For Whom the Bell Trolls
Tales of an internet hater.
If you’re someone who found me through the FLCCC this is likely old news, but once a month, I write an exclusive column called Here’s a Thought for the FLCCC. I tend to tackle slightly more serious or scientific stuff over there—nothing sappy or satirical and never anything about wildfires or dead cats *sorry about that one*—and save the super-snark for this column.
My most recent FLCCC post was about my personal experience with DMSO, an inexpensive over-the-counter topical (in my case) treatment for all sorts of ailments that I learned about from A Midwestern Doctor’s The Forgotten Side of Medicine. [The CliffsNotes version: After two years of debilitating pain, I bought some DMSO and now it’s gone. The pain, not the DMSO. I still have some of that left even!]
As of this writing, the post has 238 comments, a majority from folks who have used DMSO to successfully treat sciatica, pneumonia, post-surgical pain, dental and sinus infections, knee and ankle swelling, rashes, Dupuytren’s contractures, arthritis, suspicious skin spots, bacterial infections, congestion, bone spurs, and more. (And that was just from the response to this one post; AMD has exhaustively detailed hundreds of potentially beneficial uses for it.) Miraculous might be putting it mildly.
I ended my essay with a prompt: Tell me about the best and most maligned “alternative treatment” you’ve discovered (that Pharma desperately wishes you hadn’t) in the comments. :)], and readers did not disappoint. If you’re suffering from literally anything that you’d rather not treat the pharmalicious way, it’s worth perusing the feedback section.
If you guys know me at all, you know I live for your comments. Not just the “omg I love you” notes although those are amazing please never stop leaving them, but the fact that followers feel compelled to share their thoughts and experiences makes me feel as if I’ve created a warm and welcoming space. The replies that add things that I forgot in any piece or put a different spin on a topic are welcome and appreciated. Perusing your input is typically the highlight of any post for me.
Even when That Guy shows up.
You know That Guy. He (she? xi? they? it’s part of the mystique!) goes by a variety of different handles, fancies itself the sharpest knife in the entire internet drawer [times infinity], and has christened theyself the Lieutenant Inspector Deputy Chief of Online Swindling (or some such). In That Guy’s estimation, just about anybody who says, posts, acknowledges, or endorses anything anti-narrative is not, in fact, doing so at great personal risk to his or her finances, career, reputation, or wellbeing, but has somehow turned bucking the establishment into a bottomless ATM machine.
(Tell that to Drs. Peter McCullough, Sherri Tenpenny, Joseph Mercola, Andrew Wakefield, Ahmad “Doc” Malik, Charles Hoffe, or Kelly Victory, and maybe whisper it in a prayer of thanks to Vladimir Zelenko and Rashid Buttar, RIP fine gentlemen.)
This week, That Guy is posting under the screen name Free Radical and he has a warrant out for A Midwestern Doctor’s metaphorical arrest. And possibly mine.
I know, we’re not supposed to respond to That Guy, ever. “It’s just physically impossible not to,” says This Girl who’s never met a single wet paint sign she didn’t feel the need to subject to her own lie detector test. (I believe the technical term for this is lack of impulse control, and I’m not afraid to admit I’ve got a chronic case of it.) The thing is, The Forgotten Side of Medicine is one of the most in-depth, referenced substacks I read, each post peppered with charts and citations and further resources that could keep you busy for weeks. Many posts are 10,000 to 20,000 words long, not including graphics and links. (For reference, a solid hardback might have 80,000 words, which means AMD whips out the equivalent of The War on Ivermectin every few days… FOR FREE.) So when a basement troll calls a gift to humanity like AMD a grifter, #SorryNotSorry but not responding is not an option.
Free Radical seemingly had some pesky free time on his hands and decided to fill it by perusing some of my other work. He liked it a lot!
For a quick minute, let’s suspend all rational thought and give Free Radical the full benefit of the doubt. Let’s say he has indisputable proof that AMD is a card-carrying quack hell-bent on harming mankind while milking as many people as possible for his own financial gain. And let’s further assume that Free Radical’s goal, his purpose, his life’s mission, is to protect his beloved fellow planetarians from charlatans like AMD. I have many questions, but one in particular easily edges out all the others: From exactly which chapter of The Book of Impossibly Bad Approaches did he pull this one?
On an unrelated note, the scientific definition of a free radical is an unstable, highly reactive atom or molecule that can damage human cells, tissues, and DNA by causing oxidative stress. In case you were curious.
Anyway, Free Radical [the person] also proceeded to reply to several of my regulars’ comments with third-grade insults (Free Radical is apparently some sort of expert on neurodivergence) and seventh-grade vulgarities, which I will not share because not everyone relishes verbal jujutsu as much as I do. I wondered if, after finishing his pissing spree, he clapped himself on the shoulder for another fine day’s work and drifted off into a satisfied sleep.
I know lots of you are going to insist, “he’s a bot!” but I genuinely don’t think so. I think he’s just a very sad, probably very jealous, human being who contributes nothing positive or productive to the world and thus loathes those of us who do (or try to).
What do you think, hive? LMK in the comments. And don’t forget to follow AMD if you don’t already. 10/10 recommend. :)
You're right on point. Commenter's like Free Radical are so annoying they can spoil a good comment section reading. But are easily ignored once you figure out who they are.
Anyway. I read the AMD every post he puts. He is very detailed and informed. He allows the readers the information to make informed decisions. I bought and use DMSO now myself. It has helped a chronic shoulder and arm pain. And I am sleeping better. I purchased a book on it and it is amazing on dry skin like eczema, on wounds, and sore muscles, I use it along with aloe vera on the dry skin areas and I use it will icy hot for sore muscles and it is far better than taking advil or others. I have tried it for headaches at the back of my neck. It works and I know it is not psychosomatic it has really worked for me.
Again than you for being you and writing fun and factual posts.
AMD is an American Healthcare Hero. Started using DMSO for skin issues and it is working. There are other health issues I would like address with DMSO. I have not encountered Free Radical. But, there are “haters” in all walks of life.