Debi Pearl's new book - Create a Better Brain

[JustEnough]

Neuroplasticity is amazing ❤️ I got a front row seat to seeing it in action when DP had a major stroke almost a decade ago. When it happened DP had total hemiplegia/hemiparesis (could not move or feel anything along the left side of his body, from his face to his toes, everything from the midline over left was just gone). It was terrifying. After we got through the first 5 days and were out of danger of DP dying everything went into rehab mode. The part of the brain where the stroke was is dead (seeing it on MRI was sobering). That part was starved of oxygen and cannot ever be undead, but slowly over time, in fits and starts, other parts of the brain took over a lot of what was lost. It was three months of inpatient rehab, months more of intensive daily outpatient rehab and then various stints in outpatient rehab programs as opportunities came up over the next two years. 

At this point DP is still considered disabled as certain things didn't come back. But lots did, including sitting and then standing and then walking (with a non-standard, but still functionally almost normal most of the time, gait). We were told not to expect any of that, that a wheelchair would be the reality for the rest of his life. 

DP can do stuff now with one hand that I can't do with two. Neuro rehab is not easy or fast, and none of it can be guaranteed, because brains are fickle that way. But brains are capable of really awesome things too.

Debi Pearl is not though. There are great books on neuroplasticity out there (and more in the last five years I'm sure, I haven't been able to keep up). I feel confident in saying hers can be safely skipped. (Or burned if you find you own one given to you by someone else)

Edited August 7, 2019 by JustEnough
It's MRI, not MrI and also added a couple of words to clarify meaning

[NoKidsAndCounting]

On 8/5/2019 at 3:09 PM, Palimpsest said:

My guess is that Jill R. will (apparently has) read this book, and will reject all proper and professional cognitive behavioral therapies for Janessa.  She will think she can do it all herself and continue to use Pearl methods on all her children.  Because she now knows ALL about it because Debi Pearl wrote a book about Godly Neuroplasticity and Pearl methods are wonderful anyway.

I think you're probably right, here.  Sadly, if Jill R. thinks she can cut corners by reading Debi Pearl's book instead of getting Janessa actual help, she'll do it.  After all, Jilly thinks that Plexis cures everything.

[JillRodsEyeliner]

JRod was bragging about how she was one of the first ones to read this book. She said Janessa's story is in chapter two. I swear this lady is getting crazier by the second 

[nelliebelle1197]

1 hour ago, JillRodsEyeliner said:

JRod was bragging about how she was one of the first ones to read this book. She said Janessa's story is in chapter two. I swear this lady is getting crazier by the second 

I am confused as to why this makes her crazier. She is helping Debi promote the book. I think most of us would do the same thing if we were early reviewers of a friend’s book and our family was in said book. Plenty of people believe in woo of some sort. This is probably one of the more normal things she has done.  

Edited August 9, 2019 by nelliebelle1197

[AuntKrazy]

On 8/5/2019 at 3:29 PM, Virago said:

She really missed a big chance to name this To Train Up a Brain. 

or To Brain up a Child. . .

[dripcurl]

Shoshanna is pregnant with baby number 4. I follow her since she is another manic MLMer, they fascinate me the most. She said that she didn’t notice her belly getting bigger over the summer until recently, so she must be about to go into her second trimester perhaps? She, like JRod, swills Plexus like it’s water, hopefully she will stop since it’s a WEIGHTLOSS product and she’s PREGNANT but I doubt it ? 

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 hours ago, dripcurl said:

Shoshanna is pregnant with baby number 4. I follow her since she is another manic MLMer, they fascinate me the most. She said that she didn’t notice her belly getting bigger over the summer until recently, so she must be about to go into her second trimester perhaps? She, like JRod, swills Plexus like it’s water, hopefully she will stop since it’s a WEIGHTLOSS product and she’s PREGNANT but I doubt it ? 

Well she knows two women who push plexus and had a baby born with issues. Of course there’s Jill, and then there’s Jill’s friend Betsy Foster Catlin who had a son with microcephaly. I really wonder if it’s making these women rethink taking plexus while pregnant. I hope so. But these fundies aren’t ones to think critically. 

[hoipolloi]

8 hours ago, dripcurl said:

She said that she didn’t notice her belly getting bigger over the summer until recently, so she must be about to go into her second trimester perhaps?

Find her account hard to believe on the face of it, given her constant bragging about her MD/PhD-level knowledge of human biology & physiology. She's had at least one miscarriage so I'd guess instead that she delayed announcing it. Which is fine.

