Ask Dr. Moffat:

Can you tell me what to do about. . .

Several times a week I get questions similar to these: 

• “Just off the top of your head, what can I do for my problem of ________.”
• “Can you just “do your thing” and tell me quickly (without an exam) what is causing ________.”
• “Do you know what causes _________?”
• “Will this product work for (e.g.) arthritis? or for toothaches, or headaches, or back pain, or fibromyalgia, or …. (Work for whom? I’m thinking.)
• “Michael, could you ask your wife what she would do for_______.”

Here’s an example … 

“Denice, What do you suggest for a better night’s sleep? Mary sometimes has a lot of difficulty. Thanks, Bill.”

Now, I know what you all want is an efficient, easy, cheap answer. If possible, the information should be offered free of charge without an exam. I think it’s only fair to show you what goes through MY mind when I get asked these kinds of questions about arthritis, low back pain, headaches, toothaches, thyroid disease, etc., etc., so, I’ll use this sleep question as kind of a skeleton of what is going through my mind…. 

Hmm.  Sleep problems…. 

• Wonder how many raw fruits and vegetables she is getting per day?
• Wonder what her blood type is and if she is getting the proper exercise at the proper time of the day?
• Wonder if she has any other underlying diseases such as thyroid.
• Maybe she is perimenopausal. Maybe she has hot flashes, or hormone imbalances.
• Wonder how old she is and if she still has her ovaries.
• Wonder if she’s had any kind of head trauma.
• Wonder if she knows why she isn’t sleeping. We should ask that if she makes an appointment. Gee, maybe I should be talking to her right now. 
• Wonder if she is in pain. Maybe it’s her hips? Wonder if she takes calcium.
• Wonder if she has enough minerals. They sure do act as a tranquilizer. Maybe she needs some ionic minerals.
• Wonder which minerals she is deficient in. Maybe it’s magnesium? or Calcium?
• Wonder which calcium she takes. I wonder if it’s the correct one for her? If it isn’t, it wouldn’t stop pain. It might cause more pain.
• Wonder if she has muscle cramps.
• Wonder how old their mattress is and what kind it is.
• Hey, I wonder if she gets a massage every now and then. That really helps.
• Wonder if she has the money to take care of herself?
• Do I tell her about the treatments that I think they can afford or do I take the time to tell her about all the treatments and let them decide.
• Maybe I should make up a handout for this? Maybe they could get an education and know better what to tell me so that I could do a better job of helping them.
• Wonder what she has tried so far and what supplements she is taking.
• Could some of the supplement be causing her to be awake?
• Wonder what time she takes those supplements.
• Wonder if she’s read anything about insomnia and has done some of the things in the various books out there.
• I wonder if the lack of sleep is affecting her every day work and life? To what extent?
• Hmm. Sleep problems can often be a case of emotional distraught and distress.
• Wonder if she is a control freak or worry wart, and if these are the kind of issues we need to focus on? How do I get her thinking pattern diverted to think calm sleep thoughts.
• Do we need to refer for counseling?
• Wonder if Neuro Emotional Technique would help?
• I wonder if the lack of sleep has to do with cancer? Could it be a side effect of chemo and radiation treatments? Gosh, can’t use estrogen herbs on a case like that.
• Wonder if she’s ever tried a Nikken Sleep system. Hmm. Works great for me. I just have to be on that bed after a trip to recharge. I’m not a napper, but the other day I was so stressed I just had to go to bed early to lay on the mattress. I didn’t even need to sleep. I just felt calmed by the grounding of the magnets.
• Hmm. Maybe I could tell her about doing reflexology and a foot soak with a bit of White Flower Analgesic balm before she goes to bed. Boy, did that work great for me. Took a couple of weeks though.
• I wonder if she’d continue with that treatment for the time it took to show the benefits?
• I wonder is she expects instant gratification or do I need to educate her that the natural process takes time.
• Wonder if the person she sleeps with is bipolar? Maybe she is bipolar. Hmm. Magnets are no good for that at all…
• That wouldn’t be good. Can’t make one person worse while the other person gets better.
• Maybe I should ask some questions about her partners health?
• Is she open to alternatives in the first place or is her partner trying to control her treatment?
• How much say does she have in her own choice of treatments?
• Does she have enough self-esteem and feel worthy enough to put her health before her family and their needs?
• Would she even be open to an evaluation? or am I just wasting my time?
• Wonder if she has any LED  or other lights in the bedroom keeping her awake? Or neighbors partying, or dogs barking, or those stupid cats trying to mate outside her bedroom window?
• I wonder if the neighbor wakes her up at the same ungodly hour in the morning that ours does?
• I wonder is her children wake her up? How often? Can we work with the child to alleviate those “monster” fears? Maybe we should work on the environmental aspects of her insomnia?
• I wonder if she has trouble going back to sleep after she gets up to urinate?
• Wonder if she uses an electric blanket? Or heating pad?
• Are her feet cold? Wonder how we could fix that circulation?
• Wonder what time she wakes up? Could it be the same time every night? Does it have to do with a meridian imbalance? 
• Could she be imbalanced nutritionally?
• Wonder if she needs foods higher in tryptophan (like dairy foods) taken with the evening meal.
• Is she depressed?
• Does she have sleep apnea?
• Does she snore?
• Has she been evaluated by a sleep clinic?
• Does she have electrical appliances plugged in close to the bed or have the bed on the same wall as the electrical panel? The body really needs to be away from those kind of electromagnetic fields.
• Hmm. I know of someone else with the same body type, or symptoms, or disease processes, who was helped by… I’ll test her for that and ask my guides if that is the best treatment for her system.
