I have a friend who has PCS, POTS, fibamayalgia, severe back and neck spasms that pull his collar bone and ribs out of place, and severe constant migraines. He's the strongest person I know, mentally.

He visited me today and we talked about this 17-day program he's trying at Mayo. We live about 20 minutes away from the Rochester, MN location. The program is mostly for people with POTS.

He said that the goal of the program is to shock the body into leveling out the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. Most people with chronic health problems have way too high sympathetic going and too low para. Supposedly around 21 days it levels off. The days are 8 am to 5 pm with actvity everyday after. So almost a twelve hour day.

He's doing OT, PT, light exercise, group therapy, and a few other things throughout the day.

He went from being in a dark room wearing sunglasses and ear plugs most of the day to being in rooms with high pitched teenage girls without ear plugs and sunglasses. Although he said he was feeling pretty good before starting the program being able to listen to podcasts and watch tv a few hours a day.

He said the first three days were the worst three days of his life. And i've heard him say that phrase a few times so it must have been bad. THe fourth day he said his head wasn't too bad and really wanted me to have a go at the program.

The fifth day, friday and yesterday, he said they did zumba and he almost passed out and was crying with pain. They sent him to the ER and found a minor thing wrong with his heart. Last night he went bowling with the group, which was super loud.

So today, he came over for a bit over an hour and we talked. He said he could probably do the program at home and would definitely add breaks.

He noted that after the program you have to be careful not to overdo it or it could send you back really far and if you do too little you'll be back in the same situation.

I asked, "How do you know you're not overdoing it right now?" He said, "I don't know."

He also mentioned that most of the swelling in the brain is down by 6 months and you probably aren't physically harming the brain with this stuff.

I'm interested to see how he progresses and see if I should try this at home.

I gave up "pushing through" things because it just set me back. Although I feel that I push myself to the limit everyday. I've noticed a good improvement since getting a syntonic phototherapy machine, which I hope is the machine's doing and not just feeling better from time.

I'll keep you posted and would love to hear your thoughts!