Helen Foundation

Hello, I too tried Stenberg’s Microdose Therapy. He is a PREDATOR trolling on the Internet, targeting the sick, the disabled, the elderly & people with chronic conditions & pain. Stenberg is taking advantage of the temporary high from the steroid medication called “steroid euphoria” which wears off several months later & that is how long his program is. I understand this feeling of well being. I did feel good & had less joint pain but the good effects were soon replaced with adverse effects! I ended up very sick with a virus that took several months to recover. Now HC oral is a corticosteroid a steroid! It’s not a “natural drug” as he claims & it needs to be properly monitored by a doc & with labs. Read the side effect list on www.mayoclinic.org. Some are SERIOUS!

Stenberg claims to reduce pain for Arthritis, CFS, MS, RA, OA, Fibromyalgia, back pain, neuropathy, migraines & even Parkinson’s by using Hydrocortisone (Cortisol) tablets 20mgs. You name the illness…he claims to “reduce it or eliminate it.” In 2014, I bit the hook of the promises to “arrest Fibromyalgia in 21 days” with a program where “patients averaged 77% relief.” Yes, I am a fool but desperate people in great pain tend to do foolish things. I foolishly signed a contract & sent in a check for $7495 to begin the program. The Foundation wanted their money & a signed contract up front before determining if I was even qualified or able to safely take Hydrocortisone! Even if you are medically disqualified from entering the program by a local doctor due to a condition you will only get back a small portion of the $7495 you paid to enroll in the program.

Stenberg is NOT a medical doctor. He uses his teaching PhD “Dr” to lure people into his program. He has to send you to a doctor who took his one day course. Now, you will NOT be told who or where your doctor supervising you will be! That will only be disclosed to you after they receive your money & signed contract. I ended up going to see an osteopathic physician in a shady part of the city. It was not a pain clinic as I hoped. In no time, I walked out with a prescription. The medication is a generic drug costing about $30 for 30 days. I started the 3 week $3,400.00 “Shower” loading dose of 100 mgs of Hydrocortisone (Cortisol). In a few days, I experienced adverse reactions such as swelling, unbearable pain of the face, jaw, neck and armpits, a sore throat & chest pain. I severe darkness also came over me. The side effects were unbearable even when I tapered the dosage down. Every day, when I was feeling my worse I had to fill out many diaries, giving numbers to a list of symptoms. I would get many phone calls from Debbie who may not be a registered nurse at all, asking me about the scores. Those darn scores. Finally, at the advice of 3 doctors, including the doctor the foundation sent me to, I stopped the medication & withdrew from the program. I was only in the program for 10 days. The following hour of my call, I received 4 emailed graphs…so they can justify keeping the $995! Pretty rotten trick Stenberg!

Weeks later, I received a rather insulting letter from Stenberg & a check for only $1950 out of the $7495 I paid up front. It was NOT a refund as he claims. That small amount I received was for the next phase which I had yet to enter. They weren't concern with my reactions & wanted me to continue...probably to get the rest of the money. He claimed he was responsible for a 18%, 21%, 7% & 32% “improvement” of my pain which came after I stopped taking the drug! Stenberg does not get to claim those” improvements” since my body was recovering on its own due to the overdosing but he does and that is why his claims to reduce symptoms are outrageous & fraudulent. I have the total numbers which show a dramatic increase in pain. So if you scored a 125 on your migraine sheet yesterday & 112 today, well to Stenberg that is an “improvement” on behalf of his program not that you had a 12 migraine! If you have a pain flare up due to a storm & score it 220 on one day then score it 209 the next day, well to Stenberg that is an “improvement” on behalf of his program not on the passing of the storm. Catch my drift?

I paid $900 for a 50 food sensitivity & intolerance panel which came from a Lab that specializes in testing horses, dogs and cats. The test costs around $300. Check your local lab. I also had to pay $995 for a “digital tracking system” (a computer graphing program) which charts daily fluctuating symptoms all the diaries you have to fill out. Hours after I withdrew from the program, I received 4 childish graph emails of my diary numbers.

Despite what he claims, he does NOT refund people their money if they experience problems. He did this to a couple with PD in 2013, charging them $8500+, refusing to refund their money after they too experienced serious side effects. You can look up a heartbreaking article at azcentral.com. “It is a theater effect. It is not real,” said Dr. James Beck, director of research programs at the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation in New York. “I certainly don’t think Microdose Therapy or cortisone is a standard treatment for Parkinson’s.” In 2014, Stenberg stiffed a couple of $6,995—maxing out credit cards & 1/3 of their life savings to treat the husband for PD. They had to drive 328 miles for treatment then the doctor quit. They too asked for refund & received nothing but silence www.ripoffreport.com/r/Helen-Foundation. He refuses to pay an employee who leaft because she realized it was a scam.

In fact, there are many complaints against the Helen Foundation & Virgil Stenberg posted at Ripoff & other sites because no one investigates or regulates people like Stenberg nor can be erased. It’s a way to warn other people about a predator, a predator that stalks the sick, seniors, the elderly, the desperate & those in great pain. I did file a complaint to the BBB but it was a waste of time. Stenberg responded by rambling about the dosage from the PDR. He doesn’t understand that people can have serious adverse reactions or even die as a result of using the drug even if they used it at the recommend dosage. Why? He is just a chemistry & math professor not a medical doctor! The BBB did nothing nor can they. Their website does NOT accurately reflect the number of all the filed complaints & consumer reviews. My complaint was not “resolved” nor was it ruled “without merit.” It states “closed.” If an agreement isn’t reached in 30 days they will consider the case “closed” regardless. My customer review also was never posted. Having a BBB “A+” rating means nothing. So don’t be fooled.

