March 1, 2012 Newsletter
Greetings to all PDI Warriors,
Welcome to this March 2012 PD Institute Newsletter. I trust all my friends are working on their recovery and doing well. So far we have enjoyed a mild winter here in the Midwest, and I am grateful for it.
For those new to the PDI and DCI newsletter series, this month we will again use the familiar and popular format of presenting a simple exchange and blending of emails between one of your PD brothers and me. For those in our DCI readership, please simply apply the ideas and principles presented here about Peyronie’s disease treatment and dosage to what you are doing for your Dupuytren contracture.
Read these combined emails like the back-and-forth exchange of two people talking while one occasionally interrupts the other to make an important point or answer a question. To understand the flow of the conversation, keep in mind that the text in black is from JDXXXX, who is new to Alternative Medicine treatment of Peyronie’s disease, and the text in red is from me. He has just received his first therapy product order and has a few questions.
Here is the email exchange between JDXXXX and me:
Greetings JDXXXXXX,
Please see below for comments…
Regards,
Theodore Herazy, DC, LAc
From: JDXXXXXX
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 5:07 AM
To: Dr. Theodore Herazy
Subject: Re: PDI – Online Natural Healthcare LLC Customer Receipt/Purchase Confirma
Got the treatment kit last week and have no troubles yet, though I am at a very low dose of the non-vitamin product so far. (2-3 per day). I am going to start upping it today. I like your book, it's very thorough Thank you. though I would like to say that a chart of typical dosages would be nice. In the thousands of communications I have had in the past 10 years with men about their Peyronies disease, I am not sure I have a firm idea of what a typical plan looks like. Each man’s plan is so markedly variable in content, with different internal therapy (enzymes, homeopathy, or vitamins) or external therapy (DMSO, Super CP Serum, Genesen pens, or gentle stretching) that are emphasized. Each man seems to have one or two elements of his plan he is convinced is more valuable and effective than the others – and could be right! But treatment is so different from man to man. Even so, if I would put together a composite of what I think a common plan might look like, I know that many people would misinterpret and misapply that kind of information. The “typical dosages” I would present would be seen as the “ideal dosages,” the “perfect dosages,” the “target dosages,” the “dosages that are going to cure my PD for me.” And all of that would be wrong, wrong, wrong. There are no perfect dosages and no perfect plan of care that will work for every – but you can tell me about the perfect plan that worked for yourself. Over the years many people have asked me about the plan I used to cure my own Peyronie’s disease. I tell them that I threw the kitchen sink at my PD. I tell them that I took so many different pills that I rattled when I walked. I tell them that I kept meticulous notes about the different combinations and ratios of therapies that I tried. I tell them that I intimately knew the exact size, shape, density and surface features of each of my four nasty scars that I hated with a passion. I knew them so well that when I made a good change in my plan I could detect scar changes within 24-48 hours, and when I did something dumb that aggravated my scars I could also identify that error by changes in my scar behavior. I tell them about how I went about conquering my Peyronies – I explain the process – but I do not mention numbers because those numbers apply only to me. What helped me might not help you, and holding those numbers in front of you would only frustrate you. I need to help you understand how to develop your own successful plan. You have to discover what works for you; I do not know and you do not know yet what will work for you. Actually, I must wonder why you want to see what a chart of typical dosages would look like. I have always maintained that what someone else is doing in their successful plan – or even in their unsuccessful plan – has little to do with anyone else. Your “worthless and total waste of time plan” might be the next man’s “perfect plan that cured my PD.” You are a unique person with unique biochemistry that does not necessarily apply to what others used to get over their PD. To be successful in Peyronie’s disease treatment you must studiously pay attention to the response of the size, shape, density and surface features of your scars in relation to the therapy plan that you are now conducting to determine if your therapy plan is sufficient to make positive changes in your scars. If you scars are changing while you follow your current very low dose of therapy, you will not need to increase any dosage at all. And if you r scars are not changing then you must change your plan. It should only be a matter of curiosity that I had to follow a very high and intense dose to get my PD scars to reverse. I have seen many times that men get into a bad state of mind by developing preconceptions and unreasonable expectations about what should happen at a particular dosage level. You need to become the world’s leading authority in your PD – and no one else. Only your therapy plan matters. You list proper starting doses, but with regard to upping the doses, I had to look in more than one place to try to find what the maximum dose of any of the products. Maximum dosages are based on so many variables (age, body weight, average daily activity levels, maximum daily activity levels, stress levels, quantity and quality of dietary intake, drug intake, water intake, level of kidney function, and hereditary factors) that they are not as absolute and strict as they first appear. There is much room for interpretation and bending of those numbers. I have taken the stand that each man must closely monitor his own physiology to observe for any unusual reaction or sign (itching, rashes, high pulse rate, broken blood vessels, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, etc. – anything that is unusual for him) that would suggest his therapy plan is not being well tolerated. These things rarely occur even at high dosages, but they must be kept in mind and watched out for to assure that you are tolerating your plan well. You have received instructions titled “What to Do If You Have a Reaction” when you received your 1st order, so I will not go into that subject here.
