

>

> The patholgies being discussed are also not caused by

> external cold invasions and although the Wei Qi is generally

> weakened in these cases it is not the main problem - usually it is a

> generalized Yang defeciency (a Jing/Yang defeciency)but it can

> manifest in many ways (snip)

 

> Many aging people lose circulation on the surface which makes them

> much more suseptable to the environment - they are losing their

> temperature regulating ability which may or may not have a thyroid

> hormone component. This same deminishing of the circulation occurs

> in more and more younger people as more people are having depletion

> of the Yin and Yang from exhaustion processes.

 

I want to stress this for the students on the list. The number one

cause of Pernicious Evils invading is Protective Qi (aka Defensive Qi)

not being strong enough. BUT, people who are Yang Deficient and/or

people who are Blood Deficient also are very vulnerable to Pernicious

Evils in the environment. Moreso in fact than in cases of just

Protective Qi Deficiency. These are people whom their relatives and

friends often remark are better than any weather person on TV. They

often can feel the effects of weather changing before it becomes

obvious. Sometimes even before instruments start to pick up the

changes.

 

Blood Deficiency can be throughout the body, or it can be localized.

Like what happens in cases of Blood Stasis. Either Yang Deficiency or

Blood Deficiency can cause a person to be more sensitive to weather,

but when a person is Yang Deficient, one frequently (though not

always) will also see localized Blood Deficiency. Why? Because Cold

slows things down and contracts. Cold is one of the things that can

cause Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis. If the Blood isn't properly

flowing through the muscles and reaching the places it needs to reach

to perform its functions as quickly as they need to be performed, the

person is going to be more vulnerable to Pernicious Evils in the

environment.

 

Sometimes Kidney Yang Deficient people also will be Blood Deficient

not just locally but throughout their bodies. Blood tonic herbs will

be needed. It won't be just a matter of restoring proper Blood flow

but also tonifying the Blood. Why do long-term Kidney Yang Deficiency

and Blood Deficiency tend to occur together so often (though not

always)? Because the Kidneys play an important role in the production

of Blood in the body. The Spleen plays perhaps the most important

role, but the Kidneys also play a key role. If the Kidneys are

imbalanced, they may not be albe to play that key role in producing

proper Blood. Also, the Spleen is very vulnerable to Cold. (The most

vulnerable to Dampness, but Cold comes in a close second.) Neither

the Spleen nor the Kidneys are all that strong in a person who has

suffered from Kidney Yang Deficiency for a while, and this can trigger

Blood Deficiency.

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Mrs. Barley "

<chosenbarley wrote:

>

> My point here is, are people

> getting weaker & weaker every generation and therefore our

definition

> of " uncomfortably cold " temperatures are being ratcheted upwards

> accordingly? I think so. - Lu Barley.

>

One thing you're not considering is that in the past people's diets

and other things were better at giving people increased protection

against the Cold. They were eating things that people rarely eat

today in the US and Canada. Things like kidneys from animals and

even gonads.

 

Also note in Vinod's post about how the monks take special care in

clothing to insulate their kindeys in winter.

 

Many of the concepts in Chinese medicine are found in folk medicine

throughout the world because this stuff works. Older people

throughout the world - even in the US and Canada - did the things

that needed to be done in order to increase healthiness and increase

chances of surivival. What has changed is that because of modern

discoveries, many people have forgotten about or never learned about

these very basic things. For example, I can remember a great great

aunt of mine who lived in the mountains cautioning me as a kid not

to drink cool water too fast in the summer when I was hot because

this would increase my chances of catching something. It would cool

me too quickly if I didn't sip it. She had lived through epidemics

of Scarlet Fever that killed many, and knew what she was talking

about. But the thinking today is that because we now have

antibiotics, antiviral drugs, vaccinations, etc. that we no longer

have to pay attention to things like that. But we should.

 

BTW, what often helps people with CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune

Dysfunction Syndrome) are very basic, practical things that people

routinely did in the past when someone was sick.

