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Shamanic treatment healed my sleep disturbances

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Entheo

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I been living in Peru the past 1.5 years and about 2 months ago, an extreme wave of PTSD type sleep disturbances hit me, I was scared to go to sleep cuz it was happening every night. Last month I moved to this indigenous community in the jungle and have been staying with a family of shamans who have helped me greatly before. I can barely believe how quickly and profoundly they have helped me to recover, it is completely awe inspiring. I'm sleeping peacefully now and my energy levels, emotions, ability to function, everything has lifted immensely.

The treatment involves all these things:

- Vomitivos where you drink a plant that makes you vomit.

- Plant saunas which you cover yourself in blankets with a pot of boiling medicinal plants under the blankets

- Plant baths where you pour a bucket of plant infusion over yourself, I did this most days

- Ayahuasca ceremonies - These are done with the shamans, they drink Ayahuasca with you and they guide the ceremony and help you to release negative energies and heal. There is a lot to this, what the shamans do in the ceremonies is like magic, real magic

- Master plant dieta - This I believe is the key. I won't explain all the details but it involves purifying yourself and living a really clean and pure lifestyle while you drink a sacred plant so that you build a relationship with the plant spirit. There is no way to describe this, you have to experience it, it is completely awe inspiring and beautiful.

I'm deeply grateful to have the opportunity to work with these sacred plants like this. I didn't believe this was possible until I experienced it.
 
This feels scammy. But, real talk- I would talk to a doc before taking advice from an internet stranger on holistic remedies. I am aware doctors don’t always get it right, but I worry that this could be dangerous if someone desperate enough follows through on your instructions with no medical supervision and have no idea what they are doing. Besides, do you have any verifiable credentials enabling you to ensure the safety of those who may take these things?
 
This feels scammy.

Shamanism and holistic or natural treatments of all kinds are generally valid (there are always some who are, as you say, "scammy") - just because the treatment doesn't follow a medical model doesn't mean it is a scam. In fact, tribal perspectives of "illness" may be much more enlightened than those of Western medicine. I think we've become conditioned to believe that how we view and treat what we perceive as illness is the only (and best) way.

I didn't see this as a "you need to do this" post, but rather a "I found this and it really helped me and I just wanted to share."

I can barely believe how quickly and profoundly they have helped me to recover, it is completely awe inspiring. I'm sleeping peacefully now and my energy levels, emotions, ability to function, everything has lifted immensely.

I'm glad you were able to find something to help you!
 
Shamanism and holistic or natural treatments of all kinds are generally valid (there are always some who are, as you say, "scammy") - just because the treatment doesn't follow a medical model doesn't mean it is a scam. In fact, tribal perspectives of "illness" may be much more enlightened than those of Western medicine. I think we've become conditioned to believe that how we view and treat what we perceive as illness is the only (and best) way.

I didn't see this as a "you need to do this" post, but rather a "I found this and it really helped me and I just wanted to share."



I'm glad you were able to find something to help you!

I see your point, I think the part that feels scammy to me is that it’s a brand new person with a “magic cure” like all the as seen on tvs or use this yogurt to rid yourself of dark circles. I could very easily be wrong though. I’m skeptical of the intentions.
 
I think the part that feels scammy to me is that it’s a brand new person with a “magic cure” like all the as seen on tvs or use this yogurt to rid yourself of dark circles. I could very easily be wrong though. I’m skeptical of the intentions.

Well, maybe it would be helpful to give the OP a chance, rather than immediately jumping to conclusions?
 
Well, maybe it would be helpful to give the OP a chance, rather than immediately jumping to conclusions?

Fair, but what if someone comes on, tired and desperate for some kind of relief. They see things being spouted as cure-all’s, so they try it. Maybe not realizing a medication they’re taking has adverse effects with some of the herbs, or several other scenarios? I get where you’re coming from, but this is why doctors are not allowed to give medical advice for specific situations with strangers over the internet. It’s dangerous.

**edited to add I do see that they don’t list any specific herb. However, my point still stands from the perspective of someone coming across this and looking up the blends you drink where they may very easily get wrong and dangerous information.
 
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I see your point, I think the part that feels scammy to me is that it’s a brand new person with a “magic cure” like all the as seen on tvs or use this yogurt to rid yourself of dark circles. I could very easily be wrong though. I’m skeptical of the intentions.

My intentions are to document and share my experience since I found something that is actually working for me. What I'm experiencing here is pretty magical to me but it is fairly normal to people in the Amazon regions of Peru, people been doing this for a long, long time. I'm real happy to be able to share this.

And what you said about people potentially trying this in a dangerous way, yes this is a very real thing and it happens. With medications, some plants would be very dangerous to diet with while taking the medication. With other plants it might be perfectly safe but the medication (a benzodiazepine for example) might block the ability for the plant to do it's work. And in other cases it might be completely safe and effective to diet a plant while staying on the medication. And I'm sorry to say but 95% of Western doctors will be completely unequipped and incapable of providing good advice when it comes to this because they have no idea. A doctor like Gabor Mate would be in the 5% that can give good advice because they have experience and a real understanding of this. I recommend looking at some of Gabor Mates videos on YouTube if you haven't heard of him. As for whether he is a credible source or not, I recommend just watch one of his videos and decide for yourself.