Do you have anything that tells us maximum recommended doses? "Not to exceed" so to speak? No. The reason is explained below.
I am not going to go straight to the max, You might not need to use the maximum of any therapy item. Even discussing this option of maximum dosage at the start of care tells me you are approaching your therapy plan in a way that might not be helpful to you. Please note, maximum dosage is not the ideal way to approach treatment and it is not the ideal that will assure your success. Your goal should not be to reach some special preconception about dosage. Your goal should be to cautiously determine what dosage it takes to start to see changes in the size, shape, density and surface features of your scar. Ideally, you should want to see scar change happen at the LOWEST dosage possible. Often the numbers do eventually add up as you develop your plan by slowly increasing dosage to encourage your body to reverse and eliminate your scars. But, the goal is observe change in your scars not some maximum dosage number. I understand the pitfalls of this, but if I know my target, Other than stopping vitamin E dosage at perhaps around1-2/day, the other therapy items do not have as clearly defined upper target limits. I am not saying there are no limits but those upper limits are determined in the context of your overall plan. This means that a person who is using a small PDI plan will be able to take a larger number of each therapy item than the man who is using a large PDI plan. This is so because the man who is using a larger variety of therapies will have a larger total intake of therapy at the end of the day. Risk of over dosage and toxicity is different for the man who is using three different internal therapies than for the man who is using eight different internal therapies. The 1st man would probably have a higher daily intake of each of his three, than the 2nd man who is starting out with a larger variety of therapy items. The 1st man will take more of each of his smaller plan therapy products, but that does not mean he will get better results. The 2nd man will take fewer of each of his large plan therapy products, but will probably get better results because he has greater synergy of therapy impact to increase his ability to eliminate and heal the PD scar. (Concerning the example of these two men, here is what usually happens: The man on the smaller plan eventually begins to add more therapy to his plan because he cannot go up much higher in his dosage of the few therapies he is using. With a greater variety of therapy he can then lower dosage of each. Eventually his small plan becomes larger and he is able to lower dosage, allowing him to get better results because he has better synergy from a larger plan. This is where plans start to look different as they diversify while creating synergy.) Each man eventually works out and follows a different plan for himself, based on his different biological model. His unique requirements determined his response to the plan as expressed by changes in the size, shape, density and surface features of the PD scar. >>> You mention “my target.” I think your target should not be a certain number of pills per day or per item. What is the purpose of that kind of target? I think your target should be elimination of your PD scar. How you have to conduct your original starting treatment plan – and perhaps modify it – to reach the target of recovering from Peyronie’s disease is what this email is all about. I can more easily figure out how to ramp up to it, and if I can tolerate it, how I may be able to do it more quickly. My opinion is based on long observation that speed has nothing to do with a good plan and good results. Caution and slow, steady and careful progression increasing intake as it might be necessary is what makes for a successful plan. Natural Peyronie’s treatment is not a race and it should not be based on preconceived numbers of any particular therapy items. Neither you nor I know what will help your PD at this time. If you read the information found on the PDI website you will learn that you must slowly, carefully and yet aggressively work to find what therapy level causes your scars to respond in a favorable way. When you find that plan, it will be your plan, and it will not necessarily help anyone else. For this reason any time I publish therapy plans that help people I soon have men writing to me asking questions how to duplicate that plan. They miss the point that the PROCESS of how a plan is created is what is so terribly important. When you know HOW to create a successful plan you can develop your own, and it will probably not look like anyone else’s.
Also, I see that the DMSO is to be applied by itself, before other topicals. Sorry, JDXXXXX, you got that wrong. I have copied and pasted this directly from the DMSO instruction sheet you received with your order. This is line #6: Apply 1-3 drops of the Super CD (copper) serum directly over the area of your PD scar, then apply 1-3 drops of Unique-E vitamin E oil directly on top of it. No need to rub it in; just gently spread it on the skin in a thin layer by rubbing once with a fingertip. Last, do the same with the PMD DMSO, applying 1-3 drops on the same area you just covered with the copper solution and vitamin E oil. No need to massage or rub this in. These products will be absorbed by a chemical action within just a few minutes. Rubbing the area does not help the process, so leave it alone. Considering that is will facilitate absorption of other chemicals, why isn't it a good idea to apply the DMSO just after the liquid E, Scar-X or Super CP? Yes, now you have it right. The DMSO always goes on last to drive in whatever you place on the tissue ahead of it. You figured it out correctly on your own, but you reversed what was written.
