My Vitamin D3 Story So Far

A few people have posted that the information Stephen has offered here is of no use to "us". With all due respect, I'd appreciate the opportunity to speak for myself and not be lumped into an "us" vs. "him" dynamic. Am I not a member of this forum, the same as you? I have a mind of my own, as well as an opinion of my own.

You don't have to like Stephen's personality or the way he has communicated - I'll admit the information as presented is disjointed at times. HOWEVER - I happen to communicate with another Meniere's sufferer who has become connected with another researcher completely independent of Stephen or this forum. Completely coincidentally that person has shared with me virtually identical evidence as Stephen's that they obtained from this other, unrelated researcher. Stephen, or MDRF, is not the only person/lab barking up this particular tree.

For the record - it was the information that Stephen posted here on this forum, followed by some PM's and personal communication that convinced me to re-try antivirals. I did so and found relief - albeit my symptoms returned after a couple of months of virtual freedom from MM. With further reading and discussion, I began to understand how taking the next step with allergy shots could plausibly provide further relief and begin to get down to the brass tacks of what is going on so to speak. I was able to do all of this within the construct of what was available to me. And I would have NEVER come to this treatment approach on my own. I think this is exactly what doctors like Dr. Derebery at House Ear Clinic are seeing, as well - that there is a definite immune aspect to MM, whether that be a dysfunction or an autoimmune disorder.

I am fortunate that I happened to have been required to take a basic graduate level immunology class in college. So I have heard of and know a little about each of these cells and, more importantly, understand that the complexity of the immune system is well beyond my grasp. I know there is a lot I do not know, but what Stephen says does sound completely plausible to me. Unfortunately, there is no way around discussing the subject without using the terminology.

This is one reason why we cannot be our own doctors: we must rely on others with more knowledge and experience. Yes, one has to have some degree of faith in that person. I'm not saying one should have blind faith, but we must remember there are always things that we don't know we don't know. In fact, doesn't having this discussion here open up opportunities for discussion with our doctors? Rather than walk into the doctor's office and start requesting various tests and prescriptions based on a stranger from a forum, instead tell the doctor what you've been reading/hearing and what do they think about. This is not just about Stephen, but any advice offered here.

Perhaps what Stephen has offered here has little or no practical application so far. I have not found that to be the case for myself, though, I've just not tried to use the information as a recipe - but rather to educate myself about other plausible approaches to treatment for my symptoms.

Meniere's disease will continue to be considered idiopathic until a cause is found. If the cause is really something simple (and we continue to perceive all doctors and scientists as ignorant), then why don't we already have an answer? It's because it is not simple. It will end up being very complex. It is what it is.

 

I apologize for the long post... been building up.

 

Isn't this what June and others before her have talked about in great detail on this forum? Anti-virals were first mentioned on this forum about 8 years ago by JohnnyDetroit who was the first to try them and help others. The allergy component has been talked about for even longer than that.

It's not like SS has discovered something new and revolutionary even if he has added his bit. I'm not saying his info is worthless or unhelpful. It has its importance. I just don't think he's brought anything that novel to the forum.

 

True dat. But up until now I've not seen an explanation as to why these things work, or only partially work,or don't work at all. I myself prefer not to rely on blind faith when it comes to medicine or medical treatments. I'd like to know how and why something is effective, or not. No thing we put into our bodies at therapeutic doses is free from the risk for unintentional side effects. The more one understands, the better one can assess the risk and make an informed decision. This isn't always possible, but information should not be ignored when it is available.

I simply see what Stephen has posted as more information to take into consideration. He is not forcing anyone to do anything. Nevertheless he has given a lot of information that we are all free to do with as we please. I happen to find what he says very plausible and it has directly impacted my choice of treatments. I am certain I am better off for it.

Inquiring minds want to know...

 

I wish someone would take a deeper interest in why the weather affects people the way it does. I'd pay to be part of that clinical trial

 

Let me respectfully state that I intend no further comments or responses of any kind regarding anything Mr. Spring posts on this board.

I find nothing useful from any of his posted information; quite the opposite. It's a) confusing, b) lacks complete description, c) is without any practical application to anyone I know of with Meniere's (and I have communications with over 200 such individuals), and d) is without a single presented case of anyone other than Mr. Spring himself ever gaining even the slightest symptomatic relief from anything he has presented.

The only practical word for all of the many dozens of postings on T-cell dsyfunction therapy (a name that for convenience I came up with for Mr. Spring's heretofore untitled therapy or fuzzy protocol) would be irrelevance.

