I haven't posted on KickAS for a long time because for the past year I've been very depressed. I spent exactly 11 months on the No Starch Diet with mimimal relief. By June of last year I found myself at the doctor's begging for more valium, arcoxia, predisone and, yes, even Remicade. My CRP was through the roof and all activities like yoga and swimming were completely out. Of course my insurance denied me the remicade and the Islamic values of the country where I live kept me from getting more than 15 5 mg tablets of valium a month...all of you know the rest (pain, pain, lots of stiffness and pain---I swear if one more person asked me if I had "been in an accident" I was gonna scream).
My wife and I had planned to go on a 2 week safari in Kenya for our January/February break but, 2 weeks before we were to go I simply had to cancel. Patty got on the computer right away and started looking for an inexpensive "spa" for us to go to instead. One site lead us to another and soon we found ourselves booking a 3 week stay at a place called "Radium Palace" in the town of Jachymov, Czech Republic. Their specialty? Yep, you guessed it...AS!!!! The treatment? Sitting stark naked in a steel tub of radon water for 20 minutes everyday for 3 weeks + physical therapy, massage and some other weird treatments (like sonic waves). When I first got there, the doctor told me simply that after the 3 week treatment I would feel terrible-very flared-and then 3 to 6 weeks later I would have no pain and no inflammation for about 8-12 months. Now, at this point I know what you're all thinking..."yeah, right"...well, so was I. I spent the 3 weeks there going through the moves...taking off my clothes in front of the attendants (hey, I'm from the USA--we don't do that....), sitting in a steel tub of radon water (what the hell?) going for massage therapy (more my cup of tea) and hanging out with a bunch of old East Germans (I was 39 going on 40-we didn't have much in common). Believe me when I say, I wasn't buying any of it--eyes rolling all the time--years of chronic pain and countless failed "miracle remedies" have left me a bit sceptical, to say the least.
So, we left the Czech Republic after the 3 weeks (poor Patty, she's healthy as a horse and spent most of the time watching the snow and reading-she was losing her mind). I felt like hell. The first 3 weeks passed-nothing. Celebrated my 40th birthday, but wanted to die because of the pain. 4 weeks passed maybe something..I feel different. 5 weeks...hmmmmm....interesting...I can get out of bed without moaning. Jesus, did I just turn my head to answer a question? Let me try that again...yeah...I did...hmmmmm..... Week 6: I don't feel like taking a nap today. Wait, did I take my medicine this morning? Crap, let me check...no...I didn't. But, no...this can't be real. 2 days later...still no medicine-no stiffness-no fatigue--[**BLEEP**]! I can't believe it IT WORKED!!!????!!!
Wow! I am simply a normal person. I haven't felt this good in SOOOOOO long!!!! I've been swimming every morning and, as I type this, I'm still buzzing from an amazing yoga session. My meds are just sitting in the cabinet-untouched for days.
So, I'm going to continue taking advantage of this "miracle" and see if the doctor was right....8 months to a year???? That would be too good to be true. If any of you are interested, I'll keep you posted on my condition. In the mean time, I encourage you to check out what they are saying online about Radon therapy and inflammatory diseases--interesting--some promising research out there. Also, here's a link to the radon spa town of Jachymove and the Radium Palace:
http://www.laznejachymov.cz/en/
As you can all see, I'm very excited this morning (yes, it's 7:53 AM and I've been up since 6AM-already done yoga and will now go juice some oranges and grapefruit for Patty, who is still in bed!)
Happy Luigi
