This is such a long story that brings me down when I think of it. However, I feel that it is worth sharing for those just beginning in their better health quest. I'm blessed that 1) nothing life threatening has been determined and 2) I've turned the corner and looking toward a bright future. I’ve found in my quest for answers to my health that I’ve become very jaded towards Insurance, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and traditional Medical Physicians. I look forward to a future where alternative (holistic) therapies are more widely accepted and integrated into a traditional wellness approach. I live in Maryland which is heavily legislated (and persuaded by Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins) and the malpractice insurance is through the roof. Many good physicians that have integrated holistic / alternative therapies into their care have chosen to leave the state. I fortunately had the means to go out of state where I felt appropriate.

My story is sort of the “Perfect Storm” of health issues. You will see as time goes on how physical, environmental, social and nutrition/digestion plays such an important role in an individuals health. If one is off balance it can wreak havoc on an individual. In my case, I had the snow ball affect, where all of these areas fell apart. As I reflect on my story, I realize how truly ignorant I’ve been on living a healthy lifestyle.

For the past 11 years, I noticed that my metabolism had slowed and I had minor symptoms of allergies – but I ignored them and pushed on with my life. In February 2002, I came down with Epstein-Barr Virus. I didn't realize I had it initially. I came down with severe flu-like (viral) symptoms that took about 1.5 months to overcome (later blood work revealed that this is what I was dealing with). At that same time, I was going through some significant personal stressors (selling my home, renovating a condo, seeking temporary living space, changing employment, traumatic relationship termination, and some family issues). I noticed that I started to need a nap to get through every day. I chalked it up to stress and didn't really focus on the physical attributes of my symptoms. I exercised daily which seemed to help.

By September 2002, I moved into my newly renovated condo. I didn't realize how environment can truly amplify any under-laying health issues. I moved into a home with newly installed wall-to-wall carpet, all new cabinetry, fresh paint... This condo also didn't get much natural sunlight which by itself could be a problem (I work from home and felt like a cave dweller). By November 2002, I came down with another flu-like virus that never really went away. My lymph nodes (particularly one) were swollen and I felt like I had Mono again (which I suffered from at age 18). Odd symptoms started to appear as time progressed. I started to lose my coordination/balance. I couldn’t get out of bed. I would tire (and get winded) very easily. I noticed that my forearms and legs would have bouts of numbness and tingling. My ability to concentrate and focus was diminishing significantly. I thought I was going crazy. I also was suffering from serious migraines during the luteal phase of my menstrual cycle.

It's so odd to me that many times in my life, Dr.'s have dismissed a virus and offered no support or advice on how to handle. This was the case at this time of my better health quest. However, while exploring everything, we found that I was suffering from Asthma. Something I had as a child and thought I had outgrown. The Dr.’s focused on it (as if it was the main issue). I refused to accept this and focused on the whole body.

In March of 2003, my newly renovated condo flooded and I had to renovate again. So, the carpet out gas that I had eliminated had started all over again. They say there was no evidence of mold; however, I have my suspicions.

By August 2003, I was out of control. I was losing my balance and coordination with regularity, had random dizziness, my skin was erupting in horrible cystic acne, and my emotional state was highly volatile. I had put on 40 lbs in less than 2 years. The numbness in my arms and legs was severe. I felt that I was losing my motor skills. I had to really focus/concentrate on every move/step I took. However, I was having trouble concentrating on anything… My joints were swelling and ached horribly. My feet would swell so badly when I would travel (often for work), my shoes wouldn’t fit.

With the recommendation of a friend, I went to the HRI Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Illinois. I thought I was losing my mind. I was having nightmares and felt delusional. I couldn't get through a day without at least a 3 hour nap. I had to go to bed very early and rarely wanted to get out of bed in the morning. Pfeiffer Treatment Center primarily works with behavioral issues, but I knew they did full-body chemistry analysis and I felt it would be the easiest way to see if I had any markers toward mental illness. When you seek the advice of many physicians and leave with the feeling that it's all in your head, you start to believe that it's all in your head. Having a family member that suffers from mental illness, I took this very seriously.