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I really wonder if it’s making these women rethink taking plexus while pregnant. I hope so. But these fundies aren’t ones to think critically. 

I've wondered this too. Plexus for otherwise healthy adults is probably, at worst, a huge waste of $$$, but it has never seemed like a good idea to give that swill to infants, children, pregnant women, or ailing adults.

In Shoshanna's case, she & her husband are fairly high up on the Plexus food chain (think they're Ruby or Sapphire level) so she probably can't afford NOT to be seen consuming the Plexus shite.

[dripcurl]

If Shoshanna really cared about gut health, wouldn’t she just be using probiotics, whole supplements, and eating a clean diet? Why inundate your system with a weightloss product that has toxic chemicals in it (isn’t Plexus banned in every other country due to a stroke-causing chemical?). It really is all about money. But I hope for her child’s sake, she quits drinking it herself while she is pregnant and nursing.

Edited August 27, 2019 by dripcurl

[Dandruff]

6 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Well she knows two women who push plexus and had a baby born with issues. Of course there’s Jill, and then there’s Jill’s friend Betsy Foster Catlin who had a son with microcephaly. I really wonder if it’s making these women rethink taking plexus while pregnant. I hope so. But these fundies aren’t ones to think critically. 

If they rethink the safety of Plexus during pregnancy it could lead to rethinking its safety outside of pregnancy.  I doubt they want to do that.  Wouldn't surprise me if Janessa and the baby with microcephaly are viewed as situations that could have been worse without Plexus.

[FluffySnowball]

35 minutes ago, dripcurl said:

Why inundate your system with a weightloss product that has toxic chemicals in it (isn’t Plexus banned in every other country due to a stroke-causing chemical?). 

Didn’t JillRod’s youngest daughter actually have strokes in utero? Could be a coincidence and I’m  normally one to dislike blaming women for their children’s illnesses, but if that was brought about by Plexus, then fuck you, Jill! 

[dripcurl]

6 minutes ago, FluffySnowball said:

Didn’t JillRod’s youngest daughter actually have strokes in utero? Could be a coincidence and I’m  normally one to dislike blaming women for their children’s illnesses, but if that was brought about by Plexus, then fuck you, Jill! 

Yeah she did, and I am not afraid to blame Jill drinking Plexus at all.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I doubt doctors could say definitively that Janessa’s strokes were caused by plexus. However if you have 12 children with no sign of stroke and then your 13th has a stroke and it’s the only pregnancy where you took plexus, most people would say, “maybe there’s a link. I’d rather be safe than sorry next time.” But Jill won’t do that. No way. 

[dripcurl]

The Easlings are off to a month-long jaunt along the west coast, Maui/Lanai, and freaking Japan. Plexus must be paying well.

[quiversR4hunting]

On 8/27/2019 at 10:01 AM, hoipolloi said:

In Shoshanna's case, she & her husband are fairly high up on the Plexus food chain (think they're Ruby or Sapphire level) so she probably can't afford NOT to be seen consuming the Plexus shite.

I did a google search on the ruby and sapphire level. Those are 2 big differences. Per finance-guy.net the average ruby ambassador makes about $31,000/year (.26% of consultants reach this level), Senior Ruby $49,600/year (.24% of consultants reach this level), sapphire is $172k/year (.04% of consultants reach this level). 

https://www.finance-guy.net/streetonomic/money-plexus-review 

[hoipolloi]

I did a google search on the ruby and sapphire level. Those are 2 big differences. Per finance-guy.net the average ruby ambassador makes about $31,000/year (.26% of consultants reach this level), Senior Ruby $49,600/year (.24% of consultants reach this level), sapphire is $172k/year (.04% of consultants reach this level). 

https://www.finance-guy.net/streetonomic/money-plexus-review 

Thanks — did not have info to hand.

 

I *think* Shoshanna has said they’re Sapphire level because when I looked it up at the time I was shocked at how much they’re earning & what kind of downline they must have to bring in that much money.

 

Will try to find that info when I’m not on an iPad.

[dripcurl]

Sapphire appears to make up 1% of ambassadors. Wow. The Pearls and the McDonald’s did the same thing, when they reached a point in their fundiedom in which they had already  exhausted all possible fundie things to say and do, they just used their clout to build an incredible downline in their respective schemes.

[mango_fandango]

The thing about Janessa is that she is only 16 months old. She’s still a little young for anyone to know what effects her in-utero stroke has had on her. Once she’s school-age the problems (if any) will be more obvious. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

3 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

The thing about Janessa is that she is only 16 months old. She’s still a little young for anyone to know what effects her in-utero stroke has had on her. Once she’s school-age the problems (if any) will be more obvious. 

