Doing everything I could with Modern Medicine

When I was a young adult, I used to be really anti “natural” medicine. In high school I wrote a paper called something like “Why Herbs Don’t Work; and if They Did, Doctors Would Give Them To You.”

The first email list I signed up for was a “quack watch” one (which regularly bash and ‘de-bunk’ herbs and acupuncture).

And I HATED flowers and I hated tea.

A part of me is very analytical. I was under the impression that if you found out the right diagnosis, every health problem could be solved with modern medicine. So there was no need for anything other than that.

But then I ran out of modern medicine options myself.

I had been a sickly teen, and I turned into an even sicklier young adult.

I was constantly going to the doctor. I saw that they were quite busy and didn’t have much time, so when I was 14, I started to read the Merck Manual and other medical books to see if I could help them find the right diagnosis sooner. (This was 1997, before the days of WebMD).

The things i tried didn’t work. I didn’t respond to medicines the way the books said should happen.**

** just because things didn’t work great for me doesn’t mean I think modern medicine is of no use. I have seen many people responding incredibly well, and I still utilize modern medicine for myself and my family. I do not want to dissuade people from seeking treatment, diagnosis, procedures, ect… Herbs and acupuncture can be used alongside modern medicine, although we must seriously consider timing and potential cross reactions/interactions.

Have cramps? Birth control will fix it forever. I went through 6 different brands in 18 months, then depo, all made me worse. The doc said at 19 years old my remaining options were that I could either have a hysterectomy or have a baby.

Have joint pain? Over the counter pain relievers are the trick for that pesky inflammation. I took so much OTC pain relievers that my liver enzymes were severely elevated at age 18 with a hospitalization with jaundice and vomiting, and I had also compromised my upper digestion and made myself even more anemic; they told me to stop taking them indefinitely. Also they did absolutely nothing for my constant joint pain I had had for 4 years (on my hands, wrists and arms) and for 6 years (on the bottoms of the feet).

For walking pneumonia, antibiotics are the treatment. 4 Z packs later still had Mycoplasma pneumoniae, they told me I was antibiotic resistant and to stop antibiotics and do bedrest until I got better, which I did.

(These were a few of the health issues I had when I was a teen; I’ll spare you the details of the health issues of my 20’s and 30’s or we will be here all day 🙂

I felt like I did everything I was told, but it just didn’t give me the results that the books said I should’ve. I was really frustrated.

When I was 20 years old, all changed when I found herbalism and acupuncture.

The herbalist-acupuncturist I saw for my 4 month old mono-that-wouldn’t-go-away made me a tea for my burning sore throat and deeply fatiguing chronic cough.

With that very first sip of herbal tea I felt something I had never in my years of being ill: Comfort.

As the herbal tea slid over the back of my throat, I felt the burden of the constant searing pain of my raw, infected sore throat momentarily soothed, cooled, calmed, held even.

The soothing sensation gave me a moment of not suffering.

And in that moment of not suffering, my body, my Self, Celia, me, my meat suit could relax and shed a few seconds of the constant bracing, hardening and disconnecting/divorcing of myself against the chronic discomfort.

It was liberating.

From that moment on I knew I wanted to learn as much as I could about herbalism and Chinese medicine (I’m not even getting into how that helped me…remember that constant 6 year foot pain and 4 year wrist pain I mentioned above? Moxa helped those both go away completely…I’ll share those stories another day, and other stories, too).

I ate, slept and breathed herbalism studying for many years. I was obsessed! I was enthralled! I couldn’t get enough, and never felt like I learned enough.

So I just kept on studying and practicing, in many ways.

When I tell people I am an herbalist, the first thing they ask is “where did you go to herb school?”. Herb school was not a viable option for broke me without a car when I started studying back in 2002.

Instead, I learned through mentorship, studying recorded lectures, self-studying, and an internship. I did have some formal classes, however, just not the typical ‘herb school’. I went to school for Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, and in 2021 & 2022 I attended an online academy specializing in herbs and cancer.

Main forms of learning/practicing:

• Worked on and off as an assistant at an acupuncturist/herbalist’s practice for 4 years
• Did work study trades at botanical medicine conferences Medicines from the Earth and Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2023), in trade for lecture recordings
• Started offering individual clinical herbal consultations in 2005
• 4 month internship at Rosemary Gladstar’s Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center and Botanical Sanctuary in 2007. Worked doing gardening, harvesting and class/conference support, attended classes/conferences while there.
• Taught classes and led study groups about herbalism, home health herbalism and medicine making in 2007-2010, as well as plant walks.
• Independent undergrad course creation in Ethnobotany.
• Created and ran an herbal product business in person and on Etsy from 2009-2015.
• Attended acupuncture and Chinese medicine graduate program 2010-2013 at OCOM, Portland, OR.
• Worked in the Herbal Medicinary filling herbal formulas and ordering products for 3 years.
• Licensed by Oregon Medical Board and started practiving in 2014

So there’s the list of things that hopefully somehow demonstrate I have dedicated myself to herbalism and the practice of Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

But when I think back to the most meaningful moments on my path with herbalism and Chinese medicine, other things stand out.

What fill me with awe about herbalism and Chinese medicine:

• Being with my kids at night when they were sick, watching the herbs and acupressure give them relief, comfort and support while their vital force within them took care of their healing
• Seeing my dog helped with acupuncture and herbs – she didn’t have a conformation bias or propensity for it tobe ‘just the placebo effect’, but yet we could see her visibly get better
• Going from bedridden with near constant triple body migraines and vomiting for 4 months when my Lyme disease came back to feeling better than I have since I was a kid in a few years with the use of herbs
• All those comments from my herbal clients who’s doctors say, “I don’t know why are getting better/healing so fast, but whatever your doing is helping so keep it up”
• Seeing the confidence and freedom people have after they know how to use herbs with their chronic UTI’s, pain, stomach issues. anxiety – whatever it may be

Mostly though, I am in awe by the depth (ie, its completeness and sheer amount of well-developed theory over thousands of years), elegance (it just makes sense but doesn’t over reach) and variety of application (making it possible to match-make based on an individual’s needs, wants, comfort, availability of resources and time) of Chinese medicine.

And I am in awe of how generous the plants are. The offer a lot. Like I said on the front page, we are probably not going to see magic instant cures, but plants (and Chinese medicine too) help lift and carry the burden constant stress when we feel underwater with our health/bodies.

Western herbs in my garden/neighborhood I love in particular (as plant allies and friends, although I do use them herbally too):

Thyme, Yarrow, Hawthorn, St. John’s Wort, Catnip, Chamomile, Rose

What are yours?