Pfeiffer found that I had many issues going on with regard to my chemical make-up. However, they felt that I didn’t have any markers toward mental illness. Primarily I was dealing with malabsorption, mercury toxicity, a copper/zinc imbalance, a progesterone/estrogen imbalance and glucose imbalance, yeast overgrowth, adrenal fatigue, etc. I started a course of compounded nutritional supplements - high doses of vitamin C, B's, zinc, magnesium, chromium and others. I also began using progesterone cream during the luteal phase of my cycle (to me, it’s kind of funny that after many, many costly traditional medical exams (covered by insurance), Pfeiffer found my migraines were caused by a simple case of estrogen dominance - using the progesterone cream has subsided the migraines completely {not covered by insurance – however much cheaper to detect and care for}). I was also put on a very strict diet. I was allowed primarily lean proteins and green leafy vegetables. For the most part, I was very disciplined, however, I did waver a bit and didn't take it as serious as I should have (can you say chocolate...). I also had my amalgam fillings removed and incorporated air purifiers in my home. My Dentist is a Naturopath and he had me on many tinctures and supplements (Oral Chelation) as well.

Initially, I went through some violent nightmares and a “detox” effect. After a few weeks, I noticed some improvements. My coordination was somewhat restored, most of the dizziness had subsided and I seemed to be a little more productive in my day to day activities. While the Pfeiffer protocol definitely helped to support me, I still had not regained my energy and was not back to exercising. Nor was I socializing or leading a truly productive life.

My symptoms became sporadic and odd. I started getting random rashes. I’d lay in bed at night and my entire body would start to itch. I felt like I had bugs crawling on and under my skin. The acne was back. I just didn’t feel like myself.

By August 2004, a friend suggested I go to see a mutual friend who was an Osteopath {DO} (I also had some lingering spinal issues from earlier car accidents - so I figured I'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone). This Dr. as help, decided to run many tests. At this point, I was convinced my thyroid and adrenals were the cause of my problems. All of my blood work indicated things were normal. He suggested a few avenues to explore: 1) A medical intuitive, 2) Energy healing, 3) The Broda Barnes Foundation.

1) The medical intuitive was a retired physician with over 30-years medical experience. Without giving him any information, he knew right away that I had suffered from a virus that had attacked my central nervous system which had caused all of my organs/glands (liver, thyroid, adrenals, digestive tract...) to be taxed. He also mentioned that my energy field was disrupted (see #2). He suggested vitamin C injections with vitamin B shots. He also suggested possible taking low dose thyroid support, natural antidepressants (St. Johns Wort, DHEA, etc.). I liked what I heard, but couldn't find a physician in Mayland that would take it seriously. Apparently, Vitamin C will kill any virus in the blood. The 2000 mgs I was taking orally didn't have this effect, it needed to be injected. My DO would give me injections of "Myers Cocktail" which had high doses of vitamin C, but not the doses I needed. I also began receiving vitamin B injections. This seemed to help, but I wasn't back to normal energy level and still needed a nap to get through each day. I needed the higher dose stuff and couldn’t find a practitioner to assist.

2) The energy healing was very cool. I don't know how to explain it other than to say find a good practitioner and experience it for yourself. We're not all made up of cells and chemicals - there is an energy body that surrounds us that keeps things moving (in my layman's way of explaining). My energy body was whacked out. I sought the treatment of a local practitioner that had immigrated from Poland. He didn't speak much English except each treatment, he would indicate that I was getting stronger. I also noticed I was feeling somewhat better - but again not 100% and the effects didn’t seem to last very long.

3) The Broda Barnes Foundation - I was convinced was going to be my answer. They did highly sensitive (and expensive) 24-hour urine tests that examined how the thyroid and adrenal glands were working. They determined that I needed low dose Armor Thyroid and Cortef to support these glands. While Broda Barnes research has helped many people (I don’t disagree with their work) - this was not my answer. However, I was convinced it was. I went on their protocol eager to regain health. My entire life, I've had a very healthy heart and low to normal blood pressure. My blood pressure began to spike and my heart rate would soar to over 140 beats per minute resting. I went to Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, and a local endocrinologist. All three said "get off of those drugs". So, I was back to square one! And now have had an irregular heart beat that I’m in the process of diagnosing.

