Ask HN: What is your personal experience with alternative medicine?

I say it's too hard for the average person to figure out the true impact of alternative medicines. The placebo effect won't let people evaluate the treatment with an impartial mind.

I've taken fish oil regularly for years yet I can't judge the impact of it on my health. I live with the idea of hope. Hope that it is helping but I will never know.

I believe that's the case with most alternative medicine since there are few independent studies that can be cited to determine the benefits.

You will always find individuals that will swear on the benefits but individual benefits don't translate to universal benefits. This is especially true now that you can find anyone that has an opinion on anything on the web. It's the confirmation bias on overdrive.

My ex decided she needed to take iodine while pregnant with my first kid. He was born with congenital hypothyroidism as a result.

She also make me goto the witch doctors of various kinds over the years, none of which helped me.

Regular medicine determined that I have a tumor on an adrenal gland, and after a year of testing I’m having the gland removed next month.

Check out this.

Scott Forstall tells the story of the time Steve Jobs saved his life and Acupuncture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDuQcaffoY8

I'm Chinese American and I've come across it twice. One time was when I was elementary school...my family started as non English speaking, no insurance (American dream I guess?). My mom was in great pain for a long time, something internal in her abdomen...I don't know what it was. One of my aunt's practiced acupuncture in China. She came over...stuck the needles and the pain went away that day. I don't know the details because I was young.

The other was me in college. I had bad acne. Even saw a doctor...got some cream. Didn't work. Took a family trip to China. My cousin says...why don't I try fire cupping. I've never heard of it...I searched online...what do I have to lose? Worse case I get marks on my body for a few days. So I do it at a local clinic. I did a few sessions...my face gets better, no acne.

Both experiences could just be coincidence. Who knows. I'm just stating what happened.

Someone close to me died of cancer a few years ago. None of the many alternative treatments you can find online (some of them quite disgusting, but also the commonly mentioned ones... soursop, vitamin C, marijuana, etc) made any difference whatsoever. I assisted with some of them only because all medical avenues had already been exhausted (stage 4 pancreatic cancer) and telling her there was no hope would have been cruel.

I'm not sure you'd call kava "alternative medicine" (most people use it as a recreational beverage rather than a medicine), but it's a traditional Pacific Islander drink that's a great substitute for benzos and alcohol, without the addictive potential. Works wonderfully for anxiety.