Pot For Pain: Low To Moderate Doses Only

Although smoking "moderate" doses of cannabis helps reduce pain in healthy research volunteers, pain is actually increased at high doses, a new study shows.

The November issue of the journal Anesthesiology features a study showing that marijuana, or cannabis, reduces pain only within a smaller dose range.

"Our study suggests that there is a therapeutic window for analgesia, with low doses being ineffective, medium doses resulting in pain relief and high doses increasing pain," said lead author Dr. Mark S. Wallace of University of California, San Diego, in a news release.

Wallace and colleagues evaluated the effects of smoking marijuana on pain responses in 15 healthy volunteers. On different days, the research subjects smoked low, medium or high doses of cannabis (based on the content of 9-delta-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active chemical in marijuana), or an inactive placebo.

Pain was induced by injecting capsaicin, the "hot" chemical found in chili peppers, into the skin. Capsaicin injection is a standard technique used in pain studies, according to the authors.

Five minutes after smoking, none of the three doses of cannabis had any effect on pain responses to capsaicin.

However, 45 minutes after smoking the moderate dose of cannabis, pain was significantly reduced — approximately six points lower on a 100-point scale, compared with the inactive placebo.

In contrast, 45 minutes after smoking the high dose of cannabis, pain scores were increased — about eight points higher than with placebo.

The low dose of cannabis had no effect on pain scores. None of the three doses affected the spread of pain beyond the area injected with capsaicin.

Levels of THC measured in the blood were significantly related to reduced pain scores at the moderate dose of cannabis, but not to the increase in pain with high-dose cannabis. The volunteers' sense of feeling "high" increased with each dose of cannabis, even though the pain-relieving effects did not.

"With several states having passed laws legalizing the medical use of cannabis, there has been a call for more research on medicinal cannabis," said Wallace.

Wallace and colleagues call for further research, including studies of the clinical value of the pain-reducing effects. Based on this studies findings, Wallace said he would not recommend marijuana as a method of pain reduction at this time.

Emotons and Eating: Understanding the Hungers That Make Us Human by Dr. Sherri Edelman

ARE YOU IN YOUR OWN WAY?

Eating is a metaphor for the way we live and love. Excessive fantasizing, creating drama, the need to be in control, and wanting what is forbidden are some of the behaviors that block us from finding joy in food or relationships.
Guidelines that enable us to break free from compulsive behavior—learning to stay in the present, beginning to value ourselves NOW, giving the hungry child within us a voice, understanding our physical and emotional hungers, and teaching ourselves to receive pleasure—enable us to be intimate with ourselves and others.

• Diets don’t work because FOOD & WEIGHT are the SYMPTOMS, not the problems! The focus on weight provides a convenient and culturally reinforced distraction from the reasons why so many people use food when they are not hungry!
• Some of the reasons we experience failure have more to do with—neglect, lack of trust, lack of love, unexpressed rage, grief, protection from getting hurt…
• People abuse themselves with food because they haven’t learned deeply that they deserve better, and have not learned and implemented the skills and strategies that are necessary to remove the interference to living the truth.
It is important to now take responsibility for changing these archaic dysfunction and destructive patterns of reacting and perceiving ourselves. Because our patterns of eating were formed by early perceptions of loving, it is necessary to understand and work with beliefs around both food and love to feel satisfied with our relationship to either.

EATING AS A COMPULSION

Compulsion is despair on the emotional level…the feeling that there is no one home. We become compulsive to create what we believe is not there. All we ever wanted, or still want, is love.

• We didn’t want to become compulsive…we did it to survive, to keep from going crazy.
• Food becomes love—eating is a way of being loved. It is available when noone else is…it is always there…it tastes good…is warm when we are cold and cold when we are hot. It becomes the closest thing we know of love.
• This happens not because we are ignorant, but if we’ve never been “loved well”, we don’t know what love really feels like, and we haven’t learned to love ourselves well. We need to learn that now.

