CASE STUDY

A long time ago (late teens) Chris began suffering with the symptoms of unwellness. It began with a visit to the doctor for persistent problems with increasingly explosive toilet visits. Probably even earlier with anxiety. Investigations involving tubes being rammed in every orifice! Nothing found. All put down to an excessive lifestyle. And of course, back then mental health (a lousy term for something that is actually a circular problem of body and mind) just created an image of a ‘sad out of control’ human. Get a grip. WTF!

That though was just the beginning! As time ticked on the original problems got progressively worse and new issues began to emerge. Beginning with totally unanticipated panic attacks which at the time were not even a recognised medical ‘thing’. Nowhere to go with that. Just ‘man-up’ and get yourself sorted!

The years went by and multiple doctor’s visits followed. You could get appointments without private insurance in those days! Still nothing concrete identified. The unwellness symptoms began to diversity.

University done with and a high-profile demanding career in the international technology sector followed. Began using the gym or running daily and maybe that reduced the rate of decline a bit although it wasn’t long before the anxiety and panic attacks were joined by long sleepless nights. Lots of them. Eventually drugs were prescribed to help with sleep. And all the problems of drug induced sleep followed. Daytime tiredness, anxiety and panic attacks all getting much worse triggered by almost any shock event. A loud noise, bad news, a threatening situation most people would just dismiss. No phobias but a fear of the house burning down or being burgled every time it was vacated. ‘Check, check, check! ‘ Madness!

It was all becoming a vicious circle and the unwellness symptoms continued to broaden. Now weight and body mass were becoming real issues. Fuelled maybe, by lack of sleep and anxiety leading to reward foods and calming alcohol. It was a mess then. Yet it was going to get far worse…

A small acid reflux (acidy belly) problem previously treated with simple antacid tablets had begun to take on a life of its own. Acid reflux after eating just about anything. Consistently re-eating the same foods-because of regurgitation. Throat sometimes chocked with unbearable burning sensations. And so more visits to the doctor, this time followed by a referral to a private specialist at unforgiveable cost. The outcome of a tube down the throat and a ten-minute chat, was a new drug recommendation. PPI’s. For years to follow that was the solution to acid reflux. And it worked-no more acid. Yet the side-affects slowly began to emerge. A huge bloated belly full of gas identified in an ultrasound. That has to be a beer belly- of course it was! Except it wasn’t. Taking pills to prevent the very stuff that helps digestion, means it’s unlikely some foods will be digested efficiently. And so bad bacteria migrate upwards and have a field day. “Come on guys…grub up. Let’s take a journey through this human and gobble up all that undigested food”. And with that the emergence of SIBO – yet another unwellness problem identified. Bloating added to other IBS symptoms. The pharmaceutical companies might not like that bit regardless of the obvious and the science. So, a disclaimer-PPI may not have caused the problem!   

By this time, sleep was only possible with drugs. BMI was well into obesity levels. Bloating and IBS symptoms. Anxiety and panic attacks multiplying. Mood a big issue. And with that withdrawal from anything likely to trigger mood issues. PPI was stopped in an attempt to reduce SIBO / IBS symptoms. So acid attacks back with a vengeance. And hypertension was becoming a problem too. Consistently high blood pressure sometimes surging to levels demanding a visit to casualty.  Forever tired. Headaches nearly every day. All getting progressively worse with time. Test after test for something more onerous. Yet nothing – just a cocktail of symptom focus drugs. None of which addressed the underlying issues.

Yet unwellness still had more blows to dish out. The devil itself! The final straw. Snoring (actually choking) and waking up in a panic just at the point sleep was becoming a daily occurrence. A visit to the sleep clinic was suggested. That resulted in a diagnosis of something new again. This time Apnea, resulting in the need to wear a respiratory mask connected to a compurerised bedside air pump. Every night for life!  Sure, it stopped the sleep-panic syndrome but what a prospect! Most people don’t adjust to that therapy.Understandable!

The conclusion. Over thirty years on from the initial onset and unwellness had created one of ‘big pharm’s’ ideal customers. Alive and unhappily consuming their products! A life time prison sentence. And very real. Not a story. Everything and more tracked by the medical community over all those years.

