Hi Skippy,
I also had gamma knife and MVD. After MVD the pain was so intense for two or three days I could not move, eat or talk. Finally they put me on a morphine drip. The supplement direction took several years to come together for me. While certain supplements seemed to bring my pain down, they only worked for a short period of time. Then the pain went back up. It wasn't until my Reno surgeries that I began to appreciate the value of supplements. I still did not fully realize the benefits until I started with Dr. Peart here in Fresno, CA.
My experience with Dr. Peart taught me three things. First, supplements brought my medication levels to their lowest (between 100 to 300 mg). Prior to that it was (900 to 1,300 mg) per day. Second, no matter what I did with Dr. Peart, we could not take the pain away completely. There was only one week when the pain was completely gone and that was during the beginning of the treatments (about two years ago). Third, when you have had enough of a supplement, stop taking it. If you don't, the pain will go back up.
I did learn that the proper supplements can bring a level of health to your body. A healthy body is better able to heal or fight illnesses. It was my gut feel that there had to be nutritional value in different supplements that I needed. Unfortunately I had no idea what those micro nutrients might be.
When a friend of mine turned me on to Z-Natural Foods, I was amazed at the different products they provided. The truth is, I started blindly selecting supplements. My only guide was to read what the site said was contained in a specific supplement. The more minerals, micro nutrients, amino acids, etc., the more I was inclined to select that supplement.
I finally put two categories of supplements together from Z-Natural Foods. Also keep in mind that their supplements are in powder form. Each category is broken down into four sub groups. Those sub groups are (1) vegetable, (2) certain types of fruits or nuts, (3) berries, cherries, grapes, etc., (4) roots of plants or mushrooms, food from the ocean, etc.
I have been experimenting with these new supplements since October of last year. It was like a bouncing ball. My pain would go away, then it would come back. I was trying to follow the same guidelines I had learned with NRT. I had literally taken the powders and filled them into 00-gel caps for testing. When I would try and take the amount the testing said I should take, the pain would always go up. As I explained in one of my comments, the break-through came when I discovered that I had to mix a given category together and then retest with the mixture. Once I did this, I was able to take the right amount of supplements and the pain went away. There is no question in my mind what is happening is a direct result of the supplement intake.
I continually test and adjust the supplements according to the testing. Since October I have purchased, I believe 43 supplements. Dr. Peart in Fresno and Dr. Hussar in Reno are very interested in this new line of supplements and how I combined them to get pain relief that neither Doctor was able to give me.
When I was at my worst, my family took everything away from me that I could get my hands on which I might use to take my life. I can tell you that you can't pray yourself death. You can't cry enough. You can't holler or scream enough. You can't hit your head into a wall hard enough or punch yourself in the face hard enough to make the pain go away. I have never know any pain so intense and so persistent. Death literally was welcome. Somehow I made it through.
I still can't believe that pain relief was as simple as the right supplements. I keep thinking I suffered for nearly two decades for nothing. The truth is, I keep waiting in dreadful anticipation, thinking the pain will come back at any time. I must also stress that a very healthy diet of fruits and vegetables and juices is also necessary.