Compulsive behavior, at its most fundamental, is a lack of self-love; it is an expression of a belief that we are not good enough. When we are children, we have no resources, no power to make choices about our life situation. We are completely dependent on our caregivers for food, shelter and love. If we experience the pain as too uncomfortable and we have no power to change it or leave, we shut it off. We then switch our pain to something we can control: a compulsion. Food is just one of many possibilities. (Others are sex, television, work, alcohol, drugs, shopping, etc.)
Fortunately, as adults, we have free choice to revisit the decisions we made long ago before we had a real choice—about our self-worth, our capacity to love, and our willingness to be loved, for it is from these decisions that many of our old beliefs about compulsion and love took hold. Long ago we had no choice—now we do!
When food and love get mixed up with each other—we stop showing the places that hurt or need comfort. We stop expecting our needs will be met (sometimes we don’t even know what our real needs are!) and we begin to rely on ourselves and only ourselves to provide sustenance, comfort, and pleasure. So we begin to eat. And eat…but not to fuel and nourish our bodies.

THE COMFORT OF SUFFERING

Obsession with food gives us an easy container for all of our feelings of disappointment, rage, sorrow and shame. As long as we are obsessed with food, we always have a concrete excuse for our pain. The significance of giving up an obsession with food is not a thinner body, not a smaller size, but giving up a protection from pain. When you continue to protect yourself from pain, you protect yourself from intimacy. But when you allow yourself to experience what the real emotion is, sit with that very real emotion—and then ask yourself “Why am I feeling this way? Why now?”, we can then clearly identify that need. Once we do, we as adults must become Self Responsible for the steps to take to get that need met!!
Eating becomes a way to secretly give to yourself—any time we eat compulsively, we reinforce the belief that the only way we can have what we want is to give it to ourselves by means of the chosen compulsion. Moreover, it triggers old messages that we are bad for having needs, and especially bad if we satisfy them. No two objects can occupy the same space at the same time: it is not possible to be obsessed with food, or anything else, and be truly intimate with ourselves or another person; there is just no space for it. So giving up a compulsion makes room for self, and other, and love.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOVE AND COMPULSION

Love and compulsion cannot coexist…
• Compulsion is the act of wrapping ourselves around an activity, a substance, or a person to survive, to tolerate and numb our experience of the moment.
• Love is a state of connectedness, one that includes:
Vulnerability
Surrender
Self-valuing
Steadiness
A willingness to face, not run from, our fears
• Compulsion is a state of isolation—one that includes:
Self-absorption
Invulnerability
Low self-esteem
Unpredictability
Fear that if we faced pain—it would destroy us

Compulsion leaves no room for love—which is why many individuals started eating: as a result of past experiences when we were open to receiving love, but BURIED that need when the people around us did not offer it unconditionally. The existence of compulsion is to act as a shield from the pain associated with issues to do with love.
GETOUT OF YOUR OWN WAY

• Set a goal to have, rather than be, a healthy, fit body. To gain confidence on this path, you need to listen to yourself, both thoughts and feelings.

• Build a “Self” based on Esteem, Kindness, Patience and Forgiveness.

• Break free from Mindless Eating…. it asks you to stop being a victim, gives you choice, self-responsibility.

• Go against a culture that encourages us to define our self-worth as a comparison, against externals—what we look like, what we weigh, how much we possess.

• Mend the shattered, fractured self, hiding inside the compulsion. Seek help from professionals that can partner with you on this very important journey.

• Use the strong language of action:

I agree to
I pledge to
I am prepared to
I intend to
I am ready to
I vow to
I promise to
I will

Vow today to not stand in your own way.

Often it is easier to accomplish the difficult goals of transformation with the partnership of a experienced, compassionate professional. Dr. Sherri Edelman is a Licensed Counselor and Clinical Psychologist, and Co-Founder of Triune Wellness in Old City. With years of experience working with individuals to aid them in dramatic life transformations, you can feel confident in your choice. If you are interested, please contact her at sherriedelman@comcast.net or telephone 215 627 6279 to schedule a consultation. Please visit our website at www.tri-une.com to learn more about holistic health and wellness.

