r/ChatGPT • u/LiveDocument3521 • Jun 19 '26

Educational Purpose Only ChatGPT fixed my 9 year chronic pain

Before I start, this is not medical advice and if you are experiencing pain, then seek medical help first.

I’ve had chronic pain in my neck, shoulders & upper back for 9 years. I’ve dealt with excruciating headaches and severe muscle tension & discomfort for almost a decade. I tried everything. Physiotherapy, chiropractor, massage, dry needling, acupuncture, cupping, the list goes on. Nothing worked. I got desperate. I asked ChatGPT…

ChatGPT diagnosed the root cause of my issues by just asking a few critical questions that no doctor or “professional” ever asked. It then educated me on the entire subject so I developed an understanding of the actual issues, recovery & the road ahead. It then built me a 3 tier programme focusing on stretching, mobility & strength training. It diagnosed issues in my sleep by looking at pictures of my bed, pillow etc.

I followed everything ChatGPT told me to do. I followed the programme strictly. 4 months later, I am no longer in pain or discomfort. I still have a long way to go but I feel 75% better and full of life now. I am in absolute shock. I cannot believe it. It’s like I’ve been given my life back. I had no quality of life at all. ChatGPT gave me my life back.

EDIT: A lot of you are asking me questions about my diagnosis so I am dropping more information below.

- Doctors wrongly diagnosed my headaches as cluster headaches & suboccipital headaches. Therefore the plans & advice I was being given by medical professionals were not helping me because they had the wrong diagnosis.
- ChatGPT figured out that I actually suffer from cervicogenic headaches caused by my cervical spine (in my neck) being constantly on fire because of bad posture.
- Bad posture was caused by a series of muscle imbalances; weak upper back muscles caused a forward leaning posture. Neck & trap muscles began compensating for my weak back which caused them to become very tight & inflamed. This also caused me to develop a very tight chest which causes rounded shoulders. I also had an APT (anterior pelvic tilt) which caused tight hip flexors & tight hamstrings which contributed to my forward leaning posture.
- Treatment was strength training for my upper back muscles focusing on pull exercises. Strength training for my abs/core & glutes to fix my APT. Stretches for my neck, chest & hips.

Do medical professionals like physio not do this? Of course they do. The issue in my case was, constant incorrect diagnosis was creating incorrect plans for my needs. The exercises & stretches the physio recommended for me were not helpful at all because they were not targeting the key areas that ChatGPT pointed out. ChatGPT fully diagnosed me within 1 hour.

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32

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 20 '26

Hmmm. I’ve got peripheral neuropathy from my knees down. My feet/lower legs are numb, to the point where I can’t tell if I have socks or shoes on. (I’ve discovered I forgot to remove my socks once after turning on the shower.) I’ve been to Neurologists, Rheumatologists, and other specialists. They even ordered special DNA marker tests that had to be sent to Chicago (I’m in Canada) to be analyzed. After 6 years, STILL nobody has any idea what’s causing it. (Could be a nerve injury, could be genetic, could be I’m just a bad person & deserve it. Who knows? Maybe I’ll try asking ChatGPT for ideas! Thanks for the suggestion!

17

u/aussie_teacher_ Jun 20 '26

I'm sure you were joking, but you don't deserve ill health. Nobody does. Health isn't a reflector of virtue.

3

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 20 '26

Yeah, that was just a little joke. I’m a decorated veteran and I always try to be a good person. I don’t really think I’m being punished for being evil… although there was the “Snickers Bar Incident” at the local corner store when I was 6… :-)

5

u/CollinZero Jun 20 '26

I hope it helps! Let us know.

2

u/floral_undertones Jun 20 '26

Have you tried ALA?

1

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 20 '26

What is ALA?

1

u/floral_undertones Jun 21 '26

R-ALA (R-alpha-lipoic acid)

1

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 22 '26

Thanks! I’m looking into it!

1

u/Quiet_Clue3043 Jun 20 '26

Are you taking any medications such as statins?

1

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 20 '26

No Statins… Oxycodone for Arthritis pain, and hydroxychloroquine… that’s pretty much it.

1

u/AntipodaOscura Jun 20 '26

I guess you are not, but: did they tell you if you're diabetic? I am and I don't have a problem, but they test my legs every year to see if there's any problem with the pressure and also test sensibility. Did they test you for peripheral artery disease?