[Guest guest]

You're making me cold just reading this, LOL! You might be right about

people being less tolerant of these things than they used to be, but

keep in mind that TCM was developed many centuries ago when people were

still pretty tough. I think what TCM is calling cold is a bit

different than being less willing to put up with cold temperatures. Our

body has a " normal " temperature that it tries to maintain and my

impression is that people who are cold according to TCM guidelines just

can't keep up with producing that much heat. Processes within your body

that rely on that heat can't function as well and non-essential things,

like say keeping your extremities warm, fall by the wayside. Victoria

can correct me if I am wrong, but that's been my understanding of it.

 

Nancy S+13

 

Mrs. Barley wrote:

 

> Zenisis and Nancy, thank you kindly for your input. You are right in

> what you said about how to figure out if you have " cold " according to

> TCM or not. I wonder what the standards are, though, for judging

> extremities. Aren't my feet supposed to be cold under the

> circumstances described in the next paragraph?

>

> In the winter, we don't always have enough wood

> for the stove and when I get up, it is anywhere from 48 degrees F.

> to, maybe, 58 degrees F. And I feel uncomfortable and it is torture

> to remove the ol' pyjamas and get into daytime clothing. Just to

> spice

> up this tale, when I was a child at home, our house was poor and when

> we got up in the morning, it was literally freezing. Frost on the

> walls; painful to put one's hand in the bucket of water, etc. (Little

> film of ice.)

>

> I am wondering if some folks are so strong and healthy (not

> hypermetabolic) that they don't mind being naked for a couple of

> minutes in a room that is less than 48 to 58 degrees. Anybody here

> fit that description? Just curious! My point here is, are people

> getting weaker & weaker every generation and therefore our definition

> of " uncomfortably cold " temperatures are being ratcheted upwards

> accordingly? I think so. - Lu Barley.

>

>

 

> Post message: Chinese Traditional Medicine

> Subscribe: Chinese Traditional Medicine-

> Un: Chinese Traditional Medicine-

> List owner: Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner

>

> Shortcut URL to this page:

> /community/Chinese Traditional Medicine

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hey, I love hot & sour soup, too! And generally, I don't like spicy food

but I would put up with it for the soup. I just thought it was chinese

comfort food. I wouldn't mind knowing hot to make it. If someone has a

recipe, please submit.

 

victoria_dragon wrote:

 

>BTW, I find Hot and Sour Soup at Chinese restaurants to be very

>helpful to me. When I have a bowel, I immediately start to feel

>better. My muscles feel more flexible and stronger. I have more

>energy. I can feel the energy flowing in my body better than it did.

>I judge Chinese restaurants on the quality of their Hot and Sour Soup.

> But I want to point out that this may not be a good soup for someone

>else who suffers from Cold. It just happens to have a combination of

>things that I particularly need.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Perhaps Nancy has not read all of the postings on cold - but one

should be clear that what is being discussed in modern western terms

is not a hypersensitivity reaction but a true lack of temperature.

 

Sometime back I posted a long piece on Hypometabolism. The people we

are talking about are in two basic catagories - Hypothyroidism

(usually Hashimoto's) and Hypometabolism without any abnormality in

Thyroid tests (although this disease can be diagnosed from the

Thyroid tests but not using 'normal' references).

 

Common examples are CFS and FM - people with these syndromes are

severely hypometabolic - often without any abnormality in Thyroid

tests (this is the reason why these cases are often put in

the 'psychological disorder' catagory) - yet in my experience every

(!) case I have ever seen is suffering from extreme hypometabolic

condition - with temps below 97 (I have often seen 'normal' temps in

patients that run below 95.5). such cases often have very low PH as

well - these cases at these extreme low temps are basically

nonfunctional with many being confined to their homes simply because

they do not have the energy to do anything. Recently I posted a

piece describing the process of sliding into a 'couch potato'

pattern. Such patients are severly ill and isolated - often without

anyone to help them because few western educated physicians have any

idea at all about how to understand this condition (as was said they

usually prescribe SSRIs or other antidepressant medicines).

 

I hope that no one thinks this is not a true physiological

condition - this is a true and severe hypometabolic disease and the

cold symptoms are only a small part of the complicated defeciency

patterns that these individuals suffer. In fact the cold symptoms

usually come only after the defeciencies have become severe. In TCM

terms these people are suffering from severe Yin/Yang defeciencies

and lost their ability to control and distrubte the QI. Every cell

in the body is suffering defeciency so the host of 'real' symptoms

that have developed are easy to understand. My father says of these

cases 'regardless of the age of these people they have the

metabolism of 75 year olds'. In the previous mentioned piece I

describe the break down of hormonal and brain chemical processses -

ending in severe malfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System.

