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Neurofeedback Center of Virginia
Erik Ramsey
APRN, BC, BCIA-EEG
Sajeela Ramsey
MS, Ph.D, BCIA-EEG
803 W. Broad Street
Suite 620
Falls Church, Virginia 22046
(703) 536-2690
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Case A
This case involved a twenty-nine year old female diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. The woman suffered from a constellation of symptoms that included migraine headaches, anxiety and mild panic with obsessive tendencies, PMS mood swings, impaired sleep and rest cycles, and a significantly diminished libido. She complained of malingering inflammation of muscles and nerves through her entire body, with a diffuse "heaviness and pain" that prevented her from exercising and losing weight. The woman was experiencing related depression with hopelessness and "total burnout". Prescribed
antidepressants,anti-anxiety and migraine medications were only marginally helpful.
After comleting her first Neurofeedback training the woman reported NO unpleasant after effects but also noticed no changes. Several sessions later she reported marked sleep improvement, and said she was “feeling calmer overall” and able to “keep a better perspective” on things that had previously bothered her. She had come into the session with a headache, but at end of her training session the headache had subsided. As training progressed the woman was able to titrate off her antidepressant with medical supervision. To her great surprise her libido improved and her relationship with her husband also benefited. The woman’s headaches were less frequent, per her reports, and she described her “muscles feeling less heavy”, noting less physical discomfort overall. This state of improvement was proportional throughout her training to behavioral modifications of "not trying to do too much all of the time". The woman reported her joy at “learning to relax” using peripheral biofeedback, along with cognitive behavioral interventions. Midway through training the woman continued to report an ability to better handle stressors”, along with an improved sense of self esteem, and a remission of any migraine headaches. Overall, she felt she was communicating better with her spouse, and they were “working on having a baby”. Toward the end of her training the woman was able to go for two weeks at a time without needing Neurofeedback. By the end of training program the woman reported satisfaction with her state of health and was maintaining her feeling of centered calm most days. She remarked at how, looking back, she used to “obsess about so many things”, especially at certain times of the month, and that she could almost not recall “what it was like to live with that much mental pain”.
Click and scroll down for additional research on Fibromyalgia
Click here for more research on Chronic Fatigue/Pain
Case B
This case involves a fifteen year old male who suffered from Fibromyalgia with Chronic Fatigue issues following an accident in which he was thrown against a boulder at twelve years of age. The adolescent struggled with generalized learning and cognitive deficits, and his young life was marked with daily migraine headaches, nausea, and unpleasant tingling sensations with “heavy feelings” in all of his muscles. His ability to participate in sports or exercise was severely limited. He was hyper-sensitive to environmental stressors to the point of sensory phobia; he could not bear the sensation of a tag, watch or other items, and often could not even stand to have clothes on. He was also photophobic, and, intermittently, could not tolerate lights of any kind. He was being home-schooled to accommodate his learning challenges and the inability to sleep through the night. No matter how many hours he stayed in bed, the adolescent never felt sufficiently rested. Chiropractic care, prescribed muscle relaxants and anti-anxiety medications had offered only limited relief.
Early after completing initial Neurofeedback training the adolescent reported he had slept through most of one night, and his parents noted he appeared to be “calmer overall”. An intervention of Irlen screening revealed scotopic issues and corrective lenses were ordered to compensate. This remedied the photophobia immidiately. As training progressed the adolescent reported he was consistently sleeping better, with less waking up. Moreover, he reported experiencing fewer headaches, and was able to concentrate for longer periods at a time. He was therefore completing more schoolwork, and confirmed that “I feel better about myself” as a result. Later, the parents reported the adolescent was “working out” using modified Brain Gym exercises on a daily basis; something the adolescent had failed to do in previous attempts with encouragement from his parents. The young man said he was able to do this because “my muscles don’t feel heavy like they used to”. Shortly thereafter the adolescent proudly showed off a watch he had started wearing on his wrist. As training continued the headaches remained in recession most of the time. Toward the end of in-office training the parents noted significant academic improvements, along with a continued regular exercise regime. The adolescent’s sleep quality had improved dramatically, and consequently he was spending almost no time in bed beyond regular sleeping hours. At the end of his training program the adolescent continued to become less stressed, receiving sessions only once a month. The parents successfully transitioned their son to home-training and noted plans to enroll the adolescent into public school the following year.
Click and scroll down for additional research on Fibromyalgia
Click here for more research on Chronic Fatigue/Pain
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