Dr. Edelman on NBC The Today Show - Do You Keep Secrets from Your Mate?

6 secrets you should keep from your mate
Don't tell each other everything. Here's what should stay hush-hush

TODAY
Updated: 10:06 a.m. ET May 15, 2007

Do you love to be open and honest with your partner? Well, perhaps you shouldn't tell them everything. Dave Zinczenko of Men's Health magazine and clinical psychologist, Dr. Sherri Edelman tell us the 6 secrets couples should keep classified from each other.

You don't turn me on right now.
Dave says: No matter how gorgeous your partner is, there are going to be moments when they don't seem to resemble the attractive person you were first enamored with. They're wearing the black belt and burgundy shoes (Forty-five percent of women say that fashion sense is extremely important for attraction.) or they just got a haircut from Edward Scissorhands. But physical attraction waxes and wanes, and there will be moments of both in any relationship,

Sherri says: I agree, but if it is directly related to the woman (i.e. he loves your hair down, and you always wear it up, or if he loves lingerie and you always wear flannel pajamas), these issues can be tactfully addressed.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

I flirt with others at work.
Dave says: Even if you have no intention of taking it anywhere, nobody wants to think of their significant others spending 8, 10, 12 hours a day flirting with attractive females, especially when they look, smell and behave at their very best. (Forty-two percent of men and 35 percent of women have lusted after a peer at work — without ever making a move.)

Sherri says: I agree. A woman would not benefit from knowing this. However, 8 — 12 hours of flirting a day is extreme. Also, flirting is a term that could mean different things to different people. A man's intention is what is important. What need is he getting met by this? Is it reflecting something missing in the relationship like attention, interest in his work or compliments?

That's not how my Mom or Dad would have done it.
Dave says: It's true for men that in the majority of cases, we are intimidated by your parent who provided the role model that we now have to fill. And number one, we'll never be able to measure up to your mom or dad on a few levels; number two, we were raised by a different set of parents that taught us a different way of doing things. If you want to impart your parents' wisdom to your partner, it's fine to tell them stories about how your folks did things, but never make it a comparison between how your parents lived life, and how your partner is living life

I can't stand your friends.
Dave says: According to 83 percent of the men we surveyed, boxing out a man's friends is a relationship deal-breaker. And 62 percent of women consider it a deal-breaker if a guy doesn't get along with her friends.

Sherri says: I agree this is a problem. This needs to be handled carefully. A woman can have her views and opinions, and may not want to be “attached at the hip” with his friends, but character assassination should definitely be avoided.

Discuss:
Is it okay to keep secrets from your spouse or partner?


I still think about my ex.
Dave says: While it is natural to think about your ex, more and more the internet has made exes a bigger threat than ever before. The phenomenon of Googling one's ex, which the majority of Americans admit to, can really make your spouse jealous and fearful. Especially since the phenomenon of people reuniting with very old flames has recently exploded (because of the Internet).

Sherri says: An occasional thought like “I wonder if she ever took that position in Boston?” or “Did the mortgage ever go through on that house she loved and was trying to buy?” is much different than preoccupation, obsessive thinking, fantasizing and longing. Any kind of communication like texting, IM/chat, emailing, etc. could border on emotional cheating and be considered by some women as threatening so collaborative discussion is needed.

My friends know all about our sex life.
Dave says: Her entourage knows all about you. As hard as she might try — which probably isn't hard at all — a girl can't keep a new fling to herself. Early in a relationship, you dominate her life, so her friends are already calling and e-mailing for daily updates. If she were any less discreet, she'd have a blog with your name in the URL.

Sherri says: Sharing very intimate details crosses the line (sexual intimacy). Girls beware! Be careful who you trust...if you tell all, you may tempt a girl "friend" to seduce your man!
© 2007 MSNBC Interactive

An aspirin a day? Maybe not!

Aspirin: It kills 20,000 Americans every year
Common over-the-counter painkillers such as aspirin kill around 20,000 Americans every year, and another 100,000 end up in hospital as a result of taking the drug, new research reveals.

