An Update on my Progress after 15 Months Under the Care of a D.O.

I've been going to my D.O. regularly for more than a year now (15 months). I last blogged about how things were progressing last March after 5 months of regular visits. Since then I've continued to get monthly adjustments and continued to see real benefits.

My goals, always, is to improve the quality of my life. That includes managing my chronic migraines, fibromyalgia, endometreosis and the weight loss that has resulted from years of struggling with these issues. Here is the break-down of how these regular D.O. appointments have impacted my quality of life.

Chronic Migraines: Well, as expected he has not been able to impact the frequency or severity of my migraines. While I would have welcomed any improvement on either front, I never expected it to happened. Chronic migraines are very complex and not likely to respond to a single intervention like this. That being said, I do hold onto hope that as preventative medications, specifically designed for migraines, begin to hit the market in the years ahead that I will be a better position to respond to them because of what is being done both with my D.O. and with other lifestyle chances I've made.

Fibromyalgia: This is where I've seen the most improvement. The regular attention to the physical structure of my body has cut down on the frequency and severity of fibro flares. These days, I rarely wake up feeling like I was beat up over night. Plus, I have a little more flexibility in how I can move and what I can do before triggering a flare. I'm not cured but these small things have a real impact on my quality of life.

Endometreosis: This isn't an area for the D.O. to help with. Thankfully I've been able to manage it pretty well with medication for the past 3 months or so.

Efforts to gain weight: The D.O. had me trying a few different kinds of enzymes and probiotics to help me turn my weight around. I think it's safe to say that he helped me jump start my weight gain but ultimately I didn't do well on anything he gave me. I have added 2 - 3 Clif Bars to my daily diet. Between that and the decrease in fibro pain, which has helped me to increase the calories I consume, I've been able to gain weight, about 10 pounds. I gained regularly for a few months and have since plateaued. I'm thrilled to have put on as much as I have and that I've been able to maintain what I've gained, but I'm disappointed that the gaining has stopped.

To sum up: The benefits are undeniable. My quality of life has improved as a direct result of these regular visits with my D.O. I've had moments when I wonder if I can back off and start going every 6 or 8 weeks instead. But I don't want to mess with the success I've had so I keep going every 4 weeks. I'm actually starting to feel a dependency on these appointments, which has started to cause me some worry. What happens when he retires? He is the only D.O. in the area who does what he does. He is definitely older than me (thought I'm not sure of his exact age) so it's very unlikely he will be able to treat me for the rest of my life. Then what? I would hate to backslide to how things were before.