In essence, it was a very expensive lesson for me which I don’t want you to go through! There is no education to patients. I am sure there are a number of people who had similar issues with the Helens Foundation but were too sick and disgusted to write a complaint. So beware. Dr. Stenberg is holding a lot of seminars targeting suffers of Parkinson, Multiple Sclerosis in addition to Arthritis & Fibro especially in Arizona. If you want to try Hydrocortisone 20mgs for your condition ask your doctor. You do not, not, not need to spend $7500.00 for a medication that cost $30 a bottle! The foundation rambles on about “improvements” and “2,020 patients and university study which you can’t locate to find the details. Whether you have Parkinson’s, MS, Arthritis, Fibro…beware! Just talk to your doc and run any program by them & organizations who review these snake oil programs. They will only make your sicker! Pay no mind to testimonies because you do NOT know who wrote them. Remember, they want your money, your life savings! They will bait you in with "a new price plan." Again, it's the high of the steroid he is counting on! Take care.

Helen Foundation changed my life. I had been in constant pain due to my fibromyalgia for years.

I woke up still tired. I could nap for six hours a day. Every morning I woke up and had to take oxycodone to even just be able to get ready for work. It only progressed and got worse from there.

I could barely pick up my child the pain was so overwhelming and intense. Now I am narcotic free and have only the need for the occasional over the counter medicine. I am healthier and happier thanks to Helen Foundation. I have been in such better health since starting the program.

I now can exercise again.

I have lost weight (I was over weight before). I can hike again, and most importantly I was able to go back to working full time and not having to be a part time employee!

Hi. Thank you for reporting your experience about Virgil Stenberg & Helen Foundation. I am so sorry this happened to you. Don't expect any help from them. They want your money and they are going to keep it and there isn't much you can do. I too was in the program for 4 weeks and suffered from adverse reactions. I received a very very small portion back because I didn't enter in the 2nd stage.

“Professor” Stenberg pretending to be “Dr.” Stenberg is indeed preying on people in pain & with chronic illnesses trying to give medical advice. Virgil Stenberg was only a PhD. He is just a Mathematics’ & Chemistry professor. Now you have PhD “Drs” running around trying to pass themselves off as someone who can offer medical advice even claim to be a physician which is the case here.

The complaints are starting to come out on WebMD, Ripoff Report & other websites. I am sure there will be more. When you are taken advantage of by people like this: Predators, it only adds to the pain your are already experiencing. You feel bad enough as it is so it is hard to write about it. I was told by Ernesto Gallegos too that I would have no problem if the program didn't work for me but he too was silent and handed me off to Stenberg. I later received a very rude & belittling letter.

I hope that people who may be interested in this program will read the complains posted on various sites. These postings actually came from people who tried the program with a great cost, hoping they would fine relief. They aren't doctored up.

So Virgil Stenberg, Research Director, Ph.D, President of the Helen Foundation, YOU AND YOUR STAFF ARE CROOKS! I don’t know how you, your wife & your staff can sleep at night. I don’t know how you can do this to people who are in so much pain. But predators, like molesters have no conscious. As I said before, I believe in a Universal Justice from above. What goes around comes around! It may not be in this life but it will be in the next! Don’t think you can get to “Heaven” with this kind of “work.”

Again, after all these complaints and I am sure there are more to come, the BBB still gives them an A+ rating. Filed complaints with the BBB have been erased thus they have no credibility. I know because I filed one and I know of others. Stenberg and staff is still preying on those with Parkinson’s, MS, Polymyalgia Rheumatica and many others. In regards to the testimonies on their website or Facebook page, I would be very careful. This is all about money. Your money. It is a business and he wants your money. You can easily make up stuff & cut & paste photos. Remember, there is no agency investigating these complaints. If you are interested in the medication, just ask your doc about Hydrocortisone. Don't fill Professor Stenberg’s greedy pockets. Just be careful folks. Take care.

Did some research on them, shameful! A bunch of snake oil salesmen!

My wife and I are $6,995.00 out of pocket. We paid 2/3 by maxing out our credit cards, and the 1/3 from our life savings to treat and help my Parkinson's Disease.

The first two treatments had been done and I complained that I didn't feel right and that the treatments had not helped in any way whatsoever. We realised it was early in the treatment so we continued for the 3rd treatment only to find that after the usual drive of 328 miles round trip, the usual doctor had quit the job with no warning whatsoever. We notified Helen Foundation Vice President Ernesto Gallegos (who we negotiated with at the beginning) and the nurse Debbie who kept in touch with us by phone, about the incident and after a long wait, they called back to say that they will make adjustments. Nothing has happened since then, and they have not called us back nor replied to our emails, and it's now almost two months.

We did not ask for a refund then, but my wife asked 3 weeks ago and also the following week for Ernesto Gallegos to reply to her emails or to call us back. We are angry in that Ernesto Gallegos was very efficient when they were getting our payment and now he is quiet when we need help. I am willing to pay the first two treatments but want a refund of the balance so we can return the money to the credit card companies.

We are reasonable people and we want an amicable settlement. Someone from Helen Foundation straighten this out please!!!!!!!!