Painkillers known as NSAIDs (non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs) are far more dangerous than people have been told, and can cause life-threatening gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, stomach perforations and ulcers.

More than 14 million Americans regularly take an NSAID for their arthritis pain alone, and around 60 per cent of these will suffer gastrointestinal side effects – and will probably never blame the drug, researchers from the Eastern Virginia Medical School estimate.

Researchers realized that patients weren't associating the painkiller with their stomach problems when they carried out a survey among patients at a clinic that specialises in gastrointestinal disease. Around one in five of the patients was taking an NSAID such as an aspirin, and was not reporting the fact to medical staff because they didn't regard it as significant.

"This reflects a common misperception that these medications are insignificant or benign when actually their chronic use, particularly among the elderly and those with conditions such as arthritis, is linked to serious and potentially fatal GI injury and bleeding," said Dr David Johnson, one of the researchers.

(Source: Proceedings of the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, October 15, 2007).

Do's and Don't for your neck and back

As a chiropractor who has treated thousands of patients since 1996, I have found that certain suggestions I have shared with my patients have stood the test of time.
Here are some simple pointers and explanations that may help you reduce muscle spasm, neck, shoulder and low back pain and possibly prevent structural problems in the cervical (neck), lumbar(low back) and pelvic regions of your spine as you mature.

DON’T: Sleep on your stomach.
(Sleeping in this position causes torque and tension in the upper portion of your spine, mainly because your head is turned to one side or the other for extended periods. The muscles in your neck work hard to keep your head level on your shoulders and your eyes parallel to the horizon.)

DO: Try to sleep lying on your back as often as possible.
(If you sleep on your side, switch sides frequently during the night and try putting a pillow between your knees for added support.)

DON”T: Sleep with a flat pillow that offers no support to your cervical spine

DO: Find a pillow that structurally supports the natural curve of your neck
(There are three natural curves in the spine that increase its strength and flexibility: the cervical curve in the neck, the thoracic curve in the mid back, and the lower back or lumbar curve. Sleeping on a pillow that does not properly support your neck or causes it to tilt forward can gradually decrease the angle of the cervical curve and result in neck or back pain, headaches, and fatigue.)
There are a multitude of different types of cervical or neck pillows available on the market today. If you are like many people, you have tried at least a couple of different types, and hopefully found one that you are comfortable with.

DON’T: Sit at a computer or desk for extended periods without getting up and moving around or stretching.

DO: Position the computer monitor directly in front of you and as close to eye level as possible.
(Turning your head to one side to look at a monitor even a few degrees can have detrimental effects on your spine over time.)

DON’T: Stretch your neck using quick, jerky motions.

DO: Stretch slowly and gently, holding each stretch for a minimum of six seconds. Stretch often (preferably in the morning and also in the evening).






LOWER BACK
DON’T: Lock out your knee joints when bending forward, stretching, or exercising.

DO: Perform your lower back stretches on a consistent basis, even when you are pain free.
Regular stretching increases range of motion and prevents problems in the future.


DON’T: Sit with a wallet in your back pocket.
A thick wallet acts as a wedge, twisting the pelvis, often resulting in pain and dysfunction over time. Muscle responds to pressure by contracting. A wallet on one side of the buttocks creates muscular contraction, thus throwing the pelvis off balance

DO: Get up from your desk and move around as often as possible at work.
Also when driving on long trips, get out of the car, walk around, and stretch whenever you have the opportunity.

DON’T: Keep your feet planted when lifting and moving objects from one area to another.

DO: Use your legs when lifting.
Position the object you are lifting as close to your body as possible without leaning forward. Take small steps rather than twisting your torso when transferring objects from one area to another.

DON’T: Cross your legs for extended periods.
Not only does this position decrease blood flow to the lower extremities, but it also can cause imbalance in the pelvis.

DO: Traction your lower spine by letting your legs hang down while in the deep end of a pool, using a noodle or raft to support your upper body.

