Weight: 115 pounds. Woo!! I was getting really low weight there for a while and it was scaring me. So I'm happy my weight is back up to a healthy range.
Notes: This is how I've been feeling the past two weeks and this whole thing is a very slow, gradual healing process. That is the nature of having such an involved and complex medical problem. So always remember to be patient with your body and also you can't expect me to be at 100% either,but any improvement is promising and I am definitely feeling improvement.
I finished treatment about a month ago, but wanted to wait a bit before I made any posts on how I was feeling. I wanted to give my body time to heal before I really assessed myself. Now I am in recovery mode and hope to see my body heal and symptoms to keep diminishing! I feel like my body is able to fight on its own now, my immune system is definitely stronger.
I am SO happy that I was able to get so much treatment and I am also thrilled that I am now done. Getting IV treatment, no matter what you're getting, is really hard on the body and mind, but it was completely necessary. My body just would not respond to anything ingested orally because my body was so unbelievably shut down. I am curious to see if herbals and oral treatments will work now that my body has been cleaned out.
Things are up and down, but I am having way more good days than ever before. Before treatment, I only had bad, incredibly bad, and oh-god-I-think-I'm-dying days. Now I have good days where I can actually do things and days where I feel crummy and just need to lay down and relax. That is much better, I do not enjoy the feeling of death 0.o. This week I worked out, cleaned my room, made/recorded music with my friend Lauren, painted, rode a bike, WENT RUNNING. I didn't get very far with the running haha, but I mean that is unbelievable. I was unable to get out of bed and even though I'm not to the caliber of a normal person yet, it feels so so so amazing to be able to walk, cook for myself, shower, and even run sometimes! Right now I am in a lot of pain from the exercise and running, but it's actually pretty awesome to have muscle soreness from exercise instead of diseases, plus the fact that I was able to exercise is just so exciting for me.
So I hope that I continue this trend of healing. Its a bumpy ride and I'll have bad days. That is just the reality of having Lyme + co-infections + genetic defects. I just want to be functioning and have a normal life. I definitely am much better than where I was at 8 months ago before I started treatment. Plus now I have so much knowledge and insight into various pieces of my medical problems. It's never just Lyme as many of us suffering from it know.
I had an incredibly shut down immune system, like an HIV patient, from a very toxic and damaged gut, which then causes low hormones, which also causes a low immune system. I tested positive for all types of mycoplasms, Lyme in multiple forms (cyst and spirochete), Bartonella, rocky mountain spotted fever, parasites, viruses. I was in menopause (from toxic gut caused by antibiotics and mold toxicity). My blood cells were ratcheted from black mold! I had 3 different kinds of mold toxicity in my blood. This also will eat eat at fatty tissues like the brain, nerves, and gut lining.
I had multiple vitamin and mineral deficiencies and my stomach absorption was almost nonexistent. I also have a genetic inability to move fatty toxins (like mold and environmental toxins) out of my system. So all of this works together to trash the immune system, trash the adrenals, heart, all the organs, destroy your nervous system, re-active viruses and be a breeding ground for so many different types of bacteria and parasitic infections.
I only knew I had Lyme and babesia and I figured my immune system was trashed. I knew my stomach was messed up because of my symptoms and I know the damage antibiotics can do. Everything else was totally new to me and the amount of knowledge and missing puzzle pieces I learned from Dr. Sponaugle made complete sense on why I have been sick for so long and couldn't get better. He also would go into depth with brain chemistry in relation to the gut. One of the many things I learned at Sponaugle's with the brain chemistry is that excess glutamate can cause feelings like your whole body is buzzing, parkinsons, lyme rage, insomnia, anxiety, schizophrenia, alcoholism/drug addictions. When me and other patients at the center would feel these symptoms, we could see our glutamate levels sky rocket on the test results.
I still have systemic candida overgrowth issues, so I am curious to see if the rest of my symptoms fade once I get this into control!
Symptoms / Worse, better, or same than yesterday?
Fatigue/exhausted- Significantly better, am able to stay up during the day, exercise a little, and do things.
Vertigo- gone unless sometimes If I eat something that doesn't do well with me like meat or dairy for example, it can make me inflamed and bring this on a bit.
Chronic migraine (literally has never stopped for over a year now)- This is doing better, but still here. I think this will be a stubborn one to get rid of, but should get better as my inflammation goes down over time.
Ear pressure/pain/crackling- This goes with the chronic migraine. Basically my entire head/brain/ears are inflamed and pressure feeling? So this is doing better, but still here.
Brain fog- this is better, but on and off. It's dependent on environmental stuff too. Cognitive symptoms are the absolute hardest to get rid of when it comes to Lyme + co-infections.
Nausea - gone unless I eat something that doesn't agree with me
Knees swollen (Lymph nodes)- gone for the most part. Normally when I walk, they blow up huge, but that hasn't been happening recently. But if I over-do it, they will get swollen.
Stomach + intestines very bloated, sick feeling, acidic- Much better, I can actually eat now and eat much more food than I ever have before. I'm actually gaining weight (I lost a lot of weight previously from being unable to eat). I still have issues, but as my gut heals, this is improving.
stiff painful neck- a little better That has to do more with the fact that my axis/spine is tilted to the right and buckled forward 0.o. I have been going to a upper cervical chiropractor for this and its helping a bit.
Insomnia- gone, but once in a while it returns. I've been sleeping around 8-9 pm and waking up at 7 am. SO that is awesome. A few weeks ago though I was sleeping about 20 hours a day :o. So my sleeping is still pretty whacky! That's what happens when your body is in major heal mode I guess. Hopefully this awesome go to sleep early- wake up early schedule stays because I like it.
Racing thoughts (caused by over-electrified brain)- gone but returns once in a while
Hallucinating colors (over-electrified brain)- gone, but once in a while it returns
Depression- gone, but sometimes shows its face here and there
Anxiety- gone
Hallucinating colors (over-electrified brain)- gone, but once in a while it returns
Depression- gone, but sometimes shows its face here and there
Anxiety- gone
When I stand up I black out and feel like I will faint (I've always had this and most likely from the babesia)- gone
Weakness, can't stand for more than a few minutes, walking makes me out of breath (had this for a long time as well. Has come and gone in severity over 10 years)-gone
Sore throat and raspy voice- gone
Fever-like feelings- gone
Light and noise sensitivity ( have had this for a long time): much better and is improving still.
heart palpitations: I was having some really bad heart issues for a while. If I moved my body at all, sat up, stood up, any movement, my blood pressure would drop and my heart rate would go flying up to 120-160. I got checked out by a cardiologist and my heart looked fine so that's good. I am not having this problem anymore! I hope it stays away!
I will do periodic updates on how I'm feeling and I'll probably make other Lyme and health related posts. So feel free to check back :D.
So thankful for all the amazing people who donated money for my treatment and thankful for the Sponaugle Wellness Institute for not giving up on me. I've been a very difficult case. Here's to healing!
I will always be needing supplements and treatments to maintain and continue to heal, so my donation page will remain active! Check it out at www.youcaring.com/curesarah