However, a shining light also began to emerge. The ability to research things was increasingly being enabled by the internet. And that’s what happened next – slowly but surely.

In no structured way, lots and lots of things were tried. The science was there. Researching the very scientific processes that feed the assessment and therapy processes used by doctors was yielding so much more information. New options that are not even complex when the information is translated into normal language. It was starting to become clear that wellness is not about just sleep or the mind or the body. Its all of those things. It’s a vicious circle and that can be triggered by so many things. And we live in a world of many potential triggers with one unwellness outcome often leading to another then another. Taking to people it became clear that unwellness was an epidemic- yet no one understood what was going on! Maybe nothing new about that. However, the medical process operates through silos of expertise. A drug or therapy for this symptom or maybe that one. No holistic approach anywhere!

During the journey through increasing unwellness, it became obvious just how common the unwellness vicious circle is. It can start at a young age, compounding as the years go by and the only treatment being symptom focused ‘big pharma’ or symptom focused therapy. Another penny dropped. The medical community were looking at problems on a ‘symptom by symptom’ basis. Nobody seemed to be looking at the problem holistically. And that’s where the concept of holistic wellness comes from. Big picture thinking. Breaking the vicious circle then transforming the environment within which it thrives.

The penny finally dropped. Probably from very early in life the mould had been cast. Something triggered unwellness and the vicious circle took-over and slowly began to thrive unabated damaging body, mind and sleep. An holistic approach was needed. Something that broke the unwellness circle and prevented it from talking control again. However, any approach adopted needed sciencebehind it. If only to give confidence. No fads. No freakery. Just science translated into meaningful words. That became the mission. Retired and from a scientific and technology background, time to spend on the mission was possible. Starting with body, moving onto mood and sleep.

The outcome was frankly astonishing! Within a few months body weight and mass returned to normal levels. SIBO and IBS issues gone. No panic on falling sleep. Sleep is good and hypertension no longer a problem. IBS symptoms and mood (the very problems that began the vicious circle all those many years ago) in a different place. A crazy outcome. If only earlier!

The good news though it worked. It really is possible. Armed with new energy, a determination to share the experience and methods with anyone that wants to give it a go was compelling. And that’s how the idea for this site was born. More than forty years in the making!

Making lots of money though would not be the objective. Free at the point of use Just like the UK NHS. To continually improve and extend the scope as new science and learning rapidly evolves. To try to help people short circuit the unwellness process. In a world where doctors and therapists are either unavailable, too expensive for the uninsured or simply not trained or experienced in the holistic wellness world where confusion abounds supported by exploitive fads and freakeries. Thats the objective!

From the outset it was clear the mission meant creating the tools, methods and knowledge acquired and putting them into an environment where anyone could use it. Empowered peope. That was goinf to require extensive research and programming effort. Time and money too. Yet it had become obvious that the science supporting wellness had progressed (and continues to progress) in recent years. Yet it’s not filtering through anything like quick enough. Moreover, wellness can easily be compromised or confused by ‘quick fix’ pills and therapies helping with symptoms but not breaking vicious circle affecting mind, body and sleep.

So despite the challenges, the benefits of building a holistic learning and resolution site were compelling. To help unwellness sufferers. To maybe even help the stretched, untrained medical community and so extend their resource-constrained reach. Somethong easy to understand and use. A scientifically supported holistic wellness solution conceived by a long-time sufferer of unwellness who after a near life time has finally found much more peace.

Take the Wellness Assessment. Undertake the lessons. Do the wellness resolution practicals. Become a self-empowered expert in your own wellness. And maybe even consider venturing into the world of being a Wellness Expert to others based on your own experiences.

Of course. No promises that the programme will work for you. However, its all backed by science and perhaps more importantly the experiences you just read about. Unwellness can be beaten. It took forty years in this case. It really didn’t need too!

Here’s hoping it works for you too. Either to prevent or to lessen you ordeal! Join up. Take the Wellness Assessment and see what you learn and see if the lessons and resolutions are for you.