As long as medical treatment in general costs money, I'm fine with Annie Hopper wanting to benefit financially from the program she developed. I have spent many times the cost of the DNRS program for a single visit with an LLMD, most of whom have done absolutely nothing to help me, and vastly more on other specialized treatments that have been useless or damaging. The price comes up pretty invariably in forum posts about
DNRS, and each time it surprises me, given the variety of costly treatments people so often try for Lyme and its related dysfunction. I'm all for free healthcare, but I'm not going to fault individuals operating in the current paradigm for charging money. I do agree that a cheaper and more streamlined program would be more ethical, given the degree to which people are debilitated by the conditions DNRS treats, but I think that about
LLMDs, too!
Tapping (EFT) is a very simple nervous system treatment practice that is free, and its simplicity allows you to learn to do it effectively with a short YouTube video and little to no background information. It is not the same as DNRS and is in no way a substitute, but it can help to regulate the nervous system, if people don't want to commit to a more comprehensive treatment program. Curable is an app that's $15 per month (cancel anytime) and self-paced, and is very transparent: you do writing exercises, brain exercises, educational podcasts, and meditations to address chronic pain and illness. Curable's principles overlap somewhat with DNRS, and could be a good introduction to how the brain is connected to the rest of your systems and vice versa. That said, Curable does not directly attempt to rewire your limbic system. There's a huge amount of misunderstanding about
mind-body medicine that causes doctors and patients alike to dismiss it, out of ignorance. If you don't understand how the mind impacts physiology and vice versa, then Curable is a great introduction to that branch of medicine.
I'm happy to share more details about
the DNRS program, but it's the sort of thing you need to see; I don't think I can explain every movement and concept in great enough detail in a forum post. I feel like someone who has used the program could train someone else, but probably best in person or over Zoom, for a few hours, after the person has done some relevant reading. The transcript
of the DNRS videos is available for purchase, so folks could share that, too. (The book is a different thing, and is not worthwhile, as far as I can tell.) I found the paid online support stuff unnecessary, but I know others disagree. Not everyone is able to commit to the program and stick with it, and not everyone is able to engage with it enough to make it their own, and it isn't going to work if both of those things don't happen, so I'm sure sometimes support is essential. Having a buddy or two to do the program with can be helpful for accountability. And you really do need the reliable time to yourself, which not all of us can get!
The DNRS steps are done standing up, BUT you can imagine yourself doing them in a standing position instead. The videos explain how mirror neurons allow the same neurological rewiring to occur even when it's done lying down. This is how I had to do it at first due to POTS, dizziness, and other issues. I was bedridden, and there's no way I could have stood up for an hour every day! The steps involve taking one step (like to the right, or a step back - nothing complex), and a simple arm motion, while saying specific things. The steps should be done for an hour total each day, but you can break that up into however many increments you need to. The movements activate specific areas of your brain, so each one is meant to go with a specific statement with which you're trying to influence that part of your brain. It's physical therapy.
Specifics about
the statements you say during the steps: You say basically that you understand that your brain is stuck, [Lyme or whatever] has caused [symptoms] in the past, but now you're rewiring your limbic system to work in a better way. You state an affirmation that you choose for yourself earlier in the program, like for example, "I am reliably energetic, steady, and capable." You're taking single steps in a semi-circular pattern and making a gesture with each statement. Then you work hard to summon what can best be described as warm and fuzzy memories, the more vivid the better. Bonus points if you can get teared up. The idea here is that you are using positive emotions to activate the parts of your brain you're trying to rewire. This also reassures your body that you're safe and the cell danger response can abate. Then you visualize a future intention with the same level of vivid detail, like maybe frolicking at the beach with your kids or climbing a mountain. There are more details you need to know, but that's an outline. Most of the language is customized based on your conditions and goals and memories, and it will be different each time you do it.
