I feel absolutely blessed to have found Athreya amongst the thousands of Ayurvedic centers in India. It can be overwhelming to research dozens of options online and from recommendations, but what drew me to Athreya was their approach to registration which signifies their holistic approach. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 10 years ago and immediately quit my stressful job and moved to Asia, starting practicing yoga regularly and radically changing my life. For 7 years my pain and fatigue was manageable but 3 years ago my condition worsened. After trying alternative medicine, western medicine and traditional healing I decided to try Panchakarma. I filled out a comprehensive medical questionnaire and then got an alarming What’s App audio message from Dr. Sreejit discouraging me from coming to Athreya due to the chronic nature of my fibromyalgia and overlapping symptoms. During our subsequent call he advised me to manage my expectations and after some discussion we mutually agreed I would arrive in the coming weeks. Athreya’s approach is totally personalized so everyone has a different treatment regimen. You meet with the doctor every day and continually adapt your treatments based on your progress. When I arrived, Dr Sreejit conducted diagnostic tests and every pressure point he touched from my head to my toes had me squealing in pain. I had 17 days of detox herbal water bath and couldn’t believe the results. After 9 days I only had pain in my hips...I feel absolutely blessed to have found Athreya amongst the thousands of Ayurvedic centers in India. It can be overwhelming to research dozens of options online and from recommendations, but what drew me to Athreya was their approach to registration which signifies their holistic approach.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 10 years ago and immediately quit my stressful job and moved to Asia, starting practicing yoga regularly and radically changing my life. For 7 years my pain and fatigue was manageable but 3 years ago my condition worsened. After trying alternative medicine, western medicine and traditional healing I decided to try Panchakarma.

I filled out a comprehensive medical questionnaire and then got an alarming What’s App audio message from Dr. Sreejit discouraging me from coming to Athreya due to the chronic nature of my fibromyalgia and overlapping symptoms. During our subsequent call he advised me to manage my expectations and after some discussion we mutually agreed I would arrive in the coming weeks.

Athreya’s approach is totally personalized so everyone has a different treatment regimen. You meet with the doctor every day and continually adapt your treatments based on your progress. When I arrived, Dr Sreejit conducted diagnostic tests and every pressure point he touched from my head to my toes had me squealing in pain. I had 17 days of detox herbal water bath and couldn’t believe the results. After 9 days I only had pain in my hips and legs and he adjusted the water bath to focus on that area and eventually I had zero pain.

Every day I had at least 2-3 hours of therapy by 2 therapists. In addition to the herbal water bath, the standard treatments for most guests include neck/shoulder massage, abdominal massage, and Shirodhara.

Panchakarma involves 5 cleansing therapies: herbal vomiting, purgation (herbal laxative), enemas, nasya (nasal ghee), and blood letting (I only did the first 3 but wasn’t stable enough for the nasya due to reoccurring dizzy spells). The herbal vomiting was no problem but the purgation WRECKED me! Most guests have 8-12 bowel movements (BMs) over a few hours. But I had 59 BMs over 35 hours - the new record at Athreya . Obviously, this was a difficult experience but Dr. Sreejit and the staff were amazing. Every hour or so they would come to my room to check on my progress, my blood pressure, and adapt my medications to provide relief. The doctor visited me 3-4 times and was continually What’s Apping me to check on me. My 2 therapists slept in an empty room next door to be available during the night.

My first few days I ate in the silent zone to slowly settle into my stay. Later I sat at a large communal table socializing with guests from India, Denmark, England, Sri Lanka, France, and Switzerland. Pooping was a frequent discussion. It’s great to have others to share my challenges of 8 enemas!

The absolute gem at Athreya is Dr. Sreejit. It’s astounding how completely involved he is with every single guest (over 22 days the guests fluctuated from 10 to 30). In addition to seeing Dr. Sreejit or Dr. Jayalaksmi every day, you also fill out a notebook of good and bad things (+ I’m not constipated! / - fatigue and dizzy spells) and submit daily. The next day you get written feedback from Dr. Sreejit. The system of continual feedback on your progress really works. I’ve never experienced such comprehensive health care.

My deepest thanks to all of the staff ️ Simi was the kindest therapist during all of the challenges over 22 days. Her smiling and stable presence reassured me every day. Jerome, Binish and the kitchen cooks make delicious food to nourish you. If you miss a meal they will call your room to check up and deliver food too. Rahul and the housekeepers clean your room every other day which really helps since my toilet got a work out! Ashish and Hari at the front desk coordinate all the logistics, scheduling with the doctor, arrange for Tuk Tuk Drivers into town (see the healer, she’s amazing!). And of course a thousand thanks to Dr. Sreejit and Dr. Jayalaksmi.

The RESULTS: my pain and fatigue are 40 percent improved, I lost 1.5 kilos and 2 inches from my waist line, and cholesterol dropped 50+ points (the lowest ever since getting regular tests over 25 years).

The real effects are supposed to continue in the coming months (I have 6 months of follow-up herbal medicines) so I’ll look forward to sharing my progress with Dr. Sreejit and returning to Athreya next year. More