Next Round of Fighting

Lots of things have happened since my last post. First, my memory has been all over the place, for one September is almost over...my last post was August 30...and I thought that was last Sunday or maybe the weekend before. In reality it was actually three weeks ago.

Second, my stomach has been severely messed up. Last Tuesday I went into work to do some things, I was very sick and unwell that day, I spoke to another co worker there. She said You have a hell of a hernia thats what you have!
I hadn't been able to eat anything significant in several days and couldn't even drink water much, I was down to 129lbs which I haven't seen and haven't wanted to see in a long time.
So I saw my chiropractor that day and she put her hand on my stomach..she said oh my goodness, this must be one of the smallest stomachs I have ever felt. After that she said, without even pressing down I feel the artery pulsing, this is serious you need to start eating again and gain some weight back. She wasn't wrong either, I feel sickly thin...like a starvation malnourished thin.
Sure enough though, hiatal hernia. She adjusted it and man did that hurt! I saw my friend later that day, she's trained in some kinesiology. So she could do some muscle testing to see what else she could find with this whole abdominal situation. She did some things on my illeoceacal and houston valve. Plus she did something for my whole emotional ordeal, color balancing I believe its called.

During the color balancing she found that I was grieving over school, so we dug deeper to see the specifics. Long story short, I was grieving over having enough money to pay for school soon. But heres the catch, my school is cheap and its not bugging me...so I asked my friend, could this be for someone else? She said yes. Then I knew, it was about my best friend. I do not want him to go off to school this coming school year next year....if he saves enough pennies and gets the money he's going to school a thousand miles from me...I don't want that. Not one darn bit. He is the one person in my life that is health and he gets it. A healthy person who understands what I'm going through? Holy crap thats rare. He understands how important it is for me to talk about some of these issues that come up with me and he does the best he can to be there for me. He did that when I was healthy a few months ago too, we just have that sort of connection you could say.
I know I've lost my mind and my body for now...badly...but I can't imagine him being gone from me or wanting to be gone like that, ya know? I just don't get how he would want to go so far away when he doesn't have a need for it...but school is one of those things I just don't get like the normal people do...being sick, I just show up and do the work then leave..dont get me wrong, I have good grades and do well in school. But I have no excess energy to spend on it.

Anyway, back to my kinesiology friend. We finished out that day cleaning out my emotions, I went home feeling a bit lighter and able to eat. I had some progress for the first time since I last visited kansas. It didn't stick though. The next day, I was able to eat better than previous but not well. Emotions hadn't come back full blown but they were sliding.
That thursday my chiropractor told me to come for a visit(yep, she texted me and said to come see her. She's just that cool). She rechecked my stomach, out again. She adjusted it, this time much less painful and I could feel it release. My eating improved for several days after this.
She also checked me on her little oil biofeedback device, it gives out a reading on essential oils that will be beneficial for my body. Several relaxation oils plus a few for digestion were my results. Since then I've been keeping up with using my oils, seems to be slightly relaxing if anything. I smell good too, like a whole flower shop exploded.

This week I've seen my chiropractor again, for my stomach to be adjusted. I saw my friend yesterday and she did some more digging on me. Some kind of school stress related to me came up, we couldn't figure out anything deeper than that though. We cleared it, that was the only emotional situation for me this time, very much improved after the visit. I also started my supplements back, last week when I couldn't eat or drink i quite everything except for a few important things.

The week before last my ND here told me it could be h.pylori, so I started Mastic Gum. That has helped my stomach upset and it was effective quickly, still taking for now. I don't think I have h.pylori...I think its all been the hernia. Either way I'm taking mastic gum and a natural antibiotic called biocidin to clear any candida or other nasties from my digestion. Plus a super strong probiotic.

All of this, catches y'all up until today.

Today I spoke to a lyme friend I haven't seen in a long while. She's starting with a new llmd that is super well liked and way up in the food chain. After telling her about all my psych symptoms that I cared to share plus my physical, she said I think you've got a bartonella infection brewing that needs addressing.
She did a quick muscle test on me and told me yes its bart, however no babesia this time. I figure if anything it'll be worth talking to my kansas doctor about when I see him.
Im going back the week after next for a short visit, by that I mean an emergency visit for him to work on me.
Speaking to my friend was great, it was nice to talk to someone whose as well lyme educated as I am. Except she's not so much in brain fog as I am right now, so it was much easier for her to take a shot as to what could be causing my new found symptoms. When she said bartonella, i remembered back when i took houtynnia several years ago and had a brain herx, which gave me a severe brain herx.
Since then, sometime last year, I had my KS dr. check me for bart, to which i was negative. But i wasn't having these symptoms then...so, maybe we've reached a new layer of junk in my system to remove.
I don't currently feel toxic, I feel like it is more pathogenic...I do the ionic foot bath and some other stuff...I should be pulling out a significant amount of toxins. Idk how its even possible that I still have toxins in me at this point, but whatever.
Ill keep on working.

