What people are saying about us

I came to Denise Varley with a 7 year history of RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and with no hope at 52 years old of any remission. I was on a cocktail of drugs and in pain. I am now free of all signs of RA after having had 18 sessions of Osteopathy, cranial osteopathy, acupuncture and dietary counseling. To my amazement I found that some of the commonest things in my daily diet were responsible for many of the symptoms that I had. I lost over 1½ stones without trying to lose weight and have been able to resume my career as an independent fashion consultant. Now I attend for bi-monthly checkups and my husband has become a patient.

Thank you Denise!

I crawled on all fours from our car into John Varley’s rooms in Witham. I was in excruciating pain. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was to be an usher at the wedding of a family member the next day in Oxford. John treated me for an hour and I crawled out with his help, into my car and applied ice-packs every 2 hours for the rest of the day. I went to the wedding the next day in considerable pain-but I went! I came back to John on the Monday and after many treatments I am well enough to go running and run a big, international company. I now treat my back like a temple and never intend to get into the same situation again.

My baby aged 4 months was unable to lift his head and seemed to be uninterested in the world around him. We were very concerned about him and the doctors were perplexed by his condition. I was recommended to Denise by a friend who had had considerable success with her own child. After the first session of cranial osteopathy my baby was more alert and was raising his head and watching us. Following us with his eyes which he hadn't done before. He slept through for the first time and after the second session he was just like a normal baby. He has continued to thrive and is well 2 years on.

My family are truly grateful to Denise.

My son, Daniel, began to develop severe and recurrent bouts of diarrhoea at the age of 11 which increased in frequency and severity until he was finally ‘diagnosed’ with Irritable Bowel Syndrome at the age of 14. However, having been provided with this ‘diagnosis’ both our GP and the Consultant Gastroenterologist to whom we were referred seemed unable to alleviate my son’s symptoms. He was merely prescribed Loperimide (equivalent of Immodium) in quite large quantities and the inference was that probably a lot of this was “all in his mind.”

Nobody seemed able, or willing, to provide us with any answers as to why he was exhibiting these symptoms. The situation became so bad for my son that he was reluctant to leave the house for fear of ‘not making it’ to the toilet in time. He could not go to school and was eventually given a home tutor. This obviously had a detrimental effect on his self-confidence and self-esteem and he became extremely sedentary and overweight.

John Varley was recommended to me by a work colleague, whose son had been suffering for several years with similar symptoms (although he was underweight) and who had made huge progress after seeing John.

Within half an hour of our first consultation, John had pinpointed that my son had developed an extreme allergic reaction to wheat! Although this had been suggested by the NHS Dietician, who I only ever got to speak to over the telephone(!!), John was the only person who was able to stand by the courage of his convictions and state categorically that if we followed his advice my son would get better.

Within two weeks of our initial consultation and following the prescribed diet, my son’s symptoms had completely disappeared. It is now several months since we first saw John and my son’s life has completely changed for the better. He has returned to school, confident in the knowledge that his symptoms are gone. He is able to go out with friends at the weekend and stay over at their houses (something he would not have done in the past for fear of embarrassment if he had an ‘attack’) and his weight is, slowly but surely, coming back down. I cannot thank John enough for all he has done for my son and only wish that we had known about him sooner!!

Three years ago I had to leave university due to depression and anxiety. After being prescribed various cocktails of drugs by the NHS and their accompanying side effects, I decided to go it alone and was starting to piece my life together when I began to get stomach cramps and nausea. My GP was pretty clueless about the whole affair, and would continuously give me more antacids to take which most of the time had little or no effect, and it was becoming tiresome going to the local surgery up to 3 times a week and getting no answers. We began to think of food allergies, but with my anxiety levels still fairly high, I became paranoid about which foods were causing this and nearly stopped eating entirely for a period of time and lost a lot of weight. I was beginning to get desperate and having little quality of life, depression was creeping back on me. A friend of my mother gave us John Varley’s number and it has turned my life around.

John diagnosed me with Candida – an intestinal yeast infection that can cause a wide variety of symptoms including depression and food intolerance. He took me off all the stomach tablets and put me on a special diet and within a week I was beginning to feel a lot more human again. I’m now gaining the weight back (John later admitted I looked “half-dead” when I first showed up on his door) as well as the social confidence I lost a long time ago. I’m rediscovering myself as a person, after being hampered by illness for so long.

John is different from any other medical practitioner I’ve met – his approach to healthcare is about looking after the body and mind as a whole, unlike my GP who just tried to treat whatever symptoms were present at the time. He has become a good friend and whatever happens, I know he is just a phone call away and will always make time for me. There is still a long way to full recovery for me, but with the support and help of both John and Denise, I have so much more confidence in getting there.

I found myself, an unhappy, middle aged and obese woman, lacking in confidence, self-esteem and motivation, leading a very busy life. Due to my excessive weight I also suffered from back pain, sore feet and digestive problems to name but a few.

Due to health concerns for me, a member of my family asked me to meet with John Varley for motivational weight loss, which I did reluctantly.

I remember telling John that this was me, FAT! I had tried everything and that I would be fat forever but he could give it his best shot. I truly believed he would not succeed.

Over the last 18 months John has been truthful, supportive, encouraging and motivational. I have successfully lost 3 ½ stone in weight, reduced my dress size from 18 to 12, lost most of my ailments and completely turned my life around. With Johns help my confidence grew, my self-esteem returned and his belief in me has enabled me to change my career to become a successful fitness professional.

John equipped me with the knowledge and tools I required to make a complete lifestyle change, maintain those changes and achieve what I had only secretly dreamed of. The support and encouragement from John is ongoing and I have gained a trusty friend.

I have learned so much from you John, thank you.