• I wonder if she has stomach problems or GURD? Is that waking her up? Could we change her eating habits and fix that? Man, that blood type diet is awesome for GURD. Wonder if she knows her blood type? Maybe she could donate blood and find out because I know she isn’t close to me and we’d have to do a phone consult.
• I wonder if she takes naps? Is that breaking her sleep cycle?
• I wonder if she reads before she goes to bed? or watches TV?
• Does the subject matter get her to thinking and get her diverted so much that she can’t fall asleep?
• Wonder if she meditates? Maybe that would help.
• Wonder what the core cause is?
• Wonder if passion flower, hops, valerian, homeopathics, poppy seeds, wild lettuce, Nocvalene or some other herb or supplement would work?
• I wonder if she’s tried low-dose melatonin? Is so, was it sublingual? Wonder what brand she used and if it was a better quality brand so that it would work better.
• Wonder if she’s taking a sleeping pill or something with an antihistamine in it?
• Maybe she’s having a drug reaction of some kind.
• Wonder what medications she is on.
• Wonder if she drinks coffee, or other caffeine things and if it’s done close to bed? Maybe she’s eating or drinking things that are laced with hidden forms of caffeine.
• Wonder if it’s allergies? I’ll ask her about her sinuses.
• I wonder if she gets into REM sleep?
• Does she dream? If so, are they in color? Does she remember her dreams?
• I wonder if she has a Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern while she sleeps.  Hmm. maybe her fingernails would give me a clue here.
• Wonder if she works a split shift.
• I wonder if she has a consistent sleep pattern or a disruptive schedule.
• I wonder what else I would find that I haven’t already wondered about affecting the disorder.
• How many of my recommendations would this person do?
• What kinds of recommendations would be easy to fit into their lifestyle?
• What would she/they be truly willing to do?
• Would her family support her in the treatment recommendations?
• What would be a stretch for them, but would turn out to be really effective?
• How could I support the process? 
• “Gee, I guess I should recommend an exam” I end up saying, but I bet the person calling is thinking that I just want to make some money off of them.
• I bet they have no idea what is involved in trying to figure out a “simple” solution to the problem, I think.
• How can I get a tactful answer across in the five minutes I will be on the phone with this person? I don’t want to force them into making an appointment and then have them not call or show up for their appointment time. That would waste my time and then I would build up anger and resentment towards them.
• If I had a secretary, she’d screen all these calls and I’d never know if they didn’t show up and  would have less stress in my life.
• Don’t stress out, Denice. You’ve had cancer from it in the past. Relax. Know that everything is in divine right order.
• Yeah, but what about that car repair bill? And all those unexpected bills this month?
• Man, I need to order some ________ for this case. Wonder if it will get here in time for their appointment.
• I wonder what the minimum order charge is. I just placed an order yesterday with this company. How am I going to come up with another $250 to pay for one $10 bottle of melatonin which I need and forgot to order.
• Maybe I should refer them to their local health food store.
• Wonder if they have a good one in their town.
• I wonder if they have the same brands that I use. I know what works. Geez. I’ve been at this how many years? Sometimes cheap brands don’t work. How can I get them what they need? 
• Now if is just said, right off the bat, “I think she needs and exam.” I wonder what her husband would say?
• I wonder how much time is acceptable to spend wondering and what I should say that would help and what wont.
• What if I told them something wrong, that is was something really bad, and I should have referred to a medical doctor right off the bat.
• I wonder if too much time would be wasted or if their doctor would think I was irresponsible for not referring as soon as possible.
• Will I get sued?  Will they blame me because I didn’t do an exam and just told them something to do off the top of my head knowing that it works for most of these types of cases? What if they needed something extra? What if I don’t’ get the right information to make a proper recommendation? 
• How much do I really tell them before the consult?
• How could I help them if they didn’t make an appointment?
• How could I take them to the next step in their healing process?
• What would love do here?
• And how do I keep product on the shelf and bills paid, if I give all my services away with free advice?  I’m already reasonable priced. Maybe I should raise my prices….no…I want to help a lot of people, not just those who can afford the normal rate of $350/hour. I think that’s gouging…. 

Well, with every question like, “What would you do for ___________?” this is the thinking process that I go through within about a minute or two.  So, what’s the answer? 

1)  If it feels right, make an appointment. 

2)  If it doesn’t, do some investigation and reading. My website is huge and has the basic information to heal just about anything– / . Start with eating your minimum servings of raw fruits, raw vegetables and cooked vegetables for a month or two and see how that helps. Drink about 6 cups of pure water a day and get about 20 minutes of walking in each day.

3)   If you are embedded within the allopathic medical system. Make an appointment with a specialist or your doctor.

 4)  Follow your heart, or your gut, or that “still small voice within“, but if you are that concerned about the problem and are now committed to trying something, then just DO something to get you where you want to be. 

I want answers, too. I want to be as accurate and as helpful as possible. I want to SEE results. It gives me an endorphin rush to know that I have helped someone overcome a challenge. I’m here to help if you’d like the service. I wish you health. 

Namaste.  Dr. Moffat