 

If the peice I wrote on Hypometabolism can not be found just

remember these facts. If one chronically suffers from symptoms of

cold - get a non digital thermometer and take your temperature in

the morning before rising - if this is below 97.8 you have

hypometabolism (if your daytime temps are below 98.2 this is

confirmation) the further one moves down the temperature scale the

more severe the symptom picture will be. Anyone having a temperature

that averages below 97 is in severe defeciency states and will be

very limited in their functions and their ability to live a 'normal'

life.

 

Please remember that when we feel chronically cold - this is not

simply a reactive state to the environment - one is cold regardless

of what the environment may be - here in the tropics we often hear

patients say 'I am always cold' - they are not reffering to the

environment they are talking about a deep cold at their core - this

is natural and expected in Hypometabolism.

[Guest guest]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for this post.

 

May I and others have permission to distribute it to others with

credit to you and the Chinese Traditional Medicine list?

 

I highly recommend that any PWCs (People with CFIDS) and PWFMs pass

this onto any CFIDS and FMS lists you're also members of - provided

Vinod gives permission. If they want to know more, invite them onto

this list.

 

> My father says of these

> cases 'regardless of the age of these people they have the

> metabolism of 75 year olds'.

 

I often have thought about the time when I was the sickest that no

one should be that sick unless the person really is very, very old

and ready to die.

 

The waxing and waning that one frequently (though not always) sees

in CFIDS are understandable and even predictable from a TCM

standpoint.

 

BTW, a big part of the reason why some regard CFIDS and even FMS

has " psychological " is a deliberate campaign undertaken by the

insurance industry and some governments to convince doctors and the

public that it is. There is a clause in most disability policies

that if a condition is psychological, the company only has to pay

for two years. Thus, the campaign to convince doctors and the public

that CFIDS and FMS are psychological. Some governments also don't

want to pay out disability. Contrary to what the purveyors of

disinformation want people to believe, while there is no definitive

test for CFIDS, there are a number of lab findings that show up over

and over in PWCs. Like body temperature going down after

exercising. Like SPET scans that reveal that blood flow to the

brain decreases instead of increasing from exercise, and may take

several days to return to normal. Like immune system

irregularities. Like MRIs that reveal plagues in the brain like MS

patients have (but they can reverse in PWCs). Etc.

 

BTW, it is possible to have too much thyroxin (from pills) but still

be hypometabolic. It happened to me. In my case my bouts of

hypothyroidism have corresponded to times I have had mononucleosus

(glandular fever) and mono-like illnesses. Even when blood levels of

thyroxin were raised to normal, I still had the symptoms of

hypothyroidism. That one time when I had too much thyroxin

(possibly from the pills, possibly not), I still had some of the

symptoms of hypothyroidism. Talk about something confusing! Some

symptoms of hypo- and some symptoms of hyperthyroidism at the same

time.

 

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Vinod Kumar " <vinod3x3

wrote:

>

> Perhaps Nancy has not read all of the postings on cold - but one

> should be clear that what is being discussed in modern western

terms

> is not a hypersensitivity reaction but a true lack of temperature.

>

> Sometime back I posted a long piece on Hypometabolism. The people

we

> are talking about are in two basic catagories - Hypothyroidism

> (usually Hashimoto's) and Hypometabolism without any abnormality

in

> Thyroid tests (although this disease can be diagnosed from the

> Thyroid tests but not using 'normal' references).

>

> Common examples are CFS and FM - people with these syndromes are

> severely hypometabolic - often without any abnormality in Thyroid

> tests (this is the reason why these cases are often put in

> the 'psychological disorder' catagory) - yet in my experience

every

> (!) case I have ever seen is suffering from extreme hypometabolic

> condition - with temps below 97 (I have often seen 'normal' temps

in

> patients that run below 95.5). such cases often have very low PH

as

> well - these cases at these extreme low temps are basically

> nonfunctional with many being confined to their homes simply

because

> they do not have the energy to do anything. Recently I posted a

> piece describing the process of sliding into a 'couch potato'

> pattern. Such patients are severly ill and isolated - often

without

> anyone to help them because few western educated physicians have

any

> idea at all about how to understand this condition (as was said

they

> usually prescribe SSRIs or other antidepressant medicines).