Resolving the Situation

Guess what guys, only a few weeks before I go back to the Hansa Center! I am excited to go back and further my treatment. Each visit to the clinic has brought me to a better place physically and mentally. I still struggle with symptoms in between visits, so I will for sure be talking to my doctor about what to do. I will be treated for a week(5days) just like my last visit in April,

Anyway, I am glad to say this week has been so much better than last week. The last few weeks I haven't felt so hot, and I've had the gloom and doom thoughts. It all eventually manifested into another symptom, kidney pain. My kidneys began hurting again, at the same time all of my other symptoms skyrocketed.
When this occurred, it hit me-I can do something about this. Back around November my ND found I had a minor UTI, which manifested as side pain. They gave me a bag of herbs to make tea out of and it worked out well. My pain stopped after drinking the tea for a week.
So last week I made myself another batch of tea. I can't remember all of the ingredients, I know the tea contains marshmallow root and uva ursi. I made up the tea and drank 8oz twice a day. Hallelujah, a few days later I'm starting to feel my normal again. The doom and gloom disappeared, my skin even began clearing up.

Now after going through a pitcher of tea, I'm doing very well. The first three days of this week I spent over an hour outside laying in the sun. I know my vitamin D levels are low, it's been a while since I spent significant time outdoors. The heat will also help my joints, which are often cold.
I believe this has given me a little bit of an edge, since starting sun bathing my sugar cravings went away. It's not normal for me to crave junk food, but recently I have wanted more and more of the nasty foods. Maybe Candida is flairing.
I also have a small, quarter sized, yeast rash on my hip. So I suspect maybe my kidney infection/UTI (whatever it was) was yeast related. Just a thought.

Yesterday and today I exercised a little, it wasn't much but it sure made me happy. My body loves to reject any tiny physically straining, so a little weight lifting and stretching feels amazing when my body allows. My joins are less tight and cold and my back is more limber now, I love it.
In total I exercised 5-7 minutes both days, I pray this can become a regular part of my health routine.

I'm glad to have something positive to write for a change!!

Sleep, BWO, and Life

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to post about brain wave optimization. Well Lyme brain struck!

But today I remembered I hadn't written the post, and I thought it was a good time. So here it goes.

Brain Wave Optimisation 

This therapy is a way for the brain to "see itself", a way to show the brain what's not ticking right. The goal is to bring balance back to brain function. It has been shown to stop anxiety or sleep disfunction when the brain waves are brought back into the correct balance. The therapy reads off brain waves and reflects them back using sound. When the brain "hears" itself it can correct what it didn't know was dysfunctional.

It sounds good right? It all made sense to me when my doctor explained it, when I researched it online, and when I spoke to the practitioner. I do believe this is a good therapy, if it's what your body needs.

Here's my experience.

I started the therapy, I met with the practitioner for 4 days, 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. I layed back in a chair for most of it, with headphones in. During parts I would be attempting to sleep, if anything the goal was to relax and be still. That was easy, I am usually very relaxed. 

During this time the device was reading off my brain waves and playing them back to me using tones and music. It wasn't bad...I wouldn't go to a concert to hear that again, but it wasn't bad. During the second half of the therapy the goal was to be awake, somewhat stimulated. I would be sitting up in the chair, with a light on above me, and looking through or reading a book. Again, no big deal. 

During this whole therapy I became rather tired, sitting in one spot for so long took it out of me. But nonetheless, I thought it seemed promising. 

Towards the end of the week, nearing the end of the therapy, I felt more awake/alert during the day. No change in my sleep whatsoever. The practitioner seemed to be stuck on relaxing, the computer read outs didn't show I was unrelated. He just didn't seem to understand how some one could just not sleep...

Needles to say, I wasn't impressed with the end results. Sleep I would say changed none whatsoever, focus may be somewhat improved on some days. Which is good, but still not an impressive result. 

I also got this headband device, it is similar to the therapy with the practioner but on a smaller scale. I wear this headband that is connected to a tablet. The tablet will show the brainwave readouts, in a much more simplified manner than the practioners machine. The tablet plays the music, through ear buds, that supply the brain wave reflection. 

I'm supposed to do that everyday, starting at 2minutes building up to 20-40 minutes. I am going to continue with it, but I haven't noticed any change.

On a brighter note-

A few days ago I had one night of amazing sleep. That particular day I had to wake up early and hit the ground running. It turned out to be a good day(symptom wise), and I was able to do everything I needed no big deal. When the day came to an end, I was dead and actually went to sleep at a decent hour. I use the term decent hour loosely, it was about 1:00am but that's great for me. I woke up myself the next morning without needing an alarm, so my body was able to rest enough with time to spare. That never happens.

Sadly I haven't been able to repeat that, because my energy still had to rebuild after a long day like that. I'm almost back.

