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A Life Beyond Planning Around Symptoms

For Bethany, returning to rock climbing meant reclaiming something she had taken off the table for years. Returning to personal training meant reconnecting with work she loved. Being present for her husband, best friend, and clients meant feeling like herself again.

These are the changes she celebrates today. Before them came periods of severe pain, fatigue, food restrictions, and uncertainty that affected nearly every part of her life.

“I would say the overarching feeling for me has been fear,” she recalls. She worried about what was happening in her body, what the future might hold, and what it would mean for the people she loved.

Her experience unfolded over several years, and she went through the DNRS program twice. There were periods when symptoms disappeared as long as she avoided certain foods, followed by periods when symptoms persisted regardless of what she tried.

When Even a Bedsheet Was Too Much

At her most limited, Bethany’s pain had spread from her lower body to her entire body. She became bedridden, relied on mobility aids when she did leave home, and could no longer work. Even the weight of a bedsheet against her skin felt too painful.

Sensitivity to light and smells made daily life unpredictable. Something that caused a headache one day might not affect her the next, leaving her without a reliable sense of what she could comfortably do. Extreme fatigue added to the difficulty, and she began feeling disconnected from her body.

Later, gastrointestinal symptoms and an expanding list of food sensitivities brought further restrictions. Within three months, she unintentionally lost almost 40 pounds. As a personal trainer accustomed to eating to support muscle, she found that change particularly unsettling.

Eventually, she was down to eight foods. Leaving home required planning around access to those specific foods, and she described episodes in which her blood sugar dropped sharply. Work and social connections became difficult to maintain. Anxiety was constant, while emergency visits and other medical expenses added a financial burden to an already exhausting experience.

Giving Brain Retraining a Chance

When Bethany first encountered DNRS, brain retraining felt unfamiliar. It also differed from the ideas she felt comfortable discussing in her community, making it hard to approach the program with an open mind at first.

Her desire for relief gave her a reason to begin. Over time, working through the program and reading Annie Hopper’s book, Wired for Healing, helped her feel more comfortable with the concepts.

“I feel the concept is so reasonable and it is so approachable the way that she puts it,” Bethany says.

Looking back, she emphasizes the importance of engaging with the program’s instructions. Having gone through it twice over three years, she speaks from an experience that included both improvement and renewed challenges. Her story reflects that longer process, alongside the changes she now describes as a complete recovery.

Returning to Work and the Climbing Wall

Today, Bethany is working as a personal trainer again. She has a handful of clients and is rebuilding her clientele, a milestone she describes as a major recovery win.

Rock climbing has returned, too. After years of being unable to participate, she can now go as often as her schedule allows. Her exercise choices have expanded, and she describes adding movements back into her workouts, much as she began adding foods back into her diet.

The contrast in her energy is equally striking. Where fatigue once limited her days, she now sometimes finds herself doing chores late in the evening after waking early that morning.

These changes have given her more room for both responsibility and enjoyment. Work, movement, and time with others have become parts of her life she can participate in again.

The Freedom to Be Herself Again

Some of Bethany’s most meaningful changes are found in her relationships. For years, she felt unable to show up authentically for the people in her life. Now, she says she can contribute, connect, and be relied on again.

“Now that I have completely recovered, I’m able to be myself in those relationships,” she says. “I’m able to be depended on.”

Her advice to others reflects how much her own understanding changed: approach the program with openness and take the instructions seriously. What once felt foreign became something she could understand and engage with.

For Bethany, recovery has also changed what she can imagine for her future.

“I’ve been able to hope for things that I wasn’t able to hope for or even conceive of hoping for previously.”