Amanda– Migraines, Fatigue, Allergies, Anxiety, Depression

This week, I would love to share about Amanda’s experience in resolving a list of issues that were making daily life really miserable for her.

She initially got in touch because she heard that I might be able to help her with her migraines. She had begun having daily migraines three years ago, and they ranged from a level 2-9 on the pain scale, lasted 85% of the day, and 50% of the time they were over a 5 and came with nausea.

In addition to the migraine headaches, she had very tight upper traps, TMJ issues, poor sleep, fatigue, bad sinus allergies, and severe anxiety and depression. As you can imagine, having all of these issues and parenting three little ones as a military wife was making life very, very hard.

What I noticed right away when Amanda laid on my table was her breathing. Her breath seemed rapid and shallow, like it was “stuck” in her upper chest. This is actually somewhat common for women who have had babies– the organs get pushed up into the chest cavity during pregnancy, but don’t always come back down into place after the baby is born. This can also cause a lot of fatigue and even anxiety, since the breathing pattern itself can tell the brain that it’s under stress/ in danger. Gently releasing her organs and respiratory diaphragm allowed her to immediately begin breathing deeper into her ribs and abdomen, and she felt a sense of relief right away.

Next, I spent time working with her head and neck, noticing a misalignment in the way her head was sitting on the spine. This is also common, and can cause all kinds of problems, including migraines, TMJ issues, poor sleep, and sinus allergies. I knew that helping that to correct would make a big difference for her.

When she came back a week and a half later, she told me that her head immediately felt better after her treatment. She had some dull headaches (pain level 1-2) still, but no migraines. She was breathing more deeply and easily still, and her sinus allergies had improved. She was thrilled!

I continued to work with Amanda a couple more times, and when she came back in the last two times, she reported that she had NO pain in her body! Her allergies were gone, she had no headaches, no jaw pain. When I asked about her anxiety and depression, she reported that she had been able to come off of her medications, and felt that both anxiety and depression were improved by 50%!

We will continue to work together towards even more improvement in mood symptoms, and I see her moving towards thriving in her life rather than just surviving. It’s a joy to witness these changes and help Amanda let go of the pain she has been carrying in her body.

I want to thank Amanda for letting me share her story. As I told her, my hope is that a few of you out there reading this will see some familiarity in her story, and will know that you CAN get help and feel better. Life can be so hard, but we don’t have to suffer as much as we do. Reach out if you need help.