I understand that this may sound goofy. But part of the reason there are 14 hours of videos to watch before you start is making sure you know the background of how physical movements, emotions, verbalization, and visualization can work together to rewire your brain. Embedded videos show the same principles being applied for stroke damage, traumatic brain injuries, and or medical applications of the science of neuroplasticity. And this help you overcome the goofiness, because there's nothing goofy about
watching someone with a TBI learn to walk again!
Neuroplasticity is not new or controversial. It just hasn't been applied in a systematic way to the disorders DNRS is designed for - initially chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and multiple chemical sensitivities; now also tick-borne disease, POTS, long-COVID, CIRS, mast cell disorders, anxiety, and more.
My LLMD recommended DNRS to me, and from any other doctor I would have found that dismissive. I did not understand that it was a practice that has noticeable physiological benefit for the nervous system. Plus it takes work! It's much easier to pop a pill or have some sort of treatment done to you! So I said I'd think about
it, disingenuously. But two years later, still sick and still pumping copious money into this dastardly disease, I read about
DNRS in Neil Nathan's book Toxic, and figured what do I have to lose? In one month, I went from bedridden to packing and cleaning my whole house, and moving to a different city. That was two years ago, and I have not crashed since. I was still in a moldy house, not on antimicrobial treatment, actively adding stress, etc. and got to about
85% of my pre-Lyme health anyway. (Full disclosure: I also started treating MCAS with quercetin, curcumin, and a low-histamine diet at that time.)
The thing you read about
being in tears is interesting. The brain fights back against being rewired, and it's uncomfortable at first in a way that's hard to describe. Week one was just trying to remember the steps and statements in the right order and refining what I was saying to make it feel more natural. But week two was awful! I was super depressed, irritable, and detached. My LLMD saw Annie Hopper at a conference the next week (by then I was feeling better) and she said that's fairly typical as the nervous system changes (think about
how frustrated people get during TBI therapy). One of the many suggestions I'd have for her is to manage that particular expectation! Just saying, "Week two can be tough, so push through, it passes!" would have been helpful to hear.
Another thing is that the steps are only part of the program, and in some ways they are the easy part. All that stuff we do as people with chronic illnesses - checking illness forums, researching a new twinge, daily logs of symptoms and treatments and food, constant doctor visits, hypervigilance about
every corporeal sensation, talking about
symptoms, etc. - you have to stop or greatly reduce those things. Record your symptoms if you find that helpful, and go to the doctor when you need to, of course, but do a round of DNRS steps afterward, and do not let your mind linger on these things the rest of the day. You really do have to be your own thought police. Part of the program (if I recall, maybe much of the first day of videos) is devoted to helping you identify the negative feedback loops your brain is stuck in (like catastrophizing, or impatience with yourself), so that you can interrupt those thoughts that may be perpetuating the neuronal pathways that cause symptoms. Some of the catchphrases just sounded hokey to me, but others resonated, or I was able to reword the hokey ones into phrases that resonated better with me. I made little posters I covered the wall beside my bed with, and it was extremely helpful to scan my eyes over them when my mind was wandering to scary places or when I felt especially bad. I interspersed them with lists of affirmations, sweet cards and drawings from loved ones, and lists of evocative memories and wishes for the future. This helped to keep my brain in a healthier state for rewiring. I think it would have been much harder for me without the visual aids. Sometimes when I felt anxious I'd write down or type the verbal part of the steps a few times. Again, you have to make the program your own.
Sounds silly. Feels silly at first. Videos are hokey as heck. But it works if you give it an actual chance, or at least it did for me. For years, sick and scared and miserable, I said that if I ever found anything that helped me, I'd shout it from the rooftops. This is that thing, for me. It's not a perfect program, but it's done more for me that any drug, herb, device, or other treatment. It's not a scam or a cult, just a set of guidelines and tricks for rewiring a dysfunctional limbic system. I hope someday the program gets a serious update, or that someone develops a more streamlined program, but DNRS has good bones.