Karen C

This report was written up by an independant reviewer, Kate Shepard, to show that Karen has returned to health and been able to maintain it.

PROBLEMS

At the age of 21 and again at the age of 27, Karen contracted glandular fever which triggered the onset of M.E. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).  Forced to give up work in the UK and spending half of her day bed-ridden, she underwent acupuncture treatment, which she found extremely beneficial.  Before moving from the UK to New Zealand in 2006 Karen’s system was fairly balanced.  Unfortunately, due to the move from the other side of the world with her family, Karen’s energy levels once again spiraled out of control and so did her quality of life. 

In a new country and not knowing a good acupuncturist to choose, Karen’s husband saw a newspaper advertisement for the Healthwise Energy Centre. 

“A lot of the things that are wrong with me stem from glandular imbalances. I went to see Graham because it was mainly the fact that I had no energy and I wanted to address that. If you sort the energy thing out, the muscle pain sorts itself out,” says Karen.

A diagnosed diabetic with a thyroid imbalance, Karen presented to Graham in October 2008 with symptoms including:-

• Extreme physical fatigue
• Mental fatigue
• Muscular pain
• Loss of quality of life
• Three or four hours per day spent sleeping
• Permanently in a state of being ‘overheated’

WHAT KAREN SAYS

I didn’t know about the Bowen treatment and the Body Talk that Graham did. What did catch my eye in his advert was how he was talking about TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder) treatment and the positive effects it had shown for M.E. sufferers.  That’s what I needed and that’s what I went for. 

With M.E. it’s said that your energy levels are never really 100%.  When I came to New Zealand I had a fairly good run for about two years but then my energy levels dropped to about 50%.  M.E. is a fairly unquantifiable disease because we all have different symptoms, the big one being fatigue. I used to think to myself… at what time of the day can I go back to bed? It’s not a fatigue whereby you get tired, you actually wake up tired. It’s not that I’m a lazy person.  I’m a very busy person but I actually hate the fact that I’ve spent a lot of the last 20 years of my life sleeping.

One of the big things is knowing what your triggers are and knowing when you’ve done too much.  It’s also knowing how to redress that problem, without hitting rock bottom.  In the past I’ve ignored the signs and ploughed on.  Now, I recognise the signs and stop to take time out.  That means only a few days of recovery instead of a few weeks.

GRAHAM’S TREATMENT

After my first treatment, my energy improved.  I was going to see Graham every week at first then I changed that to once a month. The cumulative effect of the first four to six treatments was that my energy level went up to probably 85% of normal. I don’t hope for a permanent cure because M.E. is about managing an illness rather than finding a cure. My energy levels going up meant I could get through my day without collapsing in a heap at 3 o’ clock and then sleeping for four hours.

All my life I’ve also suffered from being too hot.  I talked to Graham about the overheating and what he did for that was he managed to switch my temperature gauge off. I now wear socks to bed if it’s cold and have a hot water bottle… like any normal person!  What can happen if you get overheated is that your adrenal glands are constantly working to try to address the heat balance in the body.  Graham has addressed my adrenal gland functioning.  

Everybody is different and reacts differently to different treatments. Graham’s treatment works for me.  The other thing he did was fascinating.  I had a lump under my ribcage and he took me through a process where I imagined that I was squashing down the lump until it was non-existent.  It’s quite bizarre because the lump disappeared. 

I now go for treatment at the Centre once a month, which keeps me ticking over and that’s what I need.  I would tell people with low energy levels to give this treatment a go. It has certainly worked for me and I have faith in Graham.  I knew within the first four to six treatments that it was going to work for me. If it hadn’t worked I would have been honest with Graham. It would have been a waste of his time and my money.  But his treatment has worked. 

GRAHAM’S COMMENTS