How Chiropractic, Herbs and Acupunture Changed My Life

From the time I was a child, I have suffered from depression, joint pain and lower back pain. At the age of seven, I had leg cramps so bad I could barely stand up after using the restroom. I was completely embarrassed at the fact that my father would have to come in and rub the cramps out of my legs while I sat on the toilet. Imagine my frustration as a child making endless trips to the doctor because I ached, yet no relief ever came. I would play outside, and have to go in early because I was so overly tired, and my body just hurt so badly. Still even after a few years of complaining no answers could be given.

Fast forward to the age of seventeen, my senior year in high school. My parents decided to separate in September of 1993. This was a critical year for me preparing for college as I was working on obtaining an athletic scholarship. I was working out and training seven days a week to get the most out of my scouting possibilities with college coaches so the pressure was great. After a few weeks of my parents' separation, I grew extremely depressed and suicidal. In an attempt to save me one night as I was breaking down, my mother called my primary care physician who advised me to come in the following day. After a brief review and no further discussion I was hauled off to Emerson A North Hospital where many teens had been taken for depression, as well as drug and alcohol abuse. With the reality setting in as I was being triaged, I went into a tirade which made things worse. However, they let me go back home with my mother who was up in arms not knowing what to do with me. Distressed and in tears, I cried myself to sleep. The following day I slept for hours, until my mom woke me up and took me to the doctor. There I was handed a prescription for Prozac. My only instructions were to follow the instructions on the bottle, and call in two weeks if no changes. Checkmate. I was dead inside already.

Within a few days, things were a blur. I slept for fourteen hours and had no interest in the outside world. I never touched food except for dinner time, and was almost to the point of needing someone to feed me otherwise I wasn't going to eat. I didn't even long for food. My world was extremely darker by the minute. That night I was awakened by a horrible scream at 2:30 a.m. I shot straight up in bed shaking; I stood up running through the bedroom door nearly taking it off the hinges, yelling for my mom. She woke up shocked and heart racing. As she hugged me, I was screaming asking her if she were okay.

It took me a minute to realize what was going on. I had a horrible nightmare that was so real to me, it stuck with me emotionally. I had a nightmare that my dad had broken into her home and stabbed her repeatedly. I was patting her down looking for blood that wasn't there. Was I losing my mind? Or, was this a horrible side effect of the medicine?

Two nights later, I was sitting on the couch with all the lights out watching CNN with a blank stare. I dozed off, and woke up an hour later in a cold sweat, and hearing sirens I jumped off the couch and hid under the kitchen table. The police were coming to get me? What had I done? Again, a nightmare so real it took me some time to dislodge myself. I sat under that table until my mother came home from work at midnight. I was crying and telling my mom that I had a nightmare that was so real. I had been standing at the top of the staircase, and I pushed my dad's girlfriend off the edge and her legs broke in half as she tumbled down. I was so sure that I was being hunted down for murder.

Fast forward to the age of 23. I am going through a divorce, and I am a mortgage broker. Can you imagine the stress? I was stressed to the limit, working thirteen hour days to stay busy and my life was falling apart. I was passing blood when I was using the restroom and having horrible abdominal cramping and other unsightly symptoms. I went to the doctor. I was asked all about my medical history, and then a battery of testing was recommended. The words I heard were, "likelihood of colon cancer". Off I went to the gastroenterologist and was scoped, examined and I drank all kinds of horrible stuff. The end result was nothing. That made my stress level go higher. After the follow up visit I mentioned to the gastroenterologist that I was going through several life changes when he handed me a prescription for Xanax. Great, I would feel better. He told me to follow up with my primary doctor, no explanation except to follow what is on the bottle. That was easy!

Fast forward to the age of 30. I get hit with a full blown migraine in about sixty seconds. I have been having horrible headaches that won't quit for a year. I have made five ER visits, and each one consisted of an IV with morphine. The morphine was the only thing to make that headache go away. But why was I getting them so badly? I asked about perfumes, foods I ate, and allergies. That is where the list ended. The doctor looked at me puzzled and advised I needed a spinal tap to make sure I had no bleeding on the brain. I get a dose of verced in my IV, and the next thing I know I am on the xray table getting a large needle through my spine. The next four days were spent in bed, with horrible bruising and pain in the injection site. I lay there confused, and sick and tired of being sick and tired. It was time to end the nonsense. There had to be a better way. I was done with modern medicine; there was no longer any doubt. I had to draw the line, knowing when it was time for it, and when it was good to walk away from it. Now was the perfect time.

