Sarah Clark age 37, suffered years of depression, stress, anxiety, insomnia, PTSD and OCD as a result of childhood trauma. It took 15 years for her to be diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) two years ago, causing her further trauma from the medical system. Recently she tried using the Alpha-Stim cranial electrotherapy device and noticed real improvements to her sleep, anxiety and mood, with positive cumulative effects. Her condition meant that she was also in a great deal of pain for many years but has virtually stopped even needing to take paracetamol since using the Alpha-Stim. Here she tells her story…
“I have a background of pretty severe developmental and early childhood trauma, and my attachment trauma meant that I wouldn’t have learnt from my key care-givers as a young child normally would, how to self-regulate my nervous system, which in itself predisposed me years later to exacerbated vulnerability to stress and anxiety. Then due to many years of various types of abuse, I developed Complex PTSD as an adult. I’ve since become interested in the prevailing neurobiological effects of trauma such as disruption to neurotransmitters and hormones and this has led to my interest in learning about various modalities in the healing and treatment of trauma.”
“Now in my thirties, after a fifteen year diagnostic journey where what I perceived as physical symptoms were blamed on my “mental health and childhood trauma” by my doctors, two years ago I formally got diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in February 2020, which is a genetic connective tissue disorder often characterised by joint instability, chronic pain, gastrointestinal and bladder issues and fatigue. I also have common EDS comorbidities of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Dysautonomia which can be easily exacerbated.”
“As with many chronic physical health conditions the links between chronic stress and physical health are well proven, and with my hEDS certainly when I am under more stress or anxiety my hEDS symptoms exacerbate. Likewise, the links between childhood trauma impacting upon our biology and psychology across our lifespan are well documented at the biochemical and psycho-energetic levels.”
“I’ve been using the Alpha-Stim AID almost daily for around 3 months now. This Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) Device is FDA cleared in USA and NHS approved in the UK for the treatment of anxiety, depression and insomnia. The Alpha-Stim AID comes with ear clips you clip to your earlobes and it stimulates the eighth cranial nerve to deliver a natural level of microcurrent in a specific waveform pattern to stimulate and modulate specific groups of nerve cells in the brain. A similar device, the Alpha-Stim M, is also available and additionally licensed to treat pain.”
“I agreed with The Microcurrent Site to share my story and experiences of using Alpha-Stim because of my own personal life journey and how Alpha-Stim has potentiated my progress in the past few months. I’ve experienced first-hand many debilitating side effect of pharmacological psychotropic medication, as well as a very traumatic journey through the healthcare system, labelled inappropriately along the way with several misdiagnoses and never having received the appropriate help I needed. It is therefore due to my own trauma from the medical system that I am so keen to help promote devices such as Alpha-Stim.”
“Plus I also have an interest in understanding the mechanisms behind how things work too. I am currently studying a Masters degree part-time in Neuropsychology and I am very interested in neuroscience. I want to be able to use my trauma and experiences to help others in some way. Whilst I will never be cured or totally healed from the traumas of my past, my resilience and determination shines through and, because of the progress I’ve made in the past few years, I like to think of this stage of my life as my ‘post-traumatic growth phase’. As I’ve been working hard to rebalance my nervous system after trauma, I’ve noticed phenomenal resolutions in many of my physical symptoms and complaints, including my chronic pain.”
“My medical history is incredibly complex and whilst I am not saying that you should use Alpha-Stim without speaking to your doctor first (although sadly most doctors won’t have heard of Alpha-Stim!) I think the improvements I’ve noticed to my sleep, anxiety and mood are testament to the efficacy of this device as a treatment method.”
“We commonly think about the human body in terms of biochemistry, but we often neglect that fact that as humans, we are ‘electric beings’ and the way our brain cells communicate and the coherence of our heart is governed by electrical processes. I therefore personally think bioelectronic devices such as Alpha-Stim are not given the credence they rightly deserve.”
“I used to be an incredible sceptic and my perception of health and healthcare was like many, governed by the allopathic ‘pill for every ill’ approach of our western modern healthcare system. However, I now know the healthcare system does not focus on healing or wellness as such, and sadly non-invasive treatment options such as Alpha-Stim are little known about. So these days the sceptic in me has vanished and I am very much in favour of various non-pharma treatment strategies and approaches. I was previously under a community mental health team for 15 years, and whilst I am not saying here that talking therapies do not work for some, the talking therapies and treatments they offered me were not appropriate for my situation and specific symptoms and made me significantly worse rather than helping.”
“Aside from treating anxiety, depression and insomnia, I do know that for some Alpha-Stim is beneficial in terms of increasing focus and performance. I have dabbled a bit in the ‘biohacking’ world too amongst my many interests, so have tested out a few devices and modalities out there and I know a little about personal development and performance optimisation.”
“Because my hEDS took so long to be formally diagnosed and my case was mismanaged, both my physical and emotional health spiralled downwards to the extreme and physiologically my body became so unconditioned that three years ago I became housebound for several months with my chronic pain severity and had to rely on opioids a few times a week. I also took the maximum daily dose of pregabalin for almost 10 years which was initiated for extreme social anxiety but then I remained on years later due to carpal tunnel syndrome and foraminal stenosis in my cervical and lumbar spine. I totally stopped pregabalin two months ago after gradually tapering the dose. In the past year I was taking paracetamol daily, but since using Alpha-Stim, I rarely even need to take paracetamol anymore. Without the Alpha-Stim I don’t think there would have been this much of a recent reduction in my pain levels. Because of lots of rehabilitation and reconditioning work with physio, yoga and Pilates in the past couple of years, I am now back able to go running, swimming and walking again when 3 years ago I was housebound due to my pain.”
“Something very key to being able to get to this stage in my recovery and wellness journey has been learning how to manage stress and anxiety better and learning how to self-regulate my nervous system after my developmental trauma and better regulate my emotional vulnerability. Certainly in the past few months since I started using Alpha-Stim, I notice immediate anxiety relief with each Alpha-Stim session, leaving me feeling very calm and chilled, and this has longer lasting and cumulative effects too.”
“I’ve suffered from insomnia all of my adult life and at one stage was only able to sleep at all by relying on medication with sedating effects. I have an Apple Watch which I wear during the day and I wear my Oura Ring just as a sleep tracker overnight and when I started using Alpha-Stim my sleep was still very broken and disturbed. I often have nightmares and flashbacks and emotional flashbacks because of my PTSD and I think I am a very light sleeper due to hypervigilance. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a key biomarker of the functionality of our autonomic nervous system and its ability to maintain homeostasis between the sympathetic and parasympathetic (rest and digest) side of the nervous system. In the past few months my HRV has dramatically increased. And the “sleep cycle” data from my Oura Ring shows that I am waking up a lot less and spending longer in “deep sleep” cycle stages. I have less nightmares too. I am waking up less overnight to urinate due to my hEDS related bladder issues and I think the concept here of improved sleep quality could mean that my brain isn’t picking up so readily signals from my bladder leading to disturbed sleep.”
“At the time I started using Alpha-Stim, I was in a dire and desperate situation and although not fully diagnosed even now, I was awaiting more tests for suspected Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) which is extremely rare and 2 cases in every 100,000 people and very difficult to spot and diagnose. I lost a significant amount of weight unintentionally and was unable to tolerate solid food at all and would simply faint every time I ate due to severe stomach pains. My case was discussed in the summer at the complex intestinal failure MDT and they suggested a naso-jejunal feeding tube due to my worsening malnutrition. Thankfully due to my own research and strategies I put into place I managed to avoid this. Prior to starting using Alpha-Stim, I spent almost six months struggling just to tolerate a liquid diet and unable to eat solid food at all. Although I do still experience quite significant tummy pains, and have used many modalities and strategies to help, I am now most days able to tolerate eating a very soft solid food meal per day with the other 2 liquid meals and my severe weight loss has stabilised. I very strongly feel that some of this improvement in my pain levels and my general stress and anxiety levels is fundamentally down to my use of Alpha-Stim.”
“In terms of my academic studies on my MSc program since I’ve been using Alpha-Stim, I’ve noticed improvements in the past 3 months in my memory, cognitive processing and function, problem solving abilities and ability to focus and stay motivated and I strongly suspect that Alpha-Stim may have had a part in these improvements.”
“All in all, I am incredibly glad for having discovered the Alpha-Stim and from my own personal experiences would thoroughly recommend non-invasive treatment methods over pharmacological treatment.”
The Alpha-Stim AID retails at £499 and payment plans are available via PayPal credit as well as rental options. For more information please visit www.themicrocurrentsite.co.uk or call 01487 208041.
