Brianna Carothers was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2001, about two weeks before turning 21. She was having more than 20 episodes per day, which included fatigue, slurred speech, loss of movement, and tingling throughout her body. Her doctor told her that medication could reduce the symptoms, but she would likely have MS for life. She also had to give up sports, which as a college basketball player was devastating.
However, Brianna was determined not to let MS be a life sentence. She immediately went on a gluten-free diet and stopped eating dairy and red meat, which she credits with dramatically reducing her symptoms within a couple of months.
Along with the diet, she started alternative therapies including acupuncture and Integrative Medicine. With the input of a kinesiologist, a naturopathic doctor, and a neurologist, the symptoms eventually went away, and the lesions in her brain began to shrink. After two and a half years, she asked to be taken off her medication and has remained off since. The lesions were still there, but they weren’t manifesting as further symptoms.
All this occurred before Brianna discovered Eden Energy Medicine, about eight years ago. While Brianna had been working with related energy tools previously, this was her introduction to Donna's work. After diving into Donna's seminal book Energy Medicine, she and her husband then found Amy Schill, an Eden Energy Medicine Advanced Practitioner in Tucson, Arizona.
"Amy showed us things we could do for ourselves and also some of the emotional connections that underlie illness—the things you've been holding onto," Brianna said.
About two years ago, Brianna had an MRI, where she discovered that the lesions were completely gone. Although the scars were still there and her doctor could not say she was completely "cured" of MS, he could safely say it was no longer active in her system. This was a major breakthrough for Brianna and something she credits to Energy Medicine.
Brianna has experienced triumphs in other areas as well. One of the side effects of MS is heat sensitivity, which was particularly tough for her living in Arizona. When spending time outside, she would get nauseous and feel like her whole body was on fire. Amy worked with her to overcome this challenge.
"There was a very specific moment that I remember starting to overheat, and it was like a bubble popped and I was fine," Brianna said.
Now, although (like most people) she still finds extreme heat uncomfortable, she no longer experiences these symptoms.
"It's 117 degrees here today," Brianna said. "It's so nice to be able to go out and do something without that fear of getting sick and feeling really awful for the rest of the day or more."
Brianna has also overcome other hurdles that MS presented her with, including giving birth. Doctors had warned her that while she might not experience issues with pregnancy, giving birth would likely trigger her MS symptoms to come back even stronger post-pregnancy.
Thankfully, she has given birth to three children now with no issues and is looking forward to the birth of her fourth. She particularly enjoys doing Figure Eights on her belly when pregnant, which she credits with helping to ease morning sickness.
Brianna's other favorite energy tools are the Triple Warmer Smoothie and Breath of Fire. She says that the exercises Amy gave her as "homework" were sometimes challenging because they forced her to confront difficult emotions, but they were ultimately rewarding.
"I could feel the pulses or the energy shift, and the more she gave us things to do, the more I just played with it and started feeling more and more," Brianna said.
Brianna has also incorporated physical activity into her life once again, including sprint triathlons. Although she initially got into energy work to help herself, she is now doing something she never thought she would do—teaching Energy Medicine to others, including friends, family, and anyone open to alternative medicine. Brianna has taken EM 101 and 102, Fundamentals, and is currently taking the Level 2 Certification Training.
"The people I have worked on have made amazing breakthroughs, whether it's emotional—calming down triple warmer and not having so much anxiety—or physical, like clearing pain," Brianna said.
Working on a woman with MS was a particularly rewarding experience.
"She could see the Figure Eights weaving in her body when I was doing them, which was so cool," Brianna said. "Because of how MS works in the brain, the electrics were really powerful for her. She could feel warmth moving up and down."
Brianna has also worked with fibromyalgia and cancer, specifically with clearing out the sickness from chemo and working with the toxins so people don't experience typical symptoms like hair loss and extreme nausea.
Additionally, Brianna has been using energy work with her three children. For her oldest son, who is a “Water element,” she has been doing exercises such as crossovers and building a protective bubble, which helps to reduce his anxiety when it flares up. Her daughter was reversing numbers and letters, but after doing Wayne Cook, she now has no issues. All three of her children love Spinal Flushes.
"I love learning all of this stuff; it's like being in a playground," Brianna said. "I'm excited to eventually become a Certified Practitioner. I really hope other people will find this work to be able to help themselves just like I did for myself."