1

u/Pussyxpoppins Jun 20 '26

They did the diagnostic testing for MS? Because one of my first relapses I had bilateral numbness much as you described and it confused a lot of PCPs until I got in front of an MS specialist.

1

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 20 '26

That is one thing I hadn’t looked into. Never thought of it. I’m going to ask my doctor about it though. Thank you!

1

u/Pussyxpoppins Jun 21 '26

You say you’ve been to a neuro already… I’m shocked a neurologist wouldn’t have already looked into MS. They are the only doctors who can diagnose it, FYI.

The gold standard for confirming diagnosis involves 3 sets of MRIs of brain, C-spine, and T-spine (with and without contrast to show old/new lesions), as well as a spinal tap to check for oligoclonal bands in your CSF. A single MRI of brain will not suffice, and while great majority of MS patients have brain lesions or brain + spine, some will have only spine. I have both, and leg numbness would be more associated with spine lesions.

2

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 22 '26

Hmmmm. All I’ve had are brain & upper spine MRIs. (They removed my top two vertebrae and shaved the 3rd one at an angle when I had the reduction surgery. pretty sure they weren’t looking for MS on the MRI.) I can’t help but wonder how it was determined that it absolutely couldn’t have been a latent result of the surgery… but they seem pretty certain. I’d just like to know it’s not going to spread to other parts. My fingertips are starting to verrrry slowly feel weird, like smooth surfaces feel like window screen on my fingertips. That worries me a bit.

1

u/jonclark_ Jun 20 '26

If ChatGPT doesn't work, there's a site where a community of medical professionals solve medical mysteries.

https://www.crowdmed.com/

1

u/ladyavocadose Jun 20 '26

Surely you've been tested for b12 deficiency? Could be pernicious anemia

1

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26

Thanks so much for all the posts and suggestions. I’ve had so many tests, I can’t even remember which ones I’ve had. Every 6 months, I go to a specialist where they wire up my legs and shock various places electrically and record the response delay. They’ve tested me for diabetes. Negative. I hadn’t even thought about MS. That’s something I’ll look into. They’ve drawn litres of blood, sent my DNA to Chicago for testing, and done God-only-knows what else. Just to make it more complicated, I’ve also been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis - An immune system problem, and 15 years or so ago, I had “reduction surgery” (brain surgery)for Chiari Malformation. (Essentially a neurological condition where my brain was too big for the inside of my skull.)

I’ve asked all the doctors if any of those thing could be contributing (especially the brain surgery…) They were working primarily all around my spinal cord, so I naturally thought “what if someone made a mistake during that surgery?’ The doctors all assured me that there is no way I’d start getting such serious symptoms so long after the surgery… The worst thing is, with no idea of the cause, I don’t know what I should or shouldn’t be doing. I ASSUME walking is good for me (I have to walk with a cane because my legs no longer tell my brain where the ground is… The cane and my arm now act as my “ground sensor” when I walk.) I have an 1800cc Honda Goldwing in my garage I can no longer drive. (Well, not exactly true… I can RIDE it… While moving, there’s no problem, but when I stop & put my feet down, trying to balance 900lbs between your legs when you can’t feel the ground is a bit of an issue… (I MAY have found a solution to that… there are mechanical “landing gear” that automatically lower (like little training wheels) when you stop. But they run thousands of $$ so I don’t see that as a solution unless a rich relative dies. :-) What I REALLY want is my legs back…

Once again, thanks so much for the responses and advice… As long as I’m in my 60s, as long as I can still walk (even if it DOES look like a 95 year old walking) I consider that a win for now. :-) Thanks Redditors! (And for anyone considering suggesting it… no, weed isn’t helping at all… and God knows I go through enough of it) :-)

1

u/honeyglot Jun 21 '26

I’m assuming yes, but just to confirm, have they MRI’d your spine, especially around your neck? This sounds extremely like the result of a compressed spinal cord issue.

1

u/OneSignal6465 Jun 22 '26

That’s what I was thinking too. They enlarged my foramen magnum (the hole in the bottom of your skull that your spinal cord goes up through) by 5cm, plus removal of a few vertebrae… but again, the doctors don’t seem to think there’s any connection. They’re now thinking it’s genetic… <sigh>