Patient reports on her fibromyalgia pain
From the hell of fibromyalgia pain back to life: Sabine once swallowed 40 tablets a week, lost her job, and almost lost hope. Today, she leads an active life again—thanks to persistence, courage, and the Gastein Healing Gallery as a place of power.
From occupational disability back to normal life
Sabine was only able to get by with around 40 painkillers per week. At that point, she had already had to give up her job as an office clerk. The pain of fibromyalgia made life hell for the 48-year-old mother of two – especially at night. After a long odyssey of pain, treatments at the Gastein Healing Gallery finally brought her relief. Today, Sabine and her husband run the family business and she is back in the thick of working life. We spoke to the tough Swabian woman about pain, perseverance, and her place of power, the Gastein Healing Gallery.
Interview with a fibromyalgia patient
Can you remember when the pain started?
"Of course! Ten years ago, I suddenly started experiencing unexpected bouts of pain. At first, my doctor suspected a herniated disc. But this suspicion was not confirmed. The pain felt like a hundred needle or knife pricks. It started in one place and then moved on. At first, I felt pain along the left side of my spine, then along the right side, and later also in my cervical spine, shoulders, hands, and feet."
Many fibromyalgia patients suffer from unbearable pain for years before receiving a diagnosis. Was that the case for you too?
"Thank God, no! But it still took twelve long months before I received the correct diagnosis. It was an incredibly difficult time, during which many doctors dismissed me as a hypochondriac and thought I was suffering from a mental illness. It was awful!"
Nevertheless, you knew relatively quickly that fibromyalgia was causing the pain. How did that happen?
"I think it was down to my persistence. I just didn't give up and went to see a rheumatologist on my own initiative. That was about a year after the pain first appeared. By the time I found out I had fibromyalgia, I had already taken almost 2,000 painkillers."
What happened after you found out it was fibromyalgia?
The hope that a diagnosis would lead to an appropriate treatment quickly vanished. There is no conventional medical treatment for fibromyalgia. I continued to take painkillers, which were of little help. My body suffered from the pain of fibromyalgia. When I came home in the evening, it took me forever to calm down. But as soon as I settled down or fell asleep, the pain started all over again. After only three hours of sleep, the night was over for me, the pain became unbearable, and a good night's sleep was out of the question. During the day, I kept myself going with about four to eight painkillers. But the pills can only alleviate the fibromyalgia pain, never make it go away completely. That wears you down. In the end, I couldn't even work anymore. I was driven by the worry that I might never be able to work again."
But you didn't resign yourself to your fate?
"No. Whenever I had the strength, I looked for alternatives to pain medication. At some point, I came across the Gastein Healing Gallery. The idea of finding relief for my pain in a mountain was strange, but I thought it was worth a try."
What was the effect after your first treatment?
"At first, I was surprised that I really had less pain. The pain relief after the first treatment lasted for about two months. That may not sound like much, but for me, those were the first two months since the onset of my illness that I got through reasonably well. The longer it had been since the treatment, the stronger my pain became again."
Are you going to the spa today?
"Yes, I now even go into the tunnel twice a year and make ten trips each time. The effect usually sets in after about six weeks and has lasted for six months since the third treatment. After the treatment, there are even weeks when I don't take a single tablet; occasionally I take one painkiller per week. About four years ago, there was a summer when I was almost completely pain-free—it was indescribable!"
Today, Sabine is back in the swing of life. She does fitness training, yoga, and Nordic walking, and can finally sleep for more than three hours at a time. Together with her husband, she now runs the family business, a surface coating company, and is back in the thick of professional life.
Thank you very much for the open conversation.
Background: Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia often begins gradually. Sufferers experience chronic pain in their muscles, tendons, joints, arms, or legs, which doctors can pinpoint as so-called tender points. If 11 of the 18 main pain points react spontaneously to pressure, doctors diagnose fibromyalgia syndrome. The condition is often accompanied by chronic fatigue and depression. To date, fibromyalgia is considered incurable. Even drug therapies, which often have serious side effects, are only effective in 30 to 40 percent of patients. Attempting natural alternative therapies is therefore worthwhile for many sufferers.
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