{"id":263,"date":"2025-11-23T09:09:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T08:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctor-to-be.org\/method\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:54:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T14:54:29","slug":"method","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/doctor-to-be.org\/en\/method\/","title":{"rendered":"Method"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nMethod\n<\/h1><\/div>\n<\/section>
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\nWhat will this be about?\n<\/h2>
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This will be about how, in my own case and with the safety precautions described below, I managed to stop using my corticosteroid nasal spray for symptom relief, then years later how I managed to make sure that even without coffee I do not fall asleep during an after-lunch lecture, what all this has to do with smoking cessation or chemotherapy, and how this method may help with weight loss or with the treatment of depression and panic attacks.<\/p>\n

The explanation lies in the fact that God created us in such a way that our brain responds wonderfully even to what is known as conditioned open-label placebo.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, I should make it clear that we are all different, and just as we can react differently to hot peppers or ragweed, it is also certain that conditioned placebo does not work in us with the same effect. But if the thought of BITING INTO A LEMON makes a little more saliva gather in your mouth, there is hope.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>

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\nThe idea\n<\/h3>
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Sometime around 2010, I struggled a lot with my allergy, which sometimes made my nose so stuffy that I could breathe only through my mouth. My deviated nasal septum narrowed the airway to begin with.<\/p>\n

As symptomatic treatment, I was given a corticosteroid nasal spray, which I was supposed to use for the rest of my life. It worked as a short-term solution, but it did not address the cause, and I was afraid of long-term side effects. I was not offered much prospect of recovery.<\/p>\n

While listening to Father Feri P\u00e1l's lectures, I noticed a rat experiment in one of them [1]<\/a>. The animals were conditioned similarly to Pavlov's dog. (In case someone has not yet come across Pavlov's experiment: Ivan Pavlov, the Nobel Prize-winning physiologist, regularly rang a bell before giving the dog food. (He rang it to start timing, but the dog did not know that.) After a few occasions, the dog's saliva production started simply on hearing the bell, meaning that the animal gave a physiological response to an external stimulus.)<\/p>\n

In the lecture mentioned, however, instead of bell-food-salivation, the subjects were sick rats that received the medication with sugar water, so the reflex developed between the sugar water and the effect triggered by the medication. Put simply, the rats survived even when, after conditioning, they were given only sugar water. (I think I found the original research that Father Feri P\u00e1l was talking about.[2]<\/a>)<\/p>\n

I am grateful to God for the idea of trying medication conditioning on myself as well. My symptoms were much more unpleasant than dangerous, so I felt confident enough to give it a try. \u201cIf it does not work, the nasal spray is still at hand; at most, my nose will clear five minutes later,\u201d I thought.<\/p>\n

As the conditioned stimulus, I chose Pink's song \u201cJust Give Me a Reason\u201d and linked it to using the nasal spray. After roughly two weeks of simultaneous \u201cuse,\u201d I tested the effect: in case of nasal congestion, I started humming the melody and voil\u00e0: even without medication, decongestion of the nasal mucosa occurred, opening the way for air.<\/p>\n

This effect was still present two or three years later just as it had been at the beginning, and during that time I did not have to use the nasal spray even once. (Later, I had septoplasty for my deviated nasal septum, and with that the nasal congestion also disappeared. Since then, I have not been able to test whether it would still work.)<\/p>\n

Today I know that this method has been examined in many studies, and COLP (Conditioned Open-Label Placebo) is its official name. It could still be tested in many areas, and implementation in practice is moving only slowly, despite the promising research findings. You can read about a few examples on the next page.<\/p>\n

[1] https:\/\/www.palferi.hu\/hanganyagok\/2001-2002\/2001-12-18\/4<\/a><\/p>\n

[2] Ader R, Cohen N. Behaviorally conditioned immunosuppression. Psychosom Med. 1975 Jul-Aug;37(4):333-40. doi: 10.1097\/00006842-197507000-00007. PMID: 1162023. link: https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/1162023\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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\nHow can it be done?\n<\/h3>
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How can I reduce my pain or, together with my treating physician, the medications I take for my symptoms? How can I return to a sense of safety? How can I replace the cigarette or support my weight loss\u2026?<\/p>\n