Another problem is that Jill won’t ever do any sort of in depth testing. If Janessa has a mild issue I think it’s pretty likely Jill won’t even bother to notice or care. 

[mango_fandango]

Exactly. And particularly so because Jill homeskools in the way she does, in the most hands-off way possible. If the Rod kids went to school, or if Jill was a better homeschool mom, any issue (even a mild one) would likely be picked up. 

[dripcurl]

Shoshanna Easling further explains why she did not think she was pregnant, as her blood sugar was.... stable? higher? lower? I need help following her logic here, too many missing links:

 

“My body has change so much since I started Plexus. Here are a few things that are different with me!? 

Blood sugar has a direct connection with morning sickness. Insulin is what shoots into your body to try and balance your blood sugar. Insulin is a master hormone that controls or directly relates to all the other hormones in the body male or female. When you’re building a baby your hormones are all over the place trying to keep healthy levels. Those healthy fats and cholesterol’s are so important to maintain a good estrogen and progesterone amount. Having low progesterone can be the cause of a miscarriage.... which has happened to me in the past. Earlier this year I got my blood tests done and it showed my cholesterol was off the charts... and the ratio was perfect?!”

 

 

There is the master gland, the pituitary, but I have not heard of a master hormone. I know there is definitely a domino effect on other hormones when one is out of balance, but to say one “rules” another directly is not necessarily the case. 

Anyway, it’s extremely disappointing to see her using a product that has been linked to strokes while pregnant.

 

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 minutes ago, dripcurl said:

Shoshanna Easling further explains why she did not think she was pregnant, as her blood sugar was.... stable? higher? lower? I need help following her logic here, too many missing links:

 

“My body has change so much since I started Plexus. Here are a few things that are different with me!? 

Blood sugar has a direct connection with morning sickness. Insulin is what shoots into your body to try and balance your blood sugar. Insulin is a master hormone that controls or directly relates to all the other hormones in the body male or female. When you’re building a baby your hormones are all over the place trying to keep healthy levels. Those healthy fats and cholesterol’s are so important to maintain a good estrogen and progesterone amount. Having low progesterone can be the cause of a miscarriage.... which has happened to me in the past. Earlier this year I got my blood tests done and it showed my cholesterol was off the charts... and the ratio was perfect?!”

 

 

There is the master gland, the pituitary, but I have not heard of a master hormone. I know there is definitely a domino effect on other hormones when one is out of balance, but to say one “rules” another directly is not necessarily the case. 

Anyway, it’s extremely disappointing to see her using a product that has been linked to strokes while pregnant.

 

 

Did she just go running through those woods and get a weed caught in her hair?

[hoipolloi]

What a bunch of junk science gibberish.

The saving grace is that her "explanation" makes so little sense that even her leg humpers have a hard time following it. It was interesting to see that one of them did ask her what she meant by her cholesterol being "off the charts." 

 

 

[quiversR4hunting]

What is she even talking about? It is like reading what Jilly spouts and topics all over the place! Maybe Plexus causes scatter brain. 

31 minutes ago, dripcurl said:

I got my blood tests done and it showed my cholesterol was off the charts... and the ratio was perfect

it is my understanding that this isn't good. If you have high "bad" cholesterol even if your ratio is "perfect" you are still at a high risk for heart isease or a stroke. I am not in the medical field but that is my understanding! 

I am going to break this down to my understanding a medical person can correct me. So ratio, I assume she means her overall number, so lets say her overall number was 180. but her LDL(bad, should be under 100) is 150 and her HDL (good, should be 60 or above) is 30. Well that would still mean she has issues with her cholesterol, yes, her overall number is good but her LDL would be in the "borderline high" range and her HDL is very low. (these numbers are all made up, much like the point system in "Who's Line is it Anyway?") 

[hoipolloi]

14 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

Maybe Plexus causes scatter brain...it is my understanding that this isn't good. If you have high "bad" cholesterol even if your ratio is "perfect" you are still at a high risk for heart disease or a stroke.

You may be right -- I'm getting the same impression from her nonsensical post though it's hard to tell.

Re: Plexus. Finally found some information on at least James' level -- as of three years ago, he was a Diamond level ambassador.

Will keep looking for info on Shoshanna's level.

ETA: Here's a handy pie chart. Lots of peons in Plexus, paying for trips to Maui & a new Lexus for James and Shoshanna Easling.

Edited September 4, 2019 by hoipolloi