44 year-old Annette is a cleaner. She had pain all over her body for 10 years. None of the various medications she'd tried could give her any relief. Two months ago she went to see a consultant and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The new medication she had been taking since then made her put 2 stones of weight on, which really upset her. She still had pain in the back, hips, arms and feet. She felt tired and cold, and had bad sleep. For over a year, her periods had been very irregular and very heavy, accompanied with abdominal pain. Her tongue had a white greasy coating and teeth marks on the edge. Her pulse felt deep and weak at the chi position. Her back was very sensitive to touch. I believed the nature of her condition was Kidney yang deficiency and congested blood circulation. Annette didn't have a positive attitude about her problem and wasn't keen on trying any alternative treatment. It was her boyfriend who pushed her to see me. I applied acupuncture on her back and legs. To her surprise, the pain was already easier when she got off the couch. When came back the following week, she hardly had any pain in the back, though her arms and left foot were still achy. I was also told she just had a period, which was exactly a month after the last one, and without any pain in the tummy. Obviously the acupuncture worked much better than any medications she had taken. But unexpectedly, before the third session of acupuncture, Annette's daughter phoned me to cancel the appointment for her, briefly saying that her mum felt under the weather because of problems in her life. Annette never turned up again since then.