"TV Static Cured My ME"

[Marco]

Not MY ME you understand.

I came across this little blog by accident :

"To make a long story short I have found that putting myself in the theta brain wave state (the brain wave state of the fetus- which state , according to the internet, is very healing and stimulates the immune system) causes the normal regulation of my immune system again very rapidly and I am symptomless until my next bout sometimes not until at least a year later. But in the meantime you could say I am cured.

This method is obviously free and simple and I can feel results beginning within minutes and continued staring cures the problem and I am betting from what I know about this that it will cure many if not most CFS cases and that you will know almost right away if it is going to work because you will start to feel better within a few minutes= so I do hope some of you will try this.

Just unhook the cable or change the channel on the tv by using the knob attached to the tv set until you get a non broadcasting channel with no bleedthrough images-just pure snow or static. TURN THE IRRITATING SOUND ALL THE WAY OFF as it detracts for the response. Just stare at the static."

Full blog here :

http://abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/38125/

Well, he has read 5 reserarch papers so there must be something in it.

Anyone up for a trial?

 

[caledonia]

There were some people trying this awhile back (maybe from the ProHealth board?). Anyway, I don't remember anyone saying they were cured or anything. You ought to be able to look up the threads though.

 

[pollycbr125]

hmm and folk wonder why we are classed as fruitcakes by the psychologists . Im sorry but if i did this I can tell you exactly what would happen within 5 mins id have the onset of a migraine from hell .Think ill pass on this and wait for the real research . I cant wait for the day when we have a cause and a cure and all the folk who prey on folk with me/cfs peddling their miracle cures have to disappear in to the background forever .

 

[Min]

Oh I haven't heard this absolute nonsense for ages; we need a diagnostic test so that people can't claim to be cured by crackpot means .

 

[jeffrez]

Maybe not so far fetched. Brainwaves have a massive effect on the neuro- endocrine and immune systems. I was cured of neuroendocrine CFS once from SMR low beta training. I doubt the alleged benefit from watching the snow is coming from increasing theta, though, probably more alpha. But even if the brainwaves are disregulated in some way other than too high alpha/theta, training them with the snow could possibly have a global effect even on adjusting other frequencies. So not really far fetched or crackpot, imo.

 

[Wayne]

Anyone up for a trial?

Hey Marco,

Thanks much for posting this. A member over at ProHealth (Prickles) used to post fairly extensively on this topic. It apparently worked well for her, although it did not "cure" her. She's no longer on that site, so all her posts are now gone. We've probably all heard about the HPA dysfunction associated with ME, so anything that can affect HPA function could conceivably improve ME/CFS symptoms. The brain works in interesting ways utilizing different brain wave lengths at various times; all very intricate and complex.

Ive had a lot of success using my alpha-stim (micro-current therapy) to calm down my brain and nervous system, leading to better sleep and other improvements. If I can figure out how to get the "static" to come up on my TV (sounds like a real challenge), I will likely give this a try. Why not? It's hard for me to understand how somebody offering something simple like this is preying on those of us with this illness.

The 3-D TVs now being sold are coming with warnings they can cause seizures in some people. Just another indication of how something coming across our TV screens can affect our brain function in various ways; in this case for the worse. Given that a number of people have reported improvements with the "static" from TV, I would have to assume there's probably something to it (for some people).

Best Regards, Wayne

 

[jeffrez]

duplicate post

 

[*GG*]

Does it matter what kind of TV?

 

[kat0465]

The sad part, as crazy a it sounds..... i'm fixing to go turn my tv to a snowy channel, and stare at it. It can't hurt me so what the hey

 

[jeffrez]

I want to update here to say that I strongly believe the TV snow definitely and without question has an effect on brainwaves, most likely increasing alpha and theta. I have been very out of sorts since I did it, declined cognitive function, and some moderate to severe anxiety/mood issues ever since. I did a partial brain scan with my EEG device and some of the readings were significantly imbalanced, most notably a dysregulation between left and right (temporal) beta and high beta frequency bands that was so severe that the software was indicating it as a "disconnect," which I have seen only one other time as a result of a PTSD-inducing trauma I experienced. And I felt and to some extent still feel pretty awful, although some NF training to try to balance that out again has helped a little.

I still need to check occipitally (back of the head) to see what is going on with alpha/theta there, because I know I am deficient in those regions, but increasing A/T occipitally has in the past caused nasty reactions very similar in many ways to this one, which is one thing that led me to conclude the snow was increasing those frequencies. So I'll know more when I'm able to check those sites (almost out of electrode paste).

