SAN DIEGO -- Ana Ureno has endured 25 years of pain.

"You ache all over, feel like you want to climb under a rock, that's my everyday life," she explains.

She has raised a family and worked at her real estate office in National City, all while suffering from fibromyalgia, a condition of persistent muscle pain, sometimes with fatigue and insomnia.

"I have tried everything and anything," she says.

At time the pain is unbearable, so Ureno is desperate for relief, and relief is what Dr. Paul Whitcomb promises. He is a charismatic and seemingly sympathetic chiropractor.

He has an Internet site that profiles story after story of pain-filled lives turned around. Some of his patients talk about him like he's a Messiah of healing.

Marlene Sampson came from Montana to see the Whitcomb.

"What do I think of the doctor ..." she says as she blows a kiss in his direction, "He's a Godsend, an absolute Godsend."

The doctor says he's made a medical breakthrough, claiming to do what medical doctors studying fibromyalgia for years have been unable to do.

"I figured out a long time ago what was causing it and how to treat it," Whitcomb says.

With his convincing Web site and a staffed call center, he gets large numbers of patients to spend up to 3 months at his facility in South Lake Tahoe. Patients may pay anywhere between $7,000 and $12,000.

"We'll treat them 3 times a day, five days a week until they hit 90 percent symptom free," Whitcomb says.

The treatment is basically 3 neck adjustments a day, along with massage. Some patients say it works.

The glowing testimonials on Whitcomb's Web site convinced Ureno to meet with him.

"He seemed very sympathetic the day I met him," says Ureno.

She says it took him five minutes to diagnose her condition and come up with a treatment plan.

"He said there was no doubt in his mind that he could help me," says Ureno.

She would have to spend three months at his facility, paying roughly $8,000, wiping out her savings. But her experience and her level of pain relief were far different than the raving clients like Cheryl Gillman of Arizona.

"God is truly working through him and his staff," Gillman says.

Mrs. Ureno felt she had been taken. It was no miracle cure, only temporary relief from the rest and massages.

By the time she got home, she felt worse. Her neck was sore from all the adjustments.

Fighting back tears, she explains, "You really start losing faith. It was hard earned money that I didn't have."

Dr. Wallace Sampson is a Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.

"There are several levels of problems here," he says.

He has reviewed complaints against Dr. Whitcomb and says the practice is more about making money than helping patients.

"It's a combination of commercialism, ignorance, and unprofessional behavior," says Sampson.

Whitcomb's behavior has caught the attention of the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners, the state regulatory agency.

An accusation was filed last week, four years after complaints against Whitcomb surfaced. It calls his treatment "gross negligence ... incompetence ... and unprofessional conduct."

Whitcomb claims, "We're having well over ninety percent of our people now who are going home and staying well."

But the accusation calls that and other similar claims "sensational statements which are intended to deceive the public." The accusation recommends that his license be suspended or revoked.

Ana Ureno says the whole experience was an incredible disappointment. She lost valuable time at work, her health is worse, and Whitcomb refuses to refund her $8,000.

She says, "I just wish they would put a stop to it, I don't want to see any more people hurt."