>

> I hope that no one thinks this is not a true physiological

> condition - this is a true and severe hypometabolic disease and

the

> cold symptoms are only a small part of the complicated defeciency

> patterns that these individuals suffer. In fact the cold symptoms

> usually come only after the defeciencies have become severe. In

TCM

> terms these people are suffering from severe Yin/Yang defeciencies

> and lost their ability to control and distrubte the QI. Every cell

> in the body is suffering defeciency so the host of 'real' symptoms

> that have developed are easy to understand. My father says of

these

> cases 'regardless of the age of these people they have the

> metabolism of 75 year olds'. In the previous mentioned piece I

> describe the break down of hormonal and brain chemical

processses -

> ending in severe malfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System.

>

> If the peice I wrote on Hypometabolism can not be found just

> remember these facts. If one chronically suffers from symptoms of

> cold - get a non digital thermometer and take your temperature in

> the morning before rising - if this is below 97.8 you have

> hypometabolism (if your daytime temps are below 98.2 this is

> confirmation) the further one moves down the temperature scale the

> more severe the symptom picture will be. Anyone having a

temperature

> that averages below 97 is in severe defeciency states and will be

> very limited in their functions and their ability to live

a 'normal'

> life.

>

> Please remember that when we feel chronically cold - this is not

> simply a reactive state to the environment - one is cold

regardless

> of what the environment may be - here in the tropics we often hear

> patients say 'I am always cold' - they are not reffering to the

> environment they are talking about a deep cold at their core -

this

> is natural and expected in Hypometabolism.

>

[Guest guest]

>

> May I and others have permission to distribute it to others with

> credit to you and the Chinese Traditional Medicine list?>

 

I think of this as a public forum and do not have a sense of

protection about what I write here.

 

> BTW, a big part of the reason why some regard CFIDS and even FMS

> has " psychological " is a deliberate campaign undertaken by the

> insurance industry and some governments to convince doctors and

the public that it is.

 

One must always be aware that many of the most important issues of

health care are political not medical. Medicine is a business and a

highly competative cut throat business at that. All of the various

elements of this business fight each other at the expense of the

patients. Good health care policy is never the primary motivator -

it is the 'bottom line' that drives and forms health policy. The

worst offenders in this industrial/political equation are the

insurance companies. These people have totally taken over the

diagnostic and theraputic procedures of western medicine - pushing

physicians totally to the sidelines.

 

 

Even when blood levels of

> thyroxin were raised to normal, I still had the symptoms of

> hypothyroidism. That one time when I had too much thyroxin

> (possibly from the pills, possibly not), I still had some of the

> symptoms of hypothyroidism.

 

This is easy to understand Victoria it is explained by the song I

always sing here. One can not give Yang building substances to one

that has insufecient Yin to support it. Instaed of getting increased

functioning one will develop symptoms of Hyperthyroidism. The theory

of giving thyroid substances to a hypometabolic person even though

they have no problems with thyroid function is not correct and this

error is committed daily.

 

Many modern theorists call this disease an Autoimmune disorder - but

I disagree. Shut down of the receptor sites at the cellular level is

the bodies simple defense against unneeded hormone it is not a

pathology at all. The same thing pertains in Syndrome X which many

have dubbed as an autoimmune disorder - it is not - it is a

perfectly natural response to excess sugar - the body does not need

this sugar so the receptor sites to Insulin close down. Some

clinicians like Dr. Wilson attempt to 'reset' the T3 and T4 receptor

sites - this 'might' work for a few well selected cases but for most

this is dangerous business - great damage is done by these

techniques. Also it does not in any way get to the real problems of

why the receptor sites have closed down in the first place and what

are the implications of this.

 

Taking Thyroid hormone (or any other hormone)when it is not needed

is not intelligent and can be dangerous. We should trust the natural

intelligence of the body when it has shut down hormone receptor

sites. This shut down is not a pathology and to treat it in that way

misses the point of what really needs to be done.