Spring apologists are welcome to ennumerate the depth of Mr. Spring's immunological knowledge and expertise, and offer hopeful prognostications on how this will so certainly bring good things to Meniere's sufferers. I hope that can be case. 'Til then, I will read further related postings with a substantiated skepticism.

Now, back to things that can be useful in combatting Meniere's symptoms....

--John of Ohio

 

Right. So someboday named "Katniss" posts on the internet that an un-named researcher in an undisclosed location has patented an unspecified treatment similar to your patented unspecified treatment for which we have to pay you $5000 AND sign a non-disclosure agreement, and this is supposed to make us believe that you are being truly helpful on this forum?

 

The researcher is Yoo formerly with Tennessee State (or UT?). On my phone now, can't post the links. And for what it is worth, yes, this is Angelea.

 

If TM bothered to read what other people post instead of just going off all the time then she would know that Katniss is Angelea. : :

 

Caroline darling, how are you? I bet you wish you were back on the boat huh?

 

Yep ... life on a boat is great!!

 

For Pete's sake, Caroline, of course we all know that. Do you think that will make a difference to our doctors when we print out this page to show them? "Oh, yes, Doctor, I know this should be considered in your treatment of my Meniere's, because Katniss is really Angelea, and therefore I know that Stephen Spring's treatment plan will work, even though neither you nor my insurance company have any clue what he is talking about!"

Yeah, that will go over really well.

You seem to be forgetting that Stephen, Katniss/Angelea, you, me, Henry, Intrepid--everyone here is basically a stranger on the internet.

Mr. X comes on board and says he is not a scientist, he's actually an unlicensed lawyer, but he's done research on MM and he has a mystery treatment plan, which has not been fully tested, and for which he can only attest to his own personal results, but he charges $5000 for it. He gives a few vague hints, which forum members here have tried to follow up on with their own doctors and insurance companies, and have hit big fat dead ends.

Ms. Y says that she has talked with an un-named doctor in an unspecified location who is doing a similar treatment plan; the implication is supposedly that this proves that Mr. X's treatment plan is A-OK.

Okay, folks, go for it: print this page out and show it to your doctors. I'm sure they'll be impressed at the forthrightness and transparency of Mr. X and Ms. Y. I'm sure it won't matter a bit that Ms. Y didn't mention what tests are ordered by which specific doctors, nor which antivirals they might be using for MM, nor that Mr. Y won't give out any real info unless you pay him $5000 and sign a non-disclosure agreement.

We're still waiting for anyone who has supposedly been helped by Stephen to tell us that their symptoms are relieved by his treatment plan (not by placebo effect, and not by any other treatment that they might have taken just before, during, or just after).

 

Who here has gone to the trouble and expense to obtain and read the litany of scientific citations Stephen and others have posted on these threads?

Seems very unfair to criticize any hypothesis offered here if you have not vetted the sources presented to support it.

We'd all have a far more productive discussion if that were to occur. But there are obvious limitations to that occurring (cost, education, time, inclination...).

 

You're absolutely right.

And, to my knowledge, nobody has criticized the hypothesis. I haven't. John hasn't. Intrepid hasn't. June hasn't.

Perhaps you should go back and reread, so that you can understand exactly what it is that has been criticized.

 

I know that there are passionate voices on both sides of what I have come to call the SS controversy, but I think it's rude to come to a thread with what appears to be almost a desire to engage in a fight. If you do not agree with what Stephen is saying, that's fine, but to chase him around every single thread on which he posts and become confrontational is not okay. I have learned a great deal from TM5, Intrepid, Henrysullivan, JOH, Katniss (I'm sorry Angelea, I just cannot get used to that!) and others -- sometimes with opposing views. The only reason I haven't learned much from SS is I just haven't put the effort into researching his information further. SS's contributions to the Vitamin D3 thread were worth looking into, it's just unfortunate that controversy shadows him wherever he goes and his questions were buried.

 

Here is a link to a couple of patents that Dr.Yoo has applied for.

http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/5885783.html

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20110086002

 

Good detective work, James!

 

Well, that's actually the Hippocratic Oath, the Golden Rule is "do unto others what you'd have done to you." But, I get the point.

I think the other's mistrust of you comes from something other than what you've described. But, I have no desire to discuss that here. Those who have a problem with you have let you know very clearly what their problems are.

 

Wow, that's pretty impressive stuff. Is there any reason it's taken so long for him to get his patents approved? The first one was filed in 1997. Does it usually take this long?

 

I'm sure the purpose for getting a patent isn't always on something intended for clinical application. Maybe it was for use in research? Or wasn't found to have practical application? Just speculating. I wondered the same thing.