To growl at anyone who suggests a woo-woo cure for my incurable condition?

[crashdoll]

I'm not again complimentary therapies. I think they play a role alongside conventional medicine but I am sick to the back teeth of people who suggest ridiculous cures for my Rheumatoid Arthritis and another rare autoimmune condition. It's severe - I have joint damage, I am disabled by it and I need strong drugs to get it under control so I can have some sort of life. It may go into remission, it can be controlled but it's unlikely to be cured at this point in time.

I have no problem with people who say "my auntie has this and recommends ice packs and gentle swimming once a week". But I am getting fed up of "20 minutes of standing naked in the rain and you'll be cured".

I've done the nodding and smiling crap but it's not working. I don't want to be rude or swear because I know people are genuinely trying to help but I'm not a fan of woo 'treatments' and people just are not getting the message. AIBU to bare my teeth and growl a bit?

DD is a notorious gobshite, and was having one of her regular fits of Exorcist-style rage in the village pub toilets. A neighbour, who is a yoga teacher and whatnot, and a lovely lady, stopped to look at her, then held my arm gently and whispered earnestly: "Cranial osteopathy.....".
I held her arm in return: "Evidence-based medicine....".

A total stranger buttonholed me (sagging on my crutches and desperate to escape) to explain that vegetables cured parts of the body they looked like, and my knee would be fixed by eating cauliflower. He'd written a book and everything.

I'm sorry - havent RTT but ohmigod that is my favourite mad random stranger quote ever

Thank you Parsing

And OP YANBU

LOL minouminou I'm going to try that response next time.

When the Angelina Jolie cancer story broke, I couldn't believe the number of comments on the BBC website from people claiming that her operation had been unnecessary and that cancer is caused by "too much acid" in the body. Apparently all she needed to do was change her diet

I have Polycystic Ovaries, it is a life-long condition that is incurable, but can be managed. So far I've been trying to get pregnant for 3 years. One of my colleagues informed me that reflexology would cure it.

Aveeno was the only thing that worked with my dc's eczema (as it turned out to be) after the prescribed medication from the doctor failed to work.

I once had a conversation with a reiki therapist, who I thought was a ordinary reasonable human being. I casually mentioned I had problems with facial recognition. Instead of just saying, "ooh, I know, it's so awkward not recognising people- I get that sometimes" like all ordinary people do, she told me it was in my mind. And tried to give me her business card. She was rather offended when I refused it, and told her I was trying to prevent waste for the sake of the environment.

And people talk about conventional medical personnel being arrogant? I bet she'd be up in arms if a patient told her their GP had said something was in their heads, but it's okay for her to say it to random strangers.

Yes, my life-long neurological conditions are totally in my mind.

And yanbu, OP. Irritating to say the least!

try having chronic daily migraine. every fucker in sight has an opinion. or more than one. It got so bad I had to ban my DMIL from mentioned anything she'd read in a newspaper or magazine. They do get the Daily Fail so that was actually a blessing in disguise.

I just smile and grit my teeth now.

Reiki my arse.
An old friend reinvented herself as a holistic therapist and now she's level something-or-other thingie-master....
Our friendship has never been quite the same since she offered to alleviate my hyperemesis using "....the universal force...".
"What, gravity? I'll stick to the anti-emetics."

It's especially fun when coming from people who are paid to know what they're talking about... I saw a counsellor on the NHS for a while, I had depression, anxiety and an eating disorder... She recommended Weight Watchers. Sure, I haven't left the house for a year because I'm so petrified of making eye contact with another human, but sitting in a room full of people talking about how fat we all are will be the perfect cure! Another time I mentioned I was feeling really suicidal and she paused for a moment, tilted her head and said "have you curled your hair?". I said "WHAT?!" and she said "it looks curlier than usual today". Then moved on to another subject, probably weight watchers. Two years on I still feel suicidal most of the time but I haven't mentioned it to another mental health "professional" since.

(That rant had very little to do with this thread but I am still fuming about it )

My Mum has some fairly serious joint problems and says it's amazing how many people (taxi drivers, the woman who cuts her toenails) do this.

You should come to Ireland for "THE CURE" given by a local priest for absolutely anything it never works instantly but almost always within a few months to a year by which time the problem has run its course or conventional medicine has begun to work (but the miracle will always be attributed to THE CURE)

YANBU

This reminds me of that scene from Modern Family when Phil wants to give Jay woo treatments to cure his back injury.

Phil: You know, the Native Americans believed that burning sage kept bad energy away.
Jay: And how did that work out for them?

Wasn't it on QI that they showed how easy it was to get yourself registered as an "alternative practitioner"? I believe someone managed to get a cat registered with about 7 different associations!

Ha! Tondelay.

I love you a little bit minou

My not so dear sister's suggestion for insomnia was that I should go to bed earlier. Good thing I didn't have Alistair's hammer to hand.

Bad energy. Do these people not go to school?

I'm actually laughing now, this thread has reminded me of the counsellor who asked me if I had tried exercise.

I told her I get awful post-exertional fatigue, that if my heart rate raises I crash massively, can't get out of bed for days.

She came back with 'ah, but have you tried different types of exercise?'

I wish I had replied, 'no, you're quite right, pole-dancing is clearly the answer'

People are so damn stupid sometimes.

Wasn't it on QI that they showed how easy it was to get yourself registered as an "alternative practitioner"? I believe someone managed to get a cat registered with about 7 different associations!

Yeah, that was Ben Goldacre. His cat has the same nutritional qualification from the same 'university' as Gillian McKeith.

Frankelly - I seem to remember Ben Goldacre buying a PhD for his dead cat from the same correspondence college a well known "nutritionist" was an alumni, for want of a better word, of (the advertising standards authority subsequently made her remove the word "Dr" from all her merchandise).

YANBU and your annoyance is justified. A good friend who has had RA since childhood is pretty confrontational with people who won't let it drop. It works for her!

No condition is immune from this nonsense. My friend has chronic migraines because she eats chocolate (or almost anything else), I need to see a homeopath for my Crohn's disease. My cousin's psychotic episodes are nothing a bit of acupunture wouldn't cure.

Surely you mean Dr Gillian McKeith?
Oh no, wait....you don't.

some of these responses are hilarious! OP I hope the laugh has made you feel a bit better?!

I went so some sort of new age show with a friend once with lots of different stands doing thinks like reflexology. I needed some pre cancerous cells removed from my cervix, and (being the biggest sceptic) though right, this'll get them, and when to see a new age healer to see if he thought he could 'cure' me (BTW I didn't have to pay for this). He sat me on a chair, told me to close my eyes and just held his hand up over parts of my body (not touching) his 'treatment' lasted about 25 minutes. He then told me not to have the operation, and that I shouldn't just have bits cut off myself, that there are better, more affective ways to treat my condition (like what he does), and that I shouldn't listen to doctors who advise cutting people up. I was

This was about 25 years ago.