Furthermore, as you use your muscular and skeletal systems to fight gravity through your demanding, but productive day, remember that all finely tuned machines need lubrication. It is important to drink water throughout the day to keep your magnificent machine gliding through all your daily activities.

Submitted by Dr. Jeffrey A. Sklar, Chiropractor Triune Chiropractic Counseling and Wellness, LLC

Woman Gets Vision Back After Chiropractic Adjustment

A feel good story appeared in the August 3, 2005 issue of the The Daily Times of Delaware. The story starts off by reporting, "Doctors said after Laura Hattier was born, she'd never be able to see like a normal person, let alone drive a car -- but that didn't stop her. She later entered a beauty pageant -- and won. After a chiropractic adjustment, her vision came back and she married the chiropractor."

According to the article, Laura was diagnosed at birth, with congenital nystagmus. This is a condition where the eye experiences involuntary shaking, causing severe vision loss. According to Laura one in a thousand children are born with this condition. She noted, "When I was born, I was completely blind. The doctor's told my parents there was no hope."

This situation did not stop Laura from working to achieve. As a child her vision improved, but she was still unable to play or read like normal children. "When I was a child, I would look in an adult text book and all I could see were dots," Hattier said. "I thought, 'Wow, grown-ups are really special to be able to look at dots and get words out of that!'."

By the time Laura turned 16 her vision had improved a little but she was still legally blind. Additionally she had begun suffering from severe stomach ulcers. Doctors continued to tell her there was no hope for either of her conditions.

However, Laura did not let that stop her. She then entered the Miss Laurel beauty pageant -- and won. She noted that event changed her life and opened doors that would have otherwise remained closed. She commented, "That was the best things about my teenage years."

While continuing on to college, Laura took a part-time job at chiropractor Donald Hattier's office in Delmar. She noted his belief in chiropractic by recalling, "He suggested that everybody should get adjusted (chiropractic) if they need it or not just because it's a healthy and holistic thing to do."

It was in this circumstance that her life was changed forever. After just her first adjustment, her ulcers disappeared and her vision began to improve. Laura commented, "I don't know if it was coincidence or chiropractic."

On her last day of employment, Dr. Donald asked her on a date. The rest as they say is history. The article notes that Laura and Dr. Donald Hattier now have four children and live near Dagsboro. At age 39, Laura is living the life she never thought possible. Her vision has improved to 20/50 and she reports that she is able to take care of her family and run daily errands. "I can pick my kids up from school, I can drive my kids to church and I can go to the grocery store for my family," she said. "I am truly thankful for that."

Fibromyalgia and Chiropractic

Dr. Paul Whitcomb, a chiropractor in South Lake Tahoe, Ca, doesn't want to offer fibromyalgia sufferers false hope. However, he has developed a chiropractic treatment that has been successful in treating 95 percent of his fibromyalgia patients. Approximately 3.7 million Americans, mostly women, currently have fibromyalgia, according to Dr. Whitcomb's website http://www.stopfibro.com.
"It turns out that fibromyalgia is an upper cervical spinal stenosis, which is actually a choking off of the spinal cord structures, but not so much the spinal cord as the meninges; the coverings of the spinal cord itself," explains Dr. Whitcomb.

Fibromyalgia appears most frequently in people who have suffered some sort of physical trauma, such as a car accident or a blow to the head. Some even recall abuse as a child, but Dr. Whitcomb, who himself suffered from fibromyalgia for three years, said he is currently researching and writing a book about another possible cause of the condition -- surgery.

"I think what's happening is, when you sleep at night you have muscle tone, and if you get sore or you're uncomfortable, you move out of that position -- when you're having surgery, you have no muscle tone at all. You're totally flaccid, and it doesn't take a lot to change something," Dr. Whitcomb said.

"I think what's happening -- I may be wrong -- but the position [surgeons] place the [patient's] head to put the trachea in is the same position [chiropractors] would use to take the first vertebrae and shove it forward." Dr. Whitcomb also theorizes the hospital staff tries different methods to support the neck and make the patient comfortable, but the supports they use often end up pushing the first vertebrae against the spinal cord. The adjustments Dr. Whitcomb makes in moving the first vertebrae from up against the meninges have meant relief for most of the patients who visit his clinic.