 

There are people in whom these techniques can be helpful but only

with full support of the Yin. Example many modern clinicians (I met

several of these physicians in Japan who use HRT within the context

of their Kampo practice) give stimulants such as Thyroid hormone

supported by Cortisol and Yin supporting herbs - this allows the

body to accept the stimulation. This is used to 'jump start' severly

stuck metabolisms. It is a short term closely observed therapy only

to be used by one who is fully aware of the potential problems. The

same thing can be achieved in a slower and more 'natural' way by

correcting the underlying organ malfunction patterns - Jing

defeciencies - Damp and heat in the defecient Spleen - stagnation of

the Liver which also has dampness and heat accumulation - most

importtantly the issues of the defecient blood must be corrected so

as to subside the issues of phlegm and dehydration of the blood

caused by false heat which has driven the Yin from the blood. This

more than any other thing will take the stress off of the Kidneys.

All patterns should be worked on concurrently.

[Guest guest]

Vinod, is this article online somewhere? It sounds very interesting.

 

Nancy S+13

 

Vinod Kumar wrote:

 

> Perhaps Nancy has not read all of the postings on cold - but one

> should be clear that what is being discussed in modern western terms

> is not a hypersensitivity reaction but a true lack of temperature.

>

> Sometime back I posted a long piece on Hypometabolism. The people we

> are talking about are in two basic catagories - Hypothyroidism

> (usually Hashimoto's) and Hypometabolism without any abnormality in

> Thyroid tests (although this disease can be diagnosed from the

> Thyroid tests but not using 'normal' references).

>

> Common examples are CFS and FM - people with these syndromes are

> severely hypometabolic - often without any abnormality in Thyroid

> tests (this is the reason why these cases are often put in

> the 'psychological disorder' catagory) - yet in my experience every

> (!) case I have ever seen is suffering from extreme hypometabolic

> condition - with temps below 97 (I have often seen 'normal' temps in

> patients that run below 95.5). such cases often have very low PH as

> well - these cases at these extreme low temps are basically

> nonfunctional with many being confined to their homes simply because

> they do not have the energy to do anything. Recently I posted a

> piece describing the process of sliding into a 'couch potato'

> pattern. Such patients are severly ill and isolated - often without

> anyone to help them because few western educated physicians have any

> idea at all about how to understand this condition (as was said they

> usually prescribe SSRIs or other antidepressant medicines).

>

> I hope that no one thinks this is not a true physiological

> condition - this is a true and severe hypometabolic disease and the

> cold symptoms are only a small part of the complicated defeciency

> patterns that these individuals suffer. In fact the cold symptoms

> usually come only after the defeciencies have become severe. In TCM

> terms these people are suffering from severe Yin/Yang defeciencies

> and lost their ability to control and distrubte the QI. Every cell

> in the body is suffering defeciency so the host of 'real' symptoms

> that have developed are easy to understand. My father says of these

> cases 'regardless of the age of these people they have the

> metabolism of 75 year olds'. In the previous mentioned piece I

> describe the break down of hormonal and brain chemical processses -

> ending in severe malfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System.

>

> If the peice I wrote on Hypometabolism can not be found just

> remember these facts. If one chronically suffers from symptoms of

> cold - get a non digital thermometer and take your temperature in

> the morning before rising - if this is below 97.8 you have

> hypometabolism (if your daytime temps are below 98.2 this is

> confirmation) the further one moves down the temperature scale the

> more severe the symptom picture will be. Anyone having a temperature

> that averages below 97 is in severe defeciency states and will be

> very limited in their functions and their ability to live a 'normal'

> life.

>

> Please remember that when we feel chronically cold - this is not

> simply a reactive state to the environment - one is cold regardless

> of what the environment may be - here in the tropics we often hear

> patients say 'I am always cold' - they are not reffering to the

> environment they are talking about a deep cold at their core - this

> is natural and expected in Hypometabolism.

>

>

>

>

>

 

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>

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " victoria_dragon "

<victoria_dragon wrote:

 

> >

> One thing you're not considering is that in the past people's diets

> and other things were better at giving people increased protection

> against the Cold. They were eating things that people rarely eat

> today in the US and Canada. Things like kidneys from animals and

> even gonads.