While I was going through the Broda Barnes experiment, I began to develop very serious lower abdominal pain. I noticed it would happen primarily early in the morning (5:00 a.m.) prior to getting out of bed. Thirty minutes after urinating, I would notice the pain would finally start to subside. The pain was debilitating. I went to my Dr. who found blood in my urine. She immediately put me on 1000 mg of Cipro for 7 days, without knowing whether or not I had a bladder infection. What a wreck that was – the yeast in my digestive tract came back… The results for infection were negative. She sent me to a local Urologist that had a horrible bedside manner and had suggested a highly invasive procedure to look inside my bladder. I didn’t feel comfortable with his manner and decided to do some research. I found that the University of Maryland Urology was doing some very cool research and felt I was a candidate. They felt I had Interstitial Cystitis, but needed to go inside the bladder to determine. So, I couldn’t avoid the invasive procedure. The good news is my bladder takes a pretty picture and there were no signs of anything serious. So, now I had “painful bladder syndrome” to add to my stock pile of issues. They were conducting a study on the affect of low-dose anti-depressants on relieving the symptoms of this syndrome. I took the paperwork and told them I’d consider it. In the meantime, I altered my diet and the symptoms, for the most part, have subsided.

As all of this was going on, my Dentist discovered that I had Jaw-bone Cavitations. Apparently, from some tooth extractions (for orthodontics and wisdom teeth), my jaw-bone never properly healed. So, these areas were harboring infection. So, I had to go through some treatments to help the bone regenerate and eliminate the infection. His approach is much less invasive than the normal oral surgery approach. It was an interesting course of treatment that he’s publishing a study on.

I began to work with the local endocrinologist as he seemed to really get my issues. He seemed to feel I was dealing with Chronic Fatigue and/or Fibromyalgia “Syndromes”. He offered no real explanation of what this was but said that Hopkins had done a study putting people on low-dose anti-depressants which gave relief to many victims of these syndromes. Apparently, the anti-depressants calm the central nervous system which can help to relieve the symptoms. It was interesting that two physicians had suggested this in a short period of time so I began to do more research

In all of my research, I couldn’t find what causes either Chronic Fatigue or Fibromyalgia. However, I did seem to notice a common denominator – something seemed to be attacking patients’ central nervous systems (remember earlier I wrote of the medical intuitive). I also did research on anti-depressants. There is some new controversy about the increase of physicians prescribing these like candy. Apparently, they are finding now it’s not such a good idea particularly if a patient has a family history or is predisposed to bi-polar disorder. I have 2 family members with it and didn’t want to mess with my brain chemistry. While I do believe they would offer relief of symptoms, I felt very strongly about not masking my symptoms but rather trying to find what was causing my central nervous system to be under attack.

At the same time, My OB/GYN indicated that the yeast overgrowth in my digestive tract was a chronic problem and that I needed to work with a nutritionist. I reached out to the nutritionist that I worked with that had been affiliated with The Pfeiffer Treatment Center to see if she could recommend anything. She was working with a practitioner who specializes in BioSET. She had mentioned it before and I didn’t really take it seriously. When we spoke this time, she said again that she’s always suspected I was dealing with allergies (food and inhalant) and that I should be evaluated with BioSET. At this point, I had nothing to lose. I had spent so much time and money what’s one more avenue… Being slightly familiar with energy medicine and coming across Rife machines in my research, I found BioSET to be very interesting. We found that I had many allergies and sensitivities to many, many things. Things that I was eating that I thought were good for me (for example – brussel sprouts). Since my initial exam, I’ve been on an allergy elimination diet where I’ve eliminated cow dairy, sugar, almost all fruits, many vegetables, and many sources of fats and proteins. I’ve also started taking digestive enzymes to aid my digestive process. And, I go weekly for regular BioSET treatments.

Between the BioSET and my regular Osteopathy treatments, my progress is amazing. I’m only 10 weeks into it and I’ve lost 21 lbs. I’ve started to make it through the day without requiring a nap. I’m more productive each day and starting to incorporate some socializing back into my life. I’m not 100% (still require occasional naps and my one lymph node is still swollen), however, I feel that I’m on the right track and the future looks bright…

My advice to anyone dealing with chronic health issues is to find a practitioner you feel comfortable with, trust your gut, and do your own research. Question your practitioner. If you don’t like their answer, find a new practitioner that will work with you and help find the answers. Be relentless in your research (knowledge is power) and have faith that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Books that helped me (there were many more, but they are in storage and I can’t remember their accurate titles):

From Fatigued to Fantastic! – Jacob Teitelbaum

The Food Allergy Cure – Ellen Cutler

Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome – James L. Wilson

The Schwarzbein Principle – Diana Schwarzbein

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause – John R. Lee

My diet consists of healthy, natural foods. I eat organic where possible and have eliminated any processed foods. I’ve also eliminated those foods that I have an allergy or sensitivity to.

Supplements I currently take: