I've been watching the boards here for a few months attempting to find out how people are dealing with CAH using other methods and how adults are dealing with all the other issues that go with it and affect our daily lives.
My father was a trained certified reflexologist. It was due to his work that between the ages of 12 and 32 that I never had a crisis, went to a hospital and NEVER took any medication whatsoever for the CAH. It was only after his death that I started to go downhill. He took so much knowledge to the grave with him since he never wrote anything down and now I work from my memory as to what to work for what.
The one thing that he remained convinced of was that the crux of dealing with CAH was the pituitary. He repeatedly said that working the adrenals did no good unless the pituitary and pineal glands were also worked. He generally worked my feet every other day for a half an hour. He would work the whole foot to see if there were any other problem areas like stomach, head, intestines and stomach. Someone mentioned painful spots that were worked on the feet. Those areas that hurt like that are those areas that need to be worked. Work them lightly then leave them and move to another area after three or four minutes go back and touch them again, if you keep repeating this then you'll find that the painful area becomes less painful.
Since he died my skeletal problems have gotten worse. I can no longer get my foot up to my other knee to work on it so mostly I work on my hand. Same points, same effect, a lessening of symptoms in ways that I never got with the dex. I also take adrenal cortex when crisises arise.
I would never tell anyone to do what I have done with regards to the medications or anything else but just because there is pain is no reason to stop something that may help in the long term.
One other note Reflexology is not the same thing as accupressure. Accupressure is done all over the body like Acupuncture but without the needles. Reflexology, accupuncture and accupressure do treat the same trigger points to organs in the body.
I hope this helps in some way.
CC