In an interview from the "Tahoe Daily Tribune," Dr. Adnan Sammour, an internist, said that one of his patients seems to have enjoyed great success with Dr. Whitcomb's treatment.

"She's almost completely pain-free, sleeping through the night and not requiring any pain medication," Sammour said. "She tried pain medicine, physical therapy, massage, acupuncture, and that did not help."

Some patients do not experience relief from their symptoms with Dr. Whitcomb's treatment. Dr. Whitcomb says they often are not suffering from fibromyalgia, and he also warns them of their limited chances of success beforehand. On his website, Dr. Whitcomb mentions two other hindrances to the success of his treatment. The first, overmedication, can be a problem, since patients often lose the ability to differentiate between the symptoms of fibromyalgia and the side effects of their medication. In addition, patients are often unwilling to discontinue use of their medications. The second hindrance can be the formation of scar tissue. Pseudo, or false, joints can develop after extended periods of living with fibromyalgia. Dr. Whitcomb, however, has had patients recover from their symptoms after 55 years of living with them.

Although fibromyalgia is defined as a chemical imbalance causing hypersensitivity in the nervous system that amplifies pain, the symptoms go far beyond just pain, according to Dr. Whitcomb, "[The misaligned vertebrae] pulls on the meninges, which is not that flexible, which attaches to all the nerve roots all the way down the spine," he said. Since the nerves from the spine have to pass through the meninges, the pulling causes all the nerves to fire at one time. "Now these poor people have symptoms of everything that comes from these nerves, and so you will hear them say they have pain, they have numbness, they have tingling, they have burning, they're cold, they itch; those are just all the proprioceptive fibers that go to the brain from the different areas," said Dr. Whitcomb.

Patients can also be subject to pituitary and thyroid problems. They often experience an almost constant adrenal rush, as the pressure on the meninges causes a reaction in their sympathetic nervous system. Sufferers are basically in a constant "fight or flight" response.

What does this mean for the patients? "They can't sleep," said Dr. Whitcomb. "Even if they do get sleep, or even if they take medication to sleep, they still wake up exhausted." Additionally, the constant activity in the sympathetic nervous system often shuts down the patient's intestines, causing diarrhea, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.

Dr. Whitcomb has found this barrage of pain and discomfort is often accompanied by irrational and uncontrollable mood swings, which are understandable given the severity of the symptoms. Family members and loved ones, however, sometimes feel pushed away by this behavior, and some even leave. This intensifies the feelings of hopelessness, and can lead to depression, sometimes to the point where sufferers feel their only remaining option is suicide.

"I'm trying to do some research to find out how many fibromyalgia patients commit suicide, and the closest we have right now is 14 percent," said Dr. Whitcomb. "But I'm not sure that's an accurate figure. It sounds way too high." Dr. Whitcomb added the national average for suicides is two per 100,000 people. "At any rate, I know it's high because people are sick and they definitely don't want to live like that," adds Dr. Whitcomb.

Part of the healing process, according to Dr. Whitcomb, is meeting and talking with other people who are suffering from fibromyalgia. Patients pack into Dr. Whitcomb's office from all over the world and end up forming close friendships with each other, to the point where some patients show up together in carloads. "It's wonderful...they've got somebody to cry with or hold hands with and the other women grab them and start taking them shopping and going places. That part of it's a real good time."

Not surprisingly, with such a large number of victims, and such serious symptoms associated with fibromyalgia, Dr. Whitcomb's high rate of proclaimed success has met with some skepticism. Dr. Whitcomb says he often wakes up in the morning and can't believe it himself. In the "Tribune" article, National Fibromyalgia Association president Lynn Mantallana said the word "cure" made her nervous, since no cure for fibromyalgia is known at the current time. Mantallana doesn't immediately discount Dr. Whitcomb's claims, however; she herself has suffered fibromyalgia for two years, and just feels more research is needed.