I know my last few posts have been about being depressed. This week I've had some relief! A couple days ago I decided to raid my oil stash and see if I could find a mood/energy booster. Instead of thinking beforehand and deciding what oil could work, I just looked at my bottles to decide what I would try. I just looked through my oils until something "stood out", I tied to follow my intuition. I picked frankincense and wild orange, 2 drops each in my diffuser. 

Frankincense is known for its mood boosting properties, I've used it successfully in the past. But wild orange was rather new. You see, I don't like wild orange. A few years ago I ate a bad orange, it probably had some chemicals on it or something and it made me vomit. That particular orange had a very strong orange smell to it, smelling the orange oil very much brought back the same nausea that bad orange did. 

Not this time, after mixing it with frankincense and diluting it in a diffusor, the orange gave me no problem. 

The frankincense/orange combo has been great, my mood and energy took a turn for the best. I have been able to sit down and focus better, I have had the motivation to get up and do things, very little depressive thoughts. 

Today I wasn't able to do it because I wasn't home enough, and I can feel the difference. I feel more bummed out and don't have the get up and go I did yesterday.

I have used oils with great results in the past, but I don't know if I have ever had such a dramatic result so fast. 

Now if I can find a mix of oils for sleeping...I could rule the world!!

Intuitiveness and Energy from oils

I cannot remember if I have posted how I was lead to my Lyme diagnoses, so today I will(and if I have, maybe it'll be better the second time!)

I became chronically ill after an injury when I was 13. I had to undergo surgery, a short, low risk, no big deal surgery. I was only supposed to be sedated for 15 minutes so the surgeon could place the bones and insert pins.
I was knocked out from 7am until 4:30pm. Lyme has taken my math skills, but I know that's more than 15 minutes!

It all went downhill from there. A few months later I was developing symptoms such as migrating joint pain, dizziness, worsening insomnia, and brain fog.
I knew that a broken arm (now healed) didn't come with these symptoms.

Long story short, I was talking to a friend of mine one day. Their whole family was Lyme positive. Before this, I knew almost nothing about Lyme disease. It came from ticks and caused a flu, that's all I knew.
As soon as my friend said "I have chronic Lyme disease" I knew that's what I had. I could just feel that that was the answer I had been looking for.
She hadn't even told me symptoms or anything. I knew from observation that they were constantly tired and unwell, but I didn't know about the dozens of symptoms one with Lyme could have(at once).

*flash forward*
Before going to the doctor who ran the bloodwork and found Rocky Mountain spotted fever in my system, I knew that would be the doctor that would point me in the right direction. I knew that would not be the doctor to heal me, just get me started.
(I was right, the dr. found RMSF and helped me in several ways, but did give up eventually)

Little things like this lead me through my entire journey, I knew I would be okay. I just listened to my body and any messages God was trying to send me.

Several times I would be reading about a certain protocol or herb and get a feeling that I need to use xyz at X dosage next. One of these herbs was cryptolepsis, which is for babesia not Lyme. Before taking cryptolepsis I was always negative for babesia, the first month of being on the herb I lit up highly positive at my naturopaths. Also my fatigue decreased and my concentration increased.

The herbs and protocols the ND and other Dr. Never made a significant or lasting impact. My ND could recommend a product for me and without reading the ingredients of how it would benefit me, I would know whether it would help or do nothing. I just knew.
I always followed the ND's instructions, if he thought it was beneficial I would take it. I kept my feelings to myself, hoping he would prove me wrong.
Same with the other doctor.

Listening to my body I believe is what kept me as healthy as I have been. I use the word healthy loosely...but there are many Lyme patients who are much much worse.
Our bodies are smart, our spirits are intellegient-listen to both and you will do well!

That's also how I found the Hansa Center.
I found about 4-5 clinics I considered, I knew Hansa would be the one to heal me.
After calling the 3-4 that reached the phone call stage of my examination, Hansa was the best choice. It was the cheapest by far, the soonest I could get in, they offered the most consistent results(the other clinics gave me either no timeframe of healing or a very long period). It's no coincidence I'll tell you that.

I have always been a little on the intuitive side, but until I put it into perspective of how it's made my life different. I though nothing of it, just that I was good at guessing maybe.

The truth is, when God needs you to do something, feel something, know something, you will. It's just even better when you decide to listen!

Okay, now moving on to my random thought of the day.

Essential oils. What is your favorite brand? Please leave in the comments below, if you have a reason you like that brand more so than others please let me know that also!

Oils are something that fascinate me. I use them often. They can make a significant impact on my mood and motivation levels. For one little bottle of liquid they sure do pack a punch. I have put some minor thought in attempting to become a distributor for one of the oil companies...
Once I am off all of my supplements it would be nice to only have oils to rely on. They are packed with energy. Even now if I ever get sick I make a capsule of essential oils, they kick the infection down quickly. I do the same for several friends and family members also, I've kinda gotten into it.

Lately Valor and Exodus 2 are my favorites, both by Young Living.