Last time I talked about how I found out I had Ankylosing Spondylitis. Initially, this revelation did not change anything. In fact, it was a bit more depressing as I found out there was permanent damage done to my spine and a potential for it to get worse. I managed well on Celebrex for a while as it wasn't as harsh on my stomach as the other meds were, but the Vioxx/Celebrex dangers were eventually publicized and I had to make a change. AS patients are inherently at risk for heart conditions due to the nature of the disease. Adding the increased risk of Celebrex to the mix was not something I wanted to continue to do. I saw my rheumatologist and asked what my options were. I was told about a new class of drugs called TNF-alpha inhibitors. The FDA had just recently approved them for use in AS, but they were extremely expensive and most insurance companies were not covering them yet. My doc managed to get an override for me and I was placed on 50mg injections once a week. I always felt like I was at the mercy of the next medication for the management of my AS. Never once was I told of any natural alternatives which should not surprise you. I even asked my doctors about diet and was told that some people notice a difference, but that it was most likely a placebo effect. So, I kept taking the Enbrel, overcoming my fear of needles as I had to do the injections myself. I felt the best I had in a long time. For 6 months it seemed like Enbrel was the answer to all of my problems.
At that time, I started noticing that I was getting sick more frequently, and when I would get sick, it would take longer to shake the cold. I was a newlywed at the time and my wife's concern over my health was growing with each new episode and each new antibiotic prescribed. I knew the Enbrel increased my risk for infection because it suppressed my immune system, so I did not argue when the docs would give me more antibiotics. After taking 4 different courses of antibiotics over a 6 month period, my job was eliminated in a string of cutbacks. I opted to take the severance package rather than seek a lower position or a move into sales. This made things a bit scary for my wife and me as we were only guaranteed the health insurance for the next 6 weeks and COBRA coverage was extremely expensive. During this time I had 2 more courses of antibiotics prescribed and was beginning to feel sick more often than I felt well. I knew it was the Enbrel, but I felt trapped. There were no alternative meds to go on. What was worse: increased risk of heart failure, or being sick all the time?
My wife stumbled across several of her natural wellness books called, "One Minute Wellness" by Dr. Ben Lerner, DC. On the inside cover was listed a chiropractor located about 5 minutes from our house. She asked me if I ever tried chiropractic or if I thought it could help. I relayed to her that every doctor I had emphasized that I stay away from chiropractors; that they were not equipped to handle my disease, and would most likely injure me. One even said they could "break my spine". With what I know now about informed consent, those doctors should be happy I do not remember their names as I would file charges against each of them before the Board if I could. Anyway....my wife called his office even though I told her I would never see a chiropractor. She told me a few days later that she set up appointments for us both (my wife had been experiencing problems with migraines and other issues that were getting worse as well). If that had happened now, I probably would have been fuming, but the honeymoon wasn't over yet and I begrudgingly agreed to attend under the condition that I was not letting him touch my spine.
We went in and they took x-rays of our spines and did thermal scans as well as surface EMG readings. We were asked to come back the next night for the results. We arrived the next night and a group of about 20 patients were all huddled into what looked like a lecture room and the doctor began to explain what chiropractic was, how the body was capable of healing itself if we removed the interference to it, and told the story of how chiropractic rescued his father from debilitating migraines. It was explained why the medical model of drugs and surgery was not the answer; that those options only cover up the symptoms and are best saved for life and death situations instead of the daily maintenance of health and wellness. I can't even begin to give his message justice in this one paragraph. It was the most passionate I had ever seen a doctor be, and I knew he believed every word he spoke, yet something inside me still was not buying in. Even in my doubt, I felt God telling me I was in that room for a reason; that if I would only give this man a chance to help me, I would find that I could do the same thing for others.
We were eventually led into a private room where we waited for the doctor to give us our individual results. As he showed us our x-rays and pointed to the exact location were a massive misalignment was contributing to our problems, I began to question him about my condition. I was amazed that this chiropractor knew more about AS than any of my previous rheumatologists. It was at that moment that I began to feel I could trust this man with the care of my spine. As we left the room that evening, my wife was in tears - tears of joy in seeing hope return to her husband.
It only took 2 weeks of care for me to notice appreciable changes. My chiropractor offered monthly health talks and constantly has educational videos on exercise, nutrition, detoxification, etc...playing in his office, so as we would wait to be adjusted, we were being flooded with new information on how to be healthy. We were blessed to have the opportunity to attend one of his mini-Extreme Makeover classes. They are usually six classes over six weeks, but occasionally he would hold an abbreviated version where he covers everything in one night. My wife and I walked out of there determined to make the changes necessary to get well.
After that night, I made two decisions: 1) My job search was over because I planned to go to school to become a chiropractor and help as many people as possible in the same way my chiropractor had helped me, and 2) I naively thought I could stop taking my medication cold turkey. It seemed to work for the next 5 months until I realized there was so much residual medication in my system that it took that long for my body to get rid of it. During this time, I never got sick, my energy levels quadrupled, and people were remarking that I was starting to walk more upright than ever before.
At the end of the 5th month, the pain started to come back and I knew I was not ready to be off the medication. I was determined to use it only when necessary, with the goal of becoming medication free as soon as possible. Most of the information that this blog will emphasize are methods I learned along the way that were able to take me from 50mg once a week to 25mg once every 7 weeks which is where I am today. Not all of these changes have been easy. I still struggle to be consistent with many of them. As we go through all of the lessons I've learned, I'll try to also discuss the pitfalls of implementation and any tricks along the way I've learned to get more consistent with implementing them. I look forward to sharing this with you all. The goal in all of these things is to move closer to health and further away from sickness.
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