None of that means the snow is inherently "bad," or harmful - on the contrary, for most people I would guess it would probably be beneficial. I tend to have bad reactions to global alpha theta - one time from an alpha-stim device, for example, which is supposed to help correct sleep patterns and reduce anxiety, etc. but which in me caused the opposite reaction. And I also seem to be very highly sensitive to EEG neurofeedback effects (and similar neuro-related things), so again my reaction was *probably* more extreme than most would experience. And if you are a type who actually needs alpha/theta in a way that the snow seems to elevate, I can imagine it would be a fantastic way to help yourself.

It's also always possible that the snow is instead, or in addition, having effects on other frequencies, most notably beta. I wouldn't tend to think it would be stimming high beta, but I suppose that's possible, too. The state of my CFS brain is so far from the norm these days that I think it's actually hard to say with certainty what exactly the snow is tending to produce. In my past experience, throwing my alpha/theta out of whack could very well tend to have an effect on L/R beta/hibeta. But my primary guess is alpha/theta, with possibly some beta effects in addition.

Start slowly, in any case. For me, it was only a couple 5 minute sessions that really did it, and in fact I felt most of the effects after the first session. So if it were me coming at this for the first time again, I would start with no more than 3-5 minutes at first, just to gauge the effects, and only then with positive or no response would I start ramping up to 10, 15, 20 minutes on subsequent days, probably with 30-40 minutes being the absolute maximum I would do. But everyone is different, so the exact method, time, etc. would need to be individualized, paying close attention to reactions and how you feel, not only while you're doing it, but also in the time afterward.

Again, it sounds crazy, but actually I think it is not. I think I read even years ago that simply watching tv itself tends to increase alpha, so how much more likely is it that watching a pattern like that (which I think to the brain is probably similar to watching a waterfall or something like that, it's an organic but highly disorganized kind of pattern (or is that organized? I guess it depends on the POV ;-)) into which the brain can project and "reorganize" itself), would tend to have brain effects? It seems very likely, imo.

 

[JPV]

On a similar note, I wonder if anybody has experimented with Binaural Beat Brainwave Generators...

http://www.bwgen.com/

 

[Hip]

Bizarrely enough, there are some downloadable free videos on the internet of TV static.

I found the video "Looping Static #2" from this webpage quite relaxing to look at. So there might well be something to this.


Here are two other videos that have static effects:

The Snowman: A Stereogram Animation

Sirds cross-eyed stereogram animation B&W <-- I like this one; it also gives you 3D images, if you can see them.

 

[floydguy]

There is an app for the iphone that has various sounds including white noise. I think it helps my sleep. I know some people use white noise machines for their autistic kids so I wouldn't completely discount this. Heck it doesn't cost anything. I can see being dismissive of ridiculous therapies that cost a lot of (or any) money but what you can lose for trying something that most likely is not harmful and doesn't cost anything?

 

[*GG*]

There is an app for the iphone that has various sounds including white noise. I think it helps my sleep. I know some people use white noise machines for their autistic kids so I wouldn't completely discount this. Heck it doesn't cost anything. I can see being dismissive of ridiculous therapies that cost a lot of (or any) money but what you can lose for trying something that most likely is not harmful and doesn't cost anything?

I use a sound machine that has something like "white noise" as a setting, I sleep better with it!

GG

 

[Carrigon]

I sleep with loud white noise every single night, it has not cured a thing. The only thing it does do is make it so I usually can't hear my neighbors and can get some sleep.

 

[drex13]

Just started listening to a binaural CD. I don't have any feedback to report yet though.

 

[sela]

i used to have a machine that did the binaural thing. it was fantastic and truly relaxing. it felt like it reset my brain to zero. like it is supposed to be when you get up in the morning,

 

[stevelord]

Hi Marco and all, Im the guy who wrote the post at ABC Homeopathy about looking at tv snow curing my CFS. that you posted here. I first posted it there without adding the details necessary for it to cure me because it was hard enough to get anyone to try it without those other details and I was hoping someone would try it and find that it at least helped and would post about it and then I could post the details but no one posted there for as long as I checked so I moved on.

I will post the details here but first let me say in greater detail how I know about how to stimulate the immune system the best way. and some of the reasons why I believe CFS is caused by our immune system being turned on maximally , without rest/ This story of how I cured my cfs is quite detailed so please bear with me.

