As a sufferer of a debilitating muscle wasting auto-immune disease I take an obnoxious concoction of bright coloured pills every morning. Without them I would not be able to get out of bed and they have given me back the use of my legs. They are incredibly powerful drugs and although they have an incredible effect on my lifestyle they do have long term side effects.



Taken over a number of years the drugs I take will begin to cause long-term problems. These include thinning of my bone density. As a result I try hard to reduce the amounts of these drugs that I take. Because my illness is autoimmune it cannot be solved with treatment; the treatment instead seeks to reduce the symptoms of my illness. These symptoms include severe stiffness, chronic fatigue and muscle weakness. As a result I am always on the lookout for alternative therapies that may help alleviate my symptoms and allow me to reduce my drug intake. Here are a few that I have researched:

Reiki

In short a Reiki practitioner is able to channel healing energy into the body by 'Iaying on hands'. The names derive from the Japanese character that refers to 'unseen' and 'spiritual'. So it basically involves a practitioner waving their hands over your body and channelling healing energy to the diseased area. I was extremely sceptical about how effective Reiki could be and in many ways I still am. But the Reiki practitioner I visited was great. The process involved me sitting down whilst the practitioner tried to clear a channel around me. It was a very relaxing experience. This took about 20 minutes.

Once this had been done I lay on a massage bed and the practitioner placed his hands around 5 inches above my feet. From here he very slowly moved up and down my body. It was a slightly strange experience but entirely non invasive. After a while I could feel a slight tingling in the area beneath where the healer had his hands. It was not very strong but even with my eyes shut I could tell where his hands were despite the fact that he wasn't touching me. I found this slightly strange but not frightening. Aside from this I did not find that the technique had much affect on my symptoms but I did find that the whole experience was quite relaxing. I definitely would consider going again and would recommend other people try it as it might work for you.

Chiropractic medicine

My visit to a chiropractor was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. I went to see a chiropractor long before my illness had been properly diagnosed. He had a look at my back and immediately told me that it was out of line and he could directly locate the parts of my back that were out of line. He also told me that I had a rib out of place which was news to me. It was fascinating because he poked a finger straight into a part of my back that should not have hurt at all but it caused me acute pain.

Having diagnosed my problems he went on to perform eight manipulations. These involved bending me into positions that I didn't even know were possible. These manipulations made the worst and scariest cracking sounds I had ever heard but were never painful. When he finished I was astounded at how much better I was. I could notice immediately an improvement in my posture. I was noticeably taller and broader and I felt much better.