Fibromyalgia Success Story
PART ONE: Female 61-year-old: Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Headaches and Multiple Complaints – Summer 2024
When the simple act of taking a shower causes such fatigue that you need bed rest; when you need a day in bed to prepare for a brief appointment; when your work, your hobbies and your social interaction have ceased because chronic pain and fatigue no longer allow you to partake in them, well, the road of life ahead really begins to look very bleak.
For years I traipsed from one consultant to another, each of whom after their 15-minute consultation, made a different (untested) diagnosis and added another addictive medication to an alarmingly lengthening list of very strong prescription drugs. However, nothing was improving, and I was fearful of having to resign myself to ever declining heath. Thankfully, Drummartin Clinic popped up in an internet search and while I wasn’t entirely convinced, I thought since nothing else was working, it was worth a shot.
When eventually I dragged myself, my catalogue of diverse and apparently unrelated symptoms, my recurring infections, pain, fatigue, headaches, fuzzy brain and mood depressing, addictive medications to Dr Patrick Magovern, I had decided this was to be my last-ditch effort to find the root cause of my ailments and if it didn’t work, I wasn’t going to try again.
The extensive pre-consultation questionnaire was the first sign that this was going to be different. I was able to contribute to my medical history things that had previously been dismissed as unimportant but that had niggled away at the back of my mind as being significant.
The consultations themselves were extensive and holistic, the range of tests recommended were targeted and thorough, and the multi-faceted diagnosis, as evidenced by my continuously improving state of health, undeniably accurate: a hypomagnesmic state, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), low stomach acidity which was contributing to poor nutrient absorption and a beleaguered ultra-sensitive body that perceived itself under constant physical and emotional attack.
The recommended treatments include magnesium infusions, a low histamine diet, a range of supplements to address mineral and vitamin deficiencies, vagus nerve and limbic system retraining exercises and craniosacral therapy. I was encouraged to undertake my own research on all these recommendations, and I was in the driving seat for my own treatment.
It’s truly incredible but following a single round of magnesium infusions I left the clinic, pain and headache free for the first time in years and with energy levels higher than I could easily recall having. I didn’t believe that this was possible and anxiously waited for the crash that usually followed new treatments (which included what I’m now convinced was an unnecessary surgery).
The crash never came! The low histamine diet isn’t easy, particularly as I have sensitivities to dairy products and many grains, but the results of following it are undeniable. I have successfully withdrawn from the first pain medication, an opioid, and the pain that it was supposedly treating has not returned.
There is still some way to go, I am so looking forward to the day that I have eliminated the ineffectual prescribed pain medications, one of which I have discovered is contraindicated for MCAS. Imagine that! I’ve been prescribed medications that aggravate my condition!
Dr Magovern always urges caution and patience to temper my eagerness to accelerate every process. These things take time he advised and quotes the Carpenters song title “We’ve only just begun”.
That “we” is very reassuring. To the letter, I will follow Dr Magoverns every recommendation, quite simply because IT WORKS. I haven’t felt so well in years, and there’s still more improvement to come as my body heals and draws closer to a state of chemical equilibrium.
Please, I urge you, if you have a complex medical condition that’s showing no benefit from the standard medical interventions, visit Dr Magovern and his team at Drummartin Clinic. The care in your treatment that you’ll receive from every team member is something you won’t find elsewhere. Most importantly this science based, functional medicine approach, IT WORKS.
PART TWO: Female 61-year-old: Fatigue, Headaches, Brain Fog and Refractory Severe Musculoskeletal Pain – Eight Months Later
“I had a wonderful “Aha!” moment today, a sudden delectable insight into the progress that I’ve made since my first visit to the Drummartin Clinic.
As I sat in my consultation with Dr. McGovern, complaining that cramps in my calf muscles were disappointingly preventing me from undertaking my daily four mile (10,000-ish steps) walk, I had the blissful realisation that at my first consultation on 22nd July 2024, just under 8 months previously, my complaints were that most days I could barely rise from my bed, that taking a shower would use all my energy reserves for the day and I’d have to rest afterwards, that any (assiduously planned) social occasion required days of bed rest pre and post the event.
All that in addition to the variety of debilitating pains, aches, and blinding headaches, that left me medically abandoned and socially isolated in darkened rooms. Those others amongst us with chronic illnesses will know that I don’t exaggerate.
But what progress I’ve made, much higher energy levels, no migraines, no unmanageable pain, no more opioid or other heavy duty pain medications, and at last regaining a social life. Let me be clear, progress hasn’t been linear, there have been good and bad days, and it has definitely taken plenty of commitment on my part, to the recommended treatment plan.
Progress however has been extraordinary and the support from the Drummartin team on the difficult days has been on every occasion, exceptional. The journey continues and there’s still more progress to be made.
People with chronic illnesses need to find a health professional who is willing to take them seriously. There are very few practitioners who deserve to be called “professional” when it comes to treating these illnesses but there is a truly professional team to be found at Drummartin Clinic.”