I have an advantage in knowing what and by how much my immune system is being stimulated. I have a factor in my blood, partially characterized at two major biotech firms, Genentech and Chiron, and at the VA Hospital, also studied in Judah Folkmans lab at Harvard and other Universities, and one feature of this unique factor which hasnt been seen in a person before so they tell me, is that I can tell when my immunity is being stimulated by anything because it causes my muscles to contract when my immunity is being stimulated by anything, , contracting to the same degree as the degree of immune stimulation. SO for yers I have known at every moment of my life if something was stimulating my immunity and by how much, what blocks it from being stimulated, and by how much and what doesnt do so and what does so at first and then conks out. In probably all other people , one cannot tell in each moment if his immunity is being stimulated or by how much.

This allowed me to find out that CFS occurs when our immune system becomes turned on maximally without resting, thus wearing it down and causing other problems. My CFS episodes,multiple ones , each one being completely cured by immune stimulation under optimum conditions, until months or even a year later when the cfs sstarted up again , each episode occurromg in me when my immune system and thus immune regulating t-suppresor cells were not functioning optimally due to in my case chronic low t-suppressor cell functioing due to the factor in my blood, tests showed, making me highly prone to creating CFS, and to my immunity being suppressed at the moment the new CFS would begin , either from having a cold virus which suppresses the immunity to some extent, or being next to a computer or other electronic equipment whose radiation suppressed my immunity, as is teh case for being too close to certain electronics , I was able to find out through testing by always knowing my immune status as described above. The fact that CFS can be triggered during a virus has I believe led some researchers to incorrectly conclude that it was the virus per se that was the culprit and not a chronically turned on immune system that wears itself down, , but I believe rather it was a virus' effect of causing some immune suppression including of the regulating t--suppressor cells that leads to the loss of immune regulation allowing it to become chronically turned on. that causes CFS.

So after looking at tv snow in 2001 ,I realized that it caused enormous immune stimulation to begin within five or ten seconds, reaching its peak each time within ten seconds, never conking out or slowing down in effect, unlike virtually all other immune stimulation methods I tested and I tested countless ones, no matter how many hours or days I would look at it. and ceasing within two seconds after I stopped looking at the static. I FOUND IT WORKED BETTER WITH THE SOUND OFF. I believe it works because it triggers the same brainwave state as in the fetus, which some have speculated is theta, or alpha and theta, theta being our most healing state. WHite noise is alleged to put us in theta , and alpha and theta, so sayeth articles on the internet, and looking at this tv snow white noise puts me in a state that matches that of theta, as described on the internet. (Perhaps the fetus also creates a lot of alpha waves but alpha waves from me meditating , do not in the slightest stimulate my immune system. I would love for the gentleman named Jeffrez who posted to this thread who said he had a brainwave testing device, to verify what brainwave state he is in DURING looking at tv snow, not some time after as it sounds like he did. Theta is our most paranormal state and looking at tv snow increases my paranormal abilities. So maybe Jeffrez can also find out what part of the brain is being stimulated into theta, thus causing this increase in paranormal abilities.

I will stop here , its a long post already, and post in a subquent post to this thread what other conditions I had to make sure I was fulfilling , namely conditions close enough to those that were occurring when our immune systems were forming , to perfectly enough stimulate my immune system to cause cure of mulstiple episodes of CFS.

Steve Lord

 

[stevelord]

PS, I should add before I go on that the analogue tv set snow or static or a non digital radio, is the only white noise, as I understand it from the intenet, , that is official, random, all frequency white noise, and thus I have found from trying the other forms of white noise that the tvs of the last seven or so years, the digital ones, computer reproductions of static, fans, waterfalls and probably even white noise generators dont stimulate my immune system. Ive tried them all except a generator, but arent those digital too or waterfalls etc, and thus would not work to stimulate my immunity either?

Steve Lord

 

[Marco]

Hello and welcome Steve

Please forgive my intial scepticism but as you are aware we as a patient community frequently have to deal with all sorts of weird and wonderful things being touted as 'cures'.

I don't know conceptually or practically, the potential influence of the electrical state of the brain on the immune system but many of us would agree with the feeling of a constantly over-active immune system.

You may find this abstract interesting. It discusses the possible role of very early life immune insults in establishing a disregulated immune system in ME/CFS :

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18336982

The full paper can be accessed here I believe :

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...e-immune-insult-including-developmental.7919/

In the meantime I'd be interested to hear more about this mysterious immune factor you mention plus a little more about your symptoms, type of onset and duration of illness.