JDXXXXXX, I really appreciate your great questions and the interest and enthusiasm you demonstrate for wanting to do well with your Peyronies treatment. I look forward to working with you because it is people like you who usually do really well with this work. You are a sharp guy and I want to let you know it is a pleasure to assist you.
It turns out that this email exchange between us would be a good case study for an upcoming PDI monthly newsletter. Could I have your permission to use this email for a newsletter? I will delete your name and your email address from the correspondence, so that all personal reference to you will be removed and your identity will be protected. Please let me know ASAP. TRH
JDXXXXXX
Greetings JDXXXXXX ,
Please see below for comments…
Regards,
Theodore Herazy, DC, LAc
—–Original Message—–
From: JDXXX
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 4:54 PM
To: Theodore Herazy, DC LAc
Subject: Re: PDI – Online Natural Healthcare LLC Customer Receipt/Purchase Confirma
Dr. H:
You most certainly may use anything I write you to help with your crusade against Peyronie's disease Ignorance. Thank you for permission to share our email exchange. Your privacy will be protected.
I know that it was not your intent, but I almost feel the need to apologize for my goal of pill dose targeting vs. targeting scar reduction/change. Point taken. I will approach my plan as you discussed. We live in a medically dominated society and dose dependent treatment is how most everyone approaches this subject. My antennae are always up for those who are instinctively going into Peyronies treatment as though pill count = treatment success. What I find to be the best way to approach PD treatment is to be responsive to scar behavior, hence I find myself beating this drum all day long. Thank you for being receptive to the message and to my prime motive to help you along the way to your goal of PD freedom.
Regarding the DMSO, I must have read something incorrectly or at least remembered it incorrectly. The answer you gave makes perfect sense and reviewing the documents on DMSO I see it now.
I do have an issue that is of utmost importance, especially in light of your response. Your documentation does make it quite clear that knowing your scars and their changes are key and probably the most important part of this process. Since 2010 when I first recognized the disease, I have been unable to feel my scars with any confidence of their size, shape or borders not to mention the texture they posses at a given time. I had even told my urologist this and he attempted to put my finger on the scar which he could feel quite well on my flaccid penis. I did feel a "bump" but I could not me more specific. A bump is what is in the road, eh? Chapter 4 of "Peyronie's Disease Handbook" goes into great detail how to go about describing your scar to yourself in a meaningful way; the crux of the absolute necessity of being able to describe various aspects of each scar is the need to take something that is greatly subjective (like the feeling of density or surface features of your scar) and make it as objective as possible so that 2-5 months from now you will have full confidence that your scar has changed. It is discouraging for someone who has spent a lot of time, effort and money working on PD recovery and finds himself unsure if the plan he follows is getting results. That is a situation you do want to avoid. You must confidently know what is going on below the belt so you can manage your treatment like the world authority you should strive to be.
Do you find it best to search for scar characteristics when erect or flaccid? 99% of men can only find the scars when flaccid. I know this is written about in your book and I feel that either my finger are sensitive enough or I am just "ignorant" because believe me when I say I have not been able to get a mental picture of my scars' geography. Just ask yourself, "hard like what?" "soft like what?" "when I slide my finger across the scar what does it remind me of?" Listen to the answer that pops in your head. Allow your imagination to roam and think of things around you that are soft/hard/smooth/rough./uneven like you scar.
Maybe if you could tell me what the normal tissue feels like in contrast. Examine other areas of the shaft that are not close to your bend. Get an idea of what the average tissue feels like in all areas of the shaft. When you have an idea of what average feels like, then go into the area of the bend and look for something that is not average. That would help me. I had a downward bend in my penis as long as I can remember. When the Peyronie's became active, the curve began to straighten. I thought that this was a curative effect of the verapamil cream, but then it kept going up and to the right, so I realized or wasn't healing at all just remodeling from the Peyronie's. Anyway, I am wondering if I have always had some scarring and this is why I don't know good from scar tissue. Maybe you need the give/take of a phone conversation to help you with some of these basic questions you have. Schedule some time through the PDI shopping cart and I will give you a call. TRH
Ideas?
That for now is the conclusion of this discussion with JDXXXXXX. I hope you all were able to benefit from this exchange of information. In particular I hope everyone noticed how he is working to understand what he is doing and how he is trying very hard to do things correctly to get great results. I have worked with many men like JDXXXXX and they usually do very well with their Peyronie’s treatment because they are not casual about their recovery. This is serious business to him, and I appreciate that quality in a person when I see it. I predict good things for JDXXXXX .
Let me know if you have any questions about what you are doing. Stay focused to your treatment.
Regards,
Theodore R. Herazy DC, LAc