Older people

> throughout the world - even in the US and Canada - did the things

> that needed to be done in order to increase healthiness and

increase

> chances of surivival. What has changed is that because of modern

> discoveries, many people have forgotten about or never learned

about

> these very basic things.

 

 

I don't think it is simply an issue of people's diets in the past

giving them more protection from the Cold. That is only 1/2 of the

picture. Equally important, it appears to me, is what they didn't

do. Where my grandparents came from, and for decades where my

parents lived, there was no: hospital birth (and the drugs that go

with it); vaccinations (30 by the time you start school, nowadays);

Pepsi, CocaCola, etc; food that isn't food, medical procedures that

ravage the body, raw fruit year-round, and so on. All of these suck

up nutrients and would therefore leave you exposed to Cold much

more.

 

Also, my family never ate animal gonads or kidneys. It was not a part

of their culture to eat those things. (Maybe the Chinese did,

tho.) Their idea of a warming meal on a cold winter night - and they

even ate this in the summer, at times - was roasted, then baked

buckwheat with hot milk, or sauteed. Tho they of course never heard

the word " saute " . Many, many days there was no meat.

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Vinod Kumar " <vinod3x3

wrote:

>

> I think of this as a public forum and do not have a sense of

> protection about what I write here.

 

Thanks, Vinod. It's a lot of very good info that could help a lot of

people.

>

> This is easy to understand Victoria it is explained by the song I

> always sing here. One can not give Yang building substances to one

> that has insufecient Yin to support it. Instaed of getting

increased

> functioning one will develop symptoms of Hyperthyroidism. The

theory

> of giving thyroid substances to a hypometabolic person even though

> they have no problems with thyroid function is not correct and

this

> error is committed daily.

 

In my case there has been a long history of on-again, off-again

hypothyroidism. I don't know what happened that one time when two

much thyroixin built up. If the doctor failed to monitor the dose or

if I contacted an illness or inflammation that caused a thyroid

storm or what.

 

For some reason the periods when I have been hypothyroid have

corresponded to periods when I had mononucleosis (glandular fever)

or a mono-like illness. I say mono-like illness because when I was

a child, it was believed that children couldn't get mono, so no

tests were done. Looking back, I did have the symptoms of mono but I

can't state for sure I had it because no tests were done at the time.

 

> Taking Thyroid hormone (or any other hormone)when it is not needed

> is not intelligent and can be dangerous.

 

Like I said, in my case I was definitely hypothyroid as shown by

blood tests and other tests. I don't know what happened that one

time when I went from being hypo to hyper in just a few months.

 

> There are people in whom these techniques can be helpful but only

> with full support of the Yin. Example many modern clinicians (I

met

> several of these physicians in Japan who use HRT within the

context

> of their Kampo practice) give stimulants such as Thyroid hormone

> supported by Cortisol and Yin supporting herbs - this allows the

> body to accept the stimulation. This is used to 'jump start'

severly

> stuck metabolisms. It is a short term closely observed therapy

only

> to be used by one who is fully aware of the potential problems.

 

This is very interesting because over the years I discovered that

whenever I had improved but was starting a downward spiral, a very

low dose of thyroid replacement hormone and cortisone for a very

short period of time could stop and reverse the downward spiral. The

term I used to describe this was " jump start " . It's like that's

what it does. The way I discovered this was that I did have

hypothyroidism at the same time existing allergies got worse and I

was developing new ones. I just wish I had known earlier that a very

small dose of cortisone and thyroid hormone for a short period of

time could reverse it.

 

> The

> same thing can be achieved in a slower and more 'natural' way by

> correcting the underlying organ malfunction patterns - Jing

> defeciencies - Damp and heat in the defecient Spleen - stagnation

of

> the Liver which also has dampness and heat accumulation - most

> importtantly the issues of the defecient blood must be corrected

so

> as to subside the issues of phlegm and dehydration of the blood

> caused by false heat which has driven the Yin from the blood.

This

> more than any other thing will take the stress off of the Kidneys.

> All patterns should be worked on concurrently.

 

I wish I had known about this earlier too.

 

Thanks.

[Guest guest]

I really can relate to this article. Low temps and all. Never knew why? Thanks

for the info. Candace

 

Candace J