I am about to tell you why I never thought in my
wildest imaginings that I would be alive now to write this blog. I had been
pretty fit for most of my life apart from a couple of childhood accidents - one
where I nearly lost an eye and a snapped Achilles tendon from riding a bike
with poor brakes. In my teens I fractured a couple of ribs on a funfair ride -
big misnomer there! They were painful but relatively soon overcome.
About 15 years
ago I was in the depth of despair; I was severely disabled. In fact I was only
walking a few steps with a stick. Most
of my time I was in agony. I described the pain as it felt like someone was
scraping the inside of my kneecaps out with a rusty bread knife. I did a lot of
screaming.
As the months
went by I underwent so many tests I felt like a pin cushion. Injected with a
radio active substance, x-rayed till I thought I would glow, I was given
support bandages and exercises, which I tried once and screamed louder than
seemed humanly possible. I tried so many
different prescribed drugs none of which seemed to have any effect. I even
tried a private consultant. All that
achieved was a massive weight loss to my bank account.
All the things I was passionate about were impossible
to do: scrambling about on hills going in search of wildlife, dancing to James
Brown records, taking long walks on the beach, driving any distances, scuba
diving, even going on holiday. Also the intimate side of my life was
nonexistent. Maybe I should have started the list with that one first!!
To be absolutely honest I was seriously contemplating
suicide. The life I had now was a miserable existence not worth living as far
as I was concerned. The pain was unbearable. My GP was a lovely lady who did
everything she could to get me the treatment I needed but we had run out of
options.
I went back to see her on my regular appointment,
which I was sure would be my last. She said there was one thing more she wanted
me to try, for pain relief. There was a young Australian acupuncturist in town;
she was here for the summer and my GP gave me a prescription to see her. The
thought of yet more needles did not fill me with deep joy.
As it turned out the acupuncture was not what saved my
life, it was the conversation we had. While she was inserting needles into
various bits of my anatomy she asked if I had tried giving up caffeine. I said
I didn’t have much as I didn’t drink tea or fizzy drinks with it in. I
explained I only drank 3 or 4 cups of instant coffee a day and had the odd bar
of chocolate now and then. She said that there had been research in Australia
and lots of people who had given it up discovered that what they thought was
severe arthritis was no such thing.
I was willing to try anything. From that moment I did
not touch caffeine. I knew it was working because I had horrendous withdrawal
symptoms. If you have seen a documentary or a movie about heroin addicts going
cold turkey, then you get the picture. My head throbbed, I couldn’t sleep. I
sweated and shook - it was terrifying! It was because I was suffering so much I
felt sure it must be having some effect. For ten days and nights I battled with
my body. Mind over matter, I kept telling myself it would be worth it.
On the morning of the eleventh day I awoke from the
first full night’s sleep I had had in a very long time. I was pain free!! It
was hard to comprehend at first. I tentatively put my feet on the floor and
dared myself to stand up. That was the moment that I decided to live. I built
up strength quite quickly and the next few weeks were a blur.
I didn’t dare try decaf coffee just in case. Every
label was scrutinised and if there was the slightest doubt I did not eat or
drink it. I took my dog for a walk, I did a little gardening, I popped down the
lane to see my neighbour, I was living again.
All that time I had suffered; all the treatment and
tests I had undergone when all I had to do was stop consuming caffeine. Try it
if you have terrible joint pain, it won’t do any harm and if you are like me it
will bring you back to life. I do drink decaf now.
BIGGEST REGRET:
I DID NOT KEEP A NOTE OF HER NAME.
Whoever you are, thank you for giving me my
life back.
Wincey Willis 2013