I did actually list a "herb" in my post, I mentioned Ayahuasca. This is something to be approached with the utmost caution and respect. For dietas you don't need to drink Ayahuasca, this is just my own process I'm reporting. Ayahuasca can be really dangerous when combined with medications. It contains powerful MAOIs so for example taking it while on SSRIs can cause serotonin syndrome. This is a very real thing. Shamans usually don't know much about medications and responsible shamans will usually not let anyone on medications drink Ayahuasca. And yes there exist irresponsible shamans who wont even ask if the person is taking meds. And there are shamans who understand enough to decide if a particular medication is safe to take with Ayahuasca. And I would say to anyone don't seek Ayahuasca unless you truly intuitively feel called and only do it in the right place at the right time. I have retraumatized myself in Ayahuasca ceremonies by going into it irresponsibly. I need to state this emphatically that plant dietas are the primary way the indigenous people who have been using Ayahuasca for centuries heal. Many shamans don't even use Ayahuasca. But all shamans diet with the plants.

I don't remember if I mentioned it but I'm in the Amazon region of South America so the shamans I'm talking about are from this culture.

I'm not trying to sell anything here so this isn't really a "is this a scam or not a scam" type situation but I'm happy to answer any questions and clear up any misperceptions you might have. I'm real happy to talk about all this and share this experience. I feel a glow in my heart writing all this because I feel I have something valuable to share.

I should say that I don't believe this is a cure, I see this as a path. Like EMDR, you can't tell someone "3 EMDR sessions will cure you" because it doesn't work like that. Everyone's trauma is unique and everyone responds to different treatments in their own unique way, everyone is at their own point in their own unique journey.
 
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I'm not sure of that 'Western doctors have no idea' sentiment.

Who do you think writes all the (peer reviewed, fully scientific) studies explaining how ethno-medicine works *to other Western doctors*?

It isn't the Amazonian shamans. Who may speak several Indigenous languages but not whichever collonial equivalent.

And who flies to help dying out Indigenous populations in this pandemy or else one? Bingo. Western medical personnel.

Romanticizing poverty & ethnic issues & medicine in underdeveloped nations just ain't cool.

* * *

Scam isn't just about selling products - but services, getting in contact with particular other provider(s) and so on.

You are coming to a community of people where several have quite severe symptoms of trauma & PTSD, daily... as well as multiple other complex health conditions.

To review anything as 'magic cure' - for a condition with *no known cure.* sounds shady at best. Quite hazarding less informed / more desperate people's lives, too.

And while Gabor Mate IS an established researcher, his books are imo way deeper source than quick vids.

So please keep in mind, working *for you* is nowhere near the same as *working for PTSD*. Even less 'a cure'.

Misrepresenting facts just doesn't assist.
 
I'm not sure of that 'Western doctors have no idea' sentiment.

Who do you think writes all the (peer reviewed, fully scientific) studies explaining how ethno-medicine works *to other Western doctors*?

It isn't the Amazonian shamans. Who may speak several Indigenous languages but not whichever collonial equivalent.

And who flies to help dying out Indigenous populations in this pandemy or else one? Bingo. Western medical personnel.

Romanticizing poverty & ethnic issues & medicine in underdeveloped nations just ain't cool.

* * *

Scam isn't just about selling products - but services, getting in contact with particular other provider(s) and so on.

You are coming to a community of people where several have quite severe symptoms of trauma & PTSD, daily... as well as multiple other complex health conditions.

To review anything as 'magic cure' - for a condition with *no known cure.* sounds shady at best. Quite hazarding less informed / more desperate people's lives, too.

And while Gabor Mate IS an established researcher, his books are imo way deeper source than quick vids.

So please keep in mind, working *for you* is nowhere near the same as *working for PTSD*. Even less 'a cure'.

Misrepresenting facts just doesn't assist.

You said what I was thinking in a much clearer way. Thank you.
 
Fair, but what if someone comes on, tired and desperate for some kind of relief. They see things being spouted as cure-all’s, so they try it. Maybe not realizing a medication they’re taking has adverse effects with some of the herbs, or several other scenarios? I get where you’re coming from, but this is why doctors are not allowed to give medical advice for specific situations with strangers over the internet. It’s dangerous.

**edited to add I do see that they don’t list any specific herb. However, my point still stands from the perspective of someone coming across this and looking up the blends you drink where they may very easily get wrong and dangerous information.
I get what your saying and it's completely valid. There are so many factors involved in this and doing a dieta or any of these shamanic treatments without good guidance can be dangerous. This is what healers here deal with every day, people from all walks of life come to them for healing and the shaman has to determine a treatment course that is safe and effective for the specific person based on their own unique physiology, psychological condition and all the factors specific to that person. This is a whole world in itself, every bit as complex as Western medicine.

You're being biased because I don't think you'd have the same issues with someone in the medication forum taking about how prazosin has alleviated their sleep disturbances. And why would you, it would be obvious that person is just sharing their personal experience. Suspecting them of being undercover agents promoting drugs for the pharmaceutical industry would be jumping to conclusions. Yeah it's possible but not very likely.

This Amazonian style of healing is different and largely unknown to the west. There will inevitably be people who have no idea what they're doing promoting it and people misusing it but this doesn't in any way change the reality that when used properly, it works. And in ways that are outside the bounds of the western paradigm. I been here for 1.5 years now and I'm only seeing the tip of an enormous iceberg which extends deeper than anything my rational mind can understand. It does open you up to a new paradigm which appears "magical", that's one of the amazing and beautiful aspects of it. To me it's no different to science but this is a science extends beyond the bounds of mainstream western science.
 
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