Dr. Whitcomb agrees. He has enlisted the help of Dr. Gregory Plaugher, director of research at the Life Chiropractic College West, to document the cases of 30 of Dr. Whitcomb's patients. "The reason I'm working with [Dr. Plaugher] is that he's an outside source, he's not in our office," said Dr. Whitcomb. "He's going to document and print the results as they come out."

The skepticism, however, doesn't just stem from Dr. Whitcomb's claims about a disease that has only been recognized as a diagnosis within the last five years. Dr. Whitcomb feels other factors may contribute to some of the doubt he is facing, or has yet to face. Among those factors are professional jealousy, misunderstandings and general negativity.

In the case of skeptical medical professionals, Dr. Whitcomb feels that most of them are just trying to address the symptoms as best they can, but they don't define any one treatment as "right" or "wrong". "[Chiropractors] kind of look at a lot of the things [conventional medical professionals] do, and go, 'Why in the world would you do that to a person that has this?' and they look at us and go, 'We think this should be done this way,'" Dr. Whitcomb said. "The problem I have with some of their patients is that they go to doctors and the doctors look at them and say, 'You know what your problem is? You just need to pull your act together, get a life, go back to work and quit whining.'" This type of bedside manner can exacerbate the depression and hopelessness fibromyalgia patients already encounter.

Although Dr. Whitcomb doesn't blame individuals or their doctors, he also has a problem with some patients and their medication. Fortunately, as relief comes for patients, their dependency on painkillers, such as morphine, Oxycontin, and Vicodin, recedes. "Most of my patients are either off of all their meds, or 80 percent are off them within six weeks," Dr. Whitcomb said. "So they usually leave here without meds. He further adds, "Some of the people who have been long term on antidepressants or something, sometimes they'll have to take longer to get off the medications."

Dr. Whitcomb would prefer to be able to send his patients straight to a detoxification program from his office, but he said that it's important to note that he would never take patients off their medication. He prefers to let his patients discuss getting off medication with the doctor who prescribed it, saying, "I don't like to interfere with what other people are doing. The same way I don't let them interfere with my treatment."

As patients begin to recover with his treatments, Dr. Whitcomb feels that it is important for patients to begin some lifestyle changes. Ideally, he would like to work with a resort where patients could go for exercise and detoxification programs, and help with positive diet changes. The road to recovery is intense, with patients visiting Dr. Whitcomb's office up to three times a day over a period of one to two months. "We normally will see a patient three times a day -- Monday, Wednesday and Friday, twice on Tuesday, twice on Thursday and once on the weekend," says Dr. Whitcomb.

According to the information provided on http://stopfibro.com, the intensity of the treatments is necessary to combat fibromyalgia's propensity to return to its abnormal state. Cost for the treatment is $62.50 per visit, which is less than the national average for chiropractors. The cost, however, can quickly add up due to the frequency of visits. A four-week treatment usually costs about $3,500. The cost includes exam, consultation, report of findings, and X-rays. Patients usually find the results well worth the price.

"Somewhere around three weeks [into the treatment], they start sleeping, and it's like a miracle," Dr. Whitcomb said. Patients sometimes think something has gone wrong with the treatment, because they seem to want to sleep all the time, but Dr. Whitcomb says that is a positive change. "I say, 'Good.' That's a real big landmark for us, because that shows me that the sympathetic nervous system is going back to normal." The increased sleep is usually followed by patients' systems recovering from irritable bowel syndrome, as the pain begins to subside. However, Dr. Whitcomb has noticed a setback that sometimes accompanies recovery. Patients have a bit of fear of returning to their life as a healthy person and what their loved ones will expect from them now.

"I have a video here that I show; a talk I give...I tell them, "Look, I want your spouse and everybody to know that you need to go home and you need some months to readjust to being a human being.' It's not easy, and a lot of people require counseling." Dr. Whitcomb employs a counselor for just that purpose, who works with his patients twice a week. Dr. Whitcomb also recommends following up his treatment with deep tissue massages.