How I Naturally Treated My Dystonia Symptoms

There is no cure for dystonia. 

This post discusses the actions I took in 2010 to treat my dystonia. Within 6 months of these changes, my neurologist, a specialist in movement disorders, confirmed that I no longer had symptoms of dystonia. 

Prior to beginning these treatments, I was diagnosed with:

•  Hemidystonia and writer’s cramp
•  Sjogren’s Disorder
•  Gastritis
• Hashimotos
• Tachycardia

I was taking the following medications

• Botox Injections
• Klonopin
• Tetrabenazine
• Physical therapy for use of my hand

My doctor also recommended prednisone for my other conditions, but I declined taking it. 

While I experienced some success with the medications and therapies I was receiving, the side effects were not improving my quality of life.  I felt desperate to find natural alternatives to the medications I was taking in order to reduce my symptoms and increase my quality of life.  

Dystonia Symptoms

The first thing I wanted to do was reduce my dependence on tetrabenazine. It was very expensive and caused me a crippling amount of fatigue. I rarely used my klonopin, except in extreme situations. It allowed some range of motion, but did so at the expense of my memory. I developed gastritis after a few rounds of botox, so at my doctor’s suggestion, that treatment was discontinued. 

Since tetrabenzine was the only medicine I still depended on, I began by researching how it worked. My basic understanding was that it reduced the amount of dopamine in my body. At the time it was an experimental medication for dystonia. After some time, I discovered that there was another therapy that reduced dopamine in the body- meditation. I began meditating for 30 minutes every day, as soon as I woke up. 

Autoimmunity

My neurologist believed that many of the symptoms not related to dystonia could have been attributed to my autoimmune disorders. I actually found out that I had these disorders by accident. While searching for the root cause of my symptoms, antibody testing revealed a lot of abnormal activity. While my doctor could not explain how dystonia relates to autoimmunity, she did suggest that there is a connection. 

There are many natural treatments for autoimmune disorders, but I decided to focus on diet. While I didn’t notice any difference in symptoms following certain foods, I was willing to change my diet to see if it would work. I decided on a modified Paleo diet that was low in inflammatory foods and high in healthy fats. 

Fatigue

When my symptoms were at their worst, I was sleeping up to 14 hours a day and not doing much activity. After a month of the new diet and meditation, I slept no more than 8 hours a day. I also made a daily habit of doing some type of physical activity. This included walking, tennis and swimming. I drank more water and got plenty of sunlight. Over time, my muscles began to relax to a normal state.

I continued this practice for approximately 9 months. After the first two months I had stopped taking all medication. After 6 months, my neurologist stated my symptoms had significantly declined. After 1 year, I was able to become pregnant and have a successful pregnancy. 

At times, my symptoms have re-appeared, but to this day they have not returned to the disabling state they previously were.