How I Became a Fan of Chiropractic

Seven months ago, I was 60 pounds overweight, in extreme pain from fibromyalgia, unable to sleep, having trouble keeping up with my three-year-old grandson, miserable and depressed. Today, I am 45 pounds lighter, pain free, sleeping well and life is good. What made the difference?
It was my friend Jan. She works for Dr. Riffel and she encouraged me to give Chiropractic a try. I had always scoffed at the notion of visiting a Chiropractor. I felt it would be a waste of money and I didn't want to have to do weekly or more frequent visits. So I resisted the one thing that was to make a major difference in my life.
For fifteen years I visited a rheumatologist who had me on Celebrex and Elavil for my fibromyalgia. The combination of those two drugs did help take some of the edge off of the pain. Then warnings started coming out about the risk of heart attack with the use of Celebrex so I discontinued it. After a few months, I developed shooting pains in my legs and a recurrence of restless leg syndrome. I also began to get something new: a sharp jabbing pain in my hips at random times throughout the day. It got to the point where I was crying from depression and frustration.
The pain kept me up night after night and often I could only get to sleep by eating myself into a stupor. Over several years my weight ballooned, which contributed even more to the problem. I had no desire or motivation to exercise for fear that the pain would intensify. It was difficult for me to run after my grandson at the playground and I certainly couldn't participate in the activities he wanted me to do with him. My general physician could only recommend Cymbalta, an anti-depressant which would mask the pain, but carried the chance of side effects which included possible thoughts of suicide, restlessness, sleeplessness and anxiety. I didn't want to turn to yet another pharmaceutical.
It was at this point that I decided I had nothing to lose by visiting Dr. Riffel. I was skeptical, but willing to give him a chance. I had already tried everything else. I immediately felt at ease with Dr. Riffel. His hands were cool, soothing and gentle, and his demeanor friendly and kind. I was unfamiliar with the process but he was patient in explaining how the nerve system works as a message highway to all the organs in the body.
After my first adjustment, I was amazed that the sharp jabbing pain in my hips disappeared almost the first day. The pain decreased in intensity and frequency until suddenly, I realized that it was completely gone. It was a miracle! Slowly, while keeping up my periodic appointments over the next few weeks, the shooting pains in my legs subsided as well. My newfound sense of well being caused a desire to get healthy in other areas of my life and I started to visit the gym daily. That led to a desire to lose weight, which resulted in dropping 45 pounds in five months time!
Today, I am happy to report that I am feeling well, with no use of medications. I am still exercising almost daily. My grandson and I run around all day without Grandma getting fatigued. I am so grateful to my friend Jan for introducing me to Dr. Riffel seven months ago and I have been a fan ever since.