Reversing Chronic Disease
A Journey Back to Health
Author: Patricia Stevens
Living with chronic pain can be debilitating. Sleepless nights, fatigue, inability to focus on tasks and lack of concentration will hamper anyone’s quality of life. Fibromyalgia affects the muscles and soft tissue. Patients are plagues with never ending pain in their muscles, fatigue and pain in many spots on their bodies. There are referred to as tender points. However, the cause is unknown. The treatments vary and the symptoms are numerous totally 21 in all. Treatment results differ in each patient. Medications and dosages need to be carefully monitored. Living with these chronic symptoms and finding no light at the end of this very dark tunnel can be depressing. So, why suffer! Author Patricia Stevens was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Rather than sit back and feel sorry for herself she decided to search for possible causes/reasons that might be linked to her symptoms and get the answers she needed. Researching the illness proved beneficial. Learning more about the disease creating startling results. Uncovering the link between Fibromyalgia and ADD/ADHE groundbreaking. Educating herself, analyzing the similarities and differences between the two she found many similarities. The one “Common Denominator,” she stated maybe the autonomic nervous system made up of 2 separate systems, which if unbalanced, creates an unhealthy body. I did some research before reviewing this book, “Reversing Chronic Disease, A Journey Back to Health,” and learned that there are many more symptoms for both FMS and ADD/ADHE. Twenty-one in total and the author has 16. Taking Ritalin helped to alleviate the pain. But, Ritalin like all medications requires dosage monitoring and although the pain subsided she needed her doctor to create a healthy combination of medications, which included the Ritalin, and a low antidepressant needed to reduce the ADD/ADHD symptoms.
Finding the connection between these two illnesses is what started her on the road to good health. ADD is usually diagnosed in children and FMS in adults. In both cases there is a lack of concentrations, difficulty focusing and the need for lists and reminders. Persistence, perceptiveness, patients and being pro-active, are four major components needed to begin your own journey. Take the trip along with this reviewer and author Patricia Stevens. Understand and read the research for yourself. Decide on the impact and importance of making educated choices before you give up and settle for the PAIN.
Deciding to work as a Natural Pharmacist and learn more about natural medicine the author shares her real life experiences with you, the reader. Expensive, costly, naturals can be out of reach for many people luring them to take pills. Not an easy or overnight task to condition yourself to taking the steps necessary to heal your precious body. For the author at the beginning she needed to take prescription medications. Read her story and find out what changes she made and what she is doing now.
Before beginning you need to find a natural therapist to work with you and provide the needed supplements and dosages that will get you started. These need to be carefully monitored by you and the person who is taking care of you. You need the right doctor, support system in place and of course the right information. As a natural pharmacist the author has worked with many patients and is just sharing her experiences and knowledge with you. The reader must and should read the disclaimer on page 27 before beginning any program and reading this book. Remember: She is not a doctor. The information presented is from her research from and from numerous medical professionals and her own personal experiences. The decision is ultimately yours- the patient. This review focuses on the information presented to the review in this book. I will only discuss the content; manner of presentation and my overall thoughts about whether I feel this book is a valuable resource for those with FMS, ADD/ADHD and other reasons you might want to read it.
Chemical and hormonal imbalances can cause havoc. If not properly treated they manifest themselves in other ways causing many patients to be treated for illnesses they do not have. Some are chained to prescription meds they really do not need. After undergoing numerous surgeries and procedures, the author finally found a way to eliminate many of her symptoms. Everyone is different.
In the chapter titled, “FMS: A New Focus,” the author elaborates on the many causes, symptoms, and sites she used in her research and she noted information and studies by many doctors in the field. Additional information about prescription medications and alternative treatments round out the chapter and I encourage you to read them for yourself.
Next, she turns her attention and yours to hormones. Hormone therapy is often front and center in the news, on many doctor’s websites and one of the first questions asked by many women of their GYN’s. Discussing the need for them and what causes hormonal changes and imbalances is handled in this chapter. Altering the reader to the research and understanding bio-identicals/human identical hormones or over-the-counter plant based hormones, is what she considers viable alternatives to prescription medications. This information is included in the chapter, “How to Test and Restore Balance.”
The author presents a wealth of information in an understandable, interesting and clear voice. You can hear her words and relive her journey with her as she explains her fight back to health in terms that everyone can really understand and many identify with. Real life experiences that she encountered and those success stories of some of her patients, aids in keeping the reader focused, and sparks your interest leading you to read more as I did completing the book in less than two hours.
Followed by chapter on adrenal glands, fatigue, thyroid glands and the numerous misdiagnoses used by ineffective testing, this chapter provides much needed information and resources for the reader. In each chapter she repeats the importance of saliva testing in order to properly assess your symptoms. She also includes a summary of each chapter to recap what the information and keep it fresh in your mind.
Testing methods, labs whose services are exemplary and testing methods worked for her, this book is a wealth of valuable information for those with these two illnesses and those needing to be accurately assessed.
The final chapters in the book include the Complexities of AD/HD as well as a Mood Behavior Questionnaire that can help you get started. The final chapter, Lifestyle Changes brings it all together, as least for me. The summary sections on pages 134-135 will aide the reader in understanding the causes, symptoms and possible need for treatment of AD/HD. Finally, the four R’s: Remove, Replace Enzymes: Reinoculation: Repair. But, just like any good mystery or thriller I cannot give away the ending and in order to know what these mean you need to read it for yourself or there will be no surprise or great ending. Of course: Stress is one factor that goes hand in hand in causing many illnesses. What are the many other factors? Read this outstanding resource and find out for yourself.
I must have felt that this is a noteworthy and outstanding book, which provides the reader with information that will help you, become an informed and better-educated patient. After all: I received the book less than two hours before finishing it. Fibromyalgia/ADHD: Learn the causes, find out what you can do to live: PAIN FREE! I DID!
Fran Lewis: Reviewer
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