65 y.o. female, retired professional engineer. I used physical exercise, supplements, diet, and several alternative therapies including Howard Shifke's "Recipe for Recovery" in January 2012. After giving the Recipe my best shot and only getting worse, I finally started on levodopa in Nov. 2012 after going 5 1/2 years drug-free. After 1 month, the improvement in my symptoms has been astounding. I continue my exercise regimen, including tennis. I have discovered GigerMD. I am of the opinion that if dopamine is the neurotransmitter of joy, the key is to be JOYOUS, so I keep on laughing.

January 16, 2012

It has now been 1 year since I embarked on the journey to recover from Parkinson's disease. My intention was to be completely healed. What I attained is effective freedom from the symptoms of PD, although I certainly would not have predicted the route by which I arrived at this point. My body and my mind now function as they did prior to my diagnosis in 2007. My joy overflows.

For much of the time period from 2007 to 2011 I investigated many alternative and holistic paths, from physical exercise to neurofeedback to herbal preparations to neuroprotective supplements, to a gluten-free and lactose-free diet but none of these offered complete healing. In 2011, I met Howard Shifke in Tampa, Florida. He had recovered completely from PD in 9 months using a combination of methods (including medical Qigong for the body and meditation for the mind and soul) that he called his "Recipe for Recovery." I had decided that this offered me the best chance for recovery, so in January 2012, I embraced it, with Howard as my coach. He agreed to help on the condition that I would be willing to stop working and traveling, and to stop taking supplements. I retired from my career as a professional engineer and stopped travelling. Over a 2-month period I gave up all my supplements. The Qigong was incredibly onerous – I was only able to perform the exercises with the help of my spouse Wendi moving my uncooperative body for me. Many times, I was very close to packing it all in, as the Qigong only became increasingly difficult. My refuge became meditation and prayer (I also resumed going to the Unity Church after a hiatus of over 10 years), and a return to the Living Love teachings of Ken Keyes Jr., author of the Handbook to Higher Consciousness and other publications that had inspired me back in the early 1990s. Howard effectively held my hand throughout. I will forever treasure our weekly Skype sessions where he patiently waited for the reawakening that eventually occurred.

As I continued with the Recipe during 2012, my PD symptoms became increasingly severe. Yet despite my suffering, I felt increasingly close to the complete healing that I desired. I actually welcomed the onslaught of severe symptoms as I knew I had Mr. Parkinson's attention, and if that was all he could throw at me, he was going down. Each night when I went to bed, I was certain that I would wake up symptom-free.

In November 2012, my favourite client asked me if I would be willing to come down to Chile for a job in March 2013. The way my heart soared upon hearing this news told me that I now had to let go of what I had been doing and accept the help that Western medicine offered. After 5-1/2 years med-free, I began taking levodopa. The results were stunning. I had expected severe side effects. What I got was my life back.

I am absolutely certain that taking most of 2012 off to follow the Recipe is the primary reason for my profound improvement on levodopa. Interestingly, although I no longer follow much of the Recipe, I can now do the medical Qigong with ease! Looking back, if I had started on levodopa back in 2007, I would never have gone to such Herculean efforts to slow the progression of my PD, and may never have given Howard's Recipe a try. Consequently, I would have reached this point in time much more disabled than is the case now.

With my life now effectively restored to a pre-PD condition, I am fully aware that levodopa only replaces the missing dopamine from certain locations in my brain. Levodopa does not halt the progression of PD. Although I was not able to restore the capability to produce enough dopamine on my own, I can still take measures to slow, stop, or even reverse the progression of PD. I have recently discovered GigerMD therapy and believe it to be an excellent complement. Other promising therapies include Network Spinal Analysis, also known as Network Chiropractic. And in meditation, I continue to seek the Grace of a full healing.