I decided that when I was able to get up and walk around, I was going to Barnes and Noble. I needed to get out and not lay around anyhow, but what better way to do it than to find out some things on my own. I had people telling me things for years and they obviously weren't working. I decided to start with the headaches because at that time, that is what I was dealing with. I couldn't get anywhere with allergies or fragrances, so I started researching some other resources online. I read some interesting stories about people with severe neck pain too. I did notice that I would have some neck pain sometimes, or the headache felt like it was in my neck. Not more than week after this, I was getting out my car when my legs locked up. I couldn't put one foot in front of the other. I was shuffling my feet to walk, and I was suffering. My dad recommended his chiropractor so I went later that day. What I learned was nothing short of a surprise, and not to mention helped me lose faith in medical doctors. I saw two astounding x-rays that would change my life. One of my spine that was completely crooked. From the top of the spine down to the tailbone my spine was curving from right to left. In addition, my hips were out of alignment completely. My right hip measured at a quarter inch higher than my left. The second x-ray was extremely bizarre. At the very top of the x-ray was the back of my skull. At the base of my skull was a bizarre image. A disc that appeared to be jammed up under the base of my skull. To make matters worse, my neck was poker straight. My neck had no natural curvature whatsoever. The answer to my headache relief had come at last. I hung out with the chiropractor for about two hours and he adjusted me repeatedly. After a few weeks of daily visits, I was walking straighter, standing a little taller and had no headaches. Not once did a physician ever consider or even acknowledge that the problem might be something other than a typical migraine headache.

The depression and the stress were nearly hand in hand after my divorce, but I had sever joint pain with it. The chiropractic treatment was helping with that as well, but my stress has been relatively high. When I had moved back into Cincinnati, I found a chiropractic physician near where I lived who not only could adjust me, but was a licensed acupuncturist. Within minutes of him giving me the proper treatment for stress, I felt relaxed with a lower heart rate. Since this works, why not use it? Why are patients being handed drugs like Xanax? It is a known fact that because the components of this drug are so strong, there is an anxiety inducing affect when you try to take them as needed. That is the biggest challenge with a drug like Xanax. It is habit forming, and with no instruction can have a horrible ending. I personally experienced what it was like to not be able to get off of it without nearly killing myself. Out of a cry for help, came a co-worker who called University Hospital and spoke with their counselors. An hour later, they were in my office giving me no choice but to go with them, or be hauled off by the cops. So, I went. The benefit of being hospitalized for a week was a detox experience that gave me some hope to go back to work under certain conditions. It ruined my job, my life and my friendships. No one knew what was going on or how to help me. I did have a drug addiction, but I didn't know it. You don't realize its happening; you just think you need it so you take it. Then, you can't stop. I wanted to die. After detox I was on a quest to repair that part of my life. Was there hope? Could I find a natural cure?

I did much research on depression, anxiety and natural cures in general. What I found was astounding. There was the St. John's Wort which everyone knew about. There was Kava Kava which was highly publicized but there were reports of people becoming addicted to it and it having a negative side affect. Then, I came up something I had never heard of; Rhodiola Rosea. I dug deeper only to find that this herb was helping so many people across the entire world. It was helping ease PMS, symptoms of menopause, depression, anxiety, weight loss, concentration, energy and the list goes on and on. I was so enamored by this herb that science was calling an "adaptogen". This word means that this herb helps you "Adapt" to whatever conditions you are in. The herb grows in the coldest of climates in Siberia, and is such a hearty plant that it endures to flower and grow. Scientists though it might have the same effect on the human. They were right. I started using Rhodiola two years ago, and I have been using it ever since. I have since recommended it to others who have had great success with it, and no side effects have been reported out of all those I have recommended it to.

The acupuncture treatments are specific to whatever you are suffering from, but its definitely worth a try. You won't know unless you try it. I would highly recommend a combination of taking the Rhodiola supplement along with acupuncture and chiropractic treatments to relieve pressure in the body. If you are tight and stiff, it's hard to feel good. The treatments have eased my joint pain in addition to the headaches. Good health to you, and if any questions feel free to contact me at copycatsinc@live.com.