Hundred Gatherings Wellness Success Stories

Nausea, Chills, Intestinal Upset, Hormonal Imbalance, + Anxiety

Came to Alex needing help with my health concerns: nausea, chills, intestinal upset, hormonal imbalance, anxiety about that. Have been working with a health coach for a couple years about food, but needed something extra. When you interviewed me you asked just the right questions and named my symptoms in greater detail than I could

I knew then that you had a potential remedy for me. I was sick again waiting for my herbs and anxious to try them. At first I had to get used to the taste but quickly acclimated and then looked forward to my daily herbal drink in place of coffee or tea. The effects: no more nausea vomiting distress above mentioned of any kind so far. It’s been a couple weeks. Right away I felt better. It gives a certain alertness to me and then a nice calm and focus. Helps me with my work as a healer and allows me to be more present with clients. I’m very pleased and recommending Alex to anyone I think could benefit from his expertise and knowledge.

- T.J.

Painful Tooth

During a recent retreat I began to suffer a painful tooth. The pain occurred when I exposed the tooth to cold or heat. The pain became worse and the intensity of the pain, on a scale of one to ten, was around six or seven. Instead of going to a dentist, which I was hesitant to do because I was away from home, I tried some of Alex’s tooth powder recommended and given to me by a friend. A small teaspoon of powder was made into a paste for each application and held on the tooth for five to ten minutes. I used the powder each morning and evening for about a week. Within a couple of days, after using the powder, I felt considerable relief from my pain. The pain in my tooth was gone after one and half weeks and has not returned. This was one month ago and my tooth is still pain free. I highly recommend this tooth medicine. It was an excellent alternative to surgery because it had no side effects, worked quickly, was not invasive or expensive. I feel much more comfortable now that I have this effective relief for tooth pain when I travel and in my medicine cabinet.

- Susan Stone

Newburyport, MA

Effective and Sensitive Treatments

This is an unsolicited testimonial concerning the excellent work done by Alexander Dold. I happened to see Mr. Dold’s business sign while riding my local bus to work. I went in on a whim and a risk, and was not disappointed. My arm and shoulder had been aching for months and within five acupuncture treatments I can now sleep again without interruption. Mr. Dold has an excellent touch and is very adept at this work. I also had digestion complaints that were greatly assisted by his careful assembling of traditional Chinese herbs and barks. The space is very welcoming and relaxing, and I regularly fell into a refreshing sleep during the acupuncture treatments. My great thanks go to Mr. Dold for his effective and sensitive treatments.

- Andrew Causey, An Appreciative Evanstonian

Allergies + Migraines

I have been seeing Alex for acupuncture for the last four months with excellent results. I am now completely free of allergy medication(s) for the first time in years - even well into the terrible fall season! My migraine headaches are significantly less frequent without previously required daily prescription medication, and a painful knee problem has cleared up. I highly recommend Alex and his treatments!

- Annette R., Evanston.

Trigeminal Neuralgia

Dear Alex,

I can’t thank you enough for my acupuncture treatments. Several months ago I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia, a condition of unknown origin in which even slight stimulation of the face by clothing or breezes causes sharp and often sustained pain to the face. I went to my internist and she recommended a medication that appeared to have a disturbing number of side effects. She acknowledged that acupuncture had been effective for many people with this condition and was free of side effects. We agreed that it would be a first step for me to take.

My facial pain decreased with each treatment and after about two months of weekly sessions all the symptoms disappeared. I know this condition has a habit of recurring, but I will certainly come back for more acupuncture treatments if it does.

Thanks for everything! 

- Barbara Lyons, Evanston

Night Sweats, Heavy Period, PMS…

What a remarkable difference Alex’s herbs have made in so many areas of my life! Although I’m no stranger to acupuncture, I’m new to herbal medicine, and admittedly found the whole process a bit “out there” at first. But I am thrilled with the results!

After drinking the tea for two weeks I remembered to assess my progress. The following symptoms vastly improved: night sweats, heavy periods, PMS breakouts, painful menstrual cramps, painful constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, painful abdominal cramps, excessive thirst, restless sleep, low energy. 

My last period was so light and pain-free that I was quite taken aback when I realized it must be the herbs. (I had been considering an invasive uterine ablation procedure with my OB/GYN that is now totally unnecessary.) 

And then, having been without the herbs last week while I was on vacation, I was happily stunned that resuming the herbs last night resulted in a sweat-free sleep. (Those of you who also wake up drenched/freezing will understand how happy I was to sleep through the night!)

Fortunately, Alex comes to stay with us periodically as he furthers his education. (It seems to me that Alex has an excessive thirst for knowledge – luckily for me!) When he is here he patiently takes my pulse again, listens to my dwindling list of woes, asks thoughtful questions, and determines a new herbal recipe.

By the way, I’d tried all kinds of recommendations by my regular doctor over the years – hormone patch, Citrucel, laxatives, prescription skin remedies, sleeping pills – none of them worked as effectively as these herbs. 

Honestly, I am surprised by the effect Alex’s herbs have made on my system and my overall health. I’ll admit I was skeptical until I tried it!

Alex has taught me that Chinese medicine is not about the individual symptoms, but about the whole body. The way I see it, my symptoms are the clues Alex uses to assess what my body needs in order to come into harmony. 

I’m eager to see how my over-arching struggles with chronic back pain and depression are affected as Alex progresses with me. I only wish I lived closer so I could go to him for acupuncture as well!

- Melody Bissada, 37 year old writer in California

Tooth Ache 

I have to admit that I was somewhat skeptical about trying chinese medicine for something that seems as structural as a toothache, especially since the pain caused by cold liquids had already become almost too intense to deal with. However, I partly just needed to buy some time, and, after years of dental problems, and horrible dental experiences, I was just desperate for any other option.

The mouthwash that Alex provided me had a weak bitter flavor and a surprisingly powerful after-effect of pleasurable buzzing. Remarkably, the intense pain has generally subsided, and I can even drink cold liquids again! It still remains to be seen whether this could be a real long term cure for my many dental issues, but my hopes are certainly now far higher than when I thought I was going to need a bunch of expensive and painful dental treatments!

- P.P.

Insomnia, Anxiety, Skin Trouble

I met Alex almost three years ago, I had bad food sensitivities, causing sleep problems. After few months of treatment I was sleeping peacefully.

After having a baby last November my food sensitivities got worse than ever. I had problems sleeping, anxiety attacks, bad mood, and extreme sensitivity to fragrances and polyester. Finally I developed a weird skin rash on my leg. 

I was postponing visiting Alex, my excuse was lack of time with new baby and full time work, but when I twisted my ankle really bad I finally decided to make a commitment. 

So here I was. After few weeks my ankle got better, I was Sleeping better, my anxiety attacks were gone, my skin started to clear. The rash I had on my leg was diagnosed by biopsy as lichen planus, dermatologist was trying to treat it with topical steroids, which made my shin crack and bleed, she could not offer me any other type of treatment. 

After few weeks of herbal therapy my doctor was surprised that my rash was cleared without use of steroids. But there were also side effects to herbal therapy – I lost 6 pounds!

I would recommend Alex to everybody, he will restore your body balance and get you on your way to healthier you.

- Diana Kalitag