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Help service dog and handler quality of life!!

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I intend to write this story informally. This is my story, as raw and real as it gets. This story begins when I was fourteen years old. I had begun dating a guy who was in my class. Everything started off amazing until one day when he raped me. The trauma that I experienced in that relationship caused the downward spiral of my mental health. Over the next four years, I saw several different mental health professionals, received several diagnoses, and was put on many different prescriptions. I was also hospitalized twice. I was suffering from a list of things including severe anxiety, paranoia, restlessness, insomnia, excessive fatigue, panic attacks, and more. The breakdowns became an everyday occurrence. I was miserable. I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, ADHD, emerging BPD, RAD, panic disorder, and PTSD by the time I turned 16 years old. I was put on a myriad of prescriptions which often caused painful side effects.  As I grew older, I was better able to advocate for myself and my mental health. I always knew that there was something that didn’t quite fit. My diagnosis didn't accurately explain what I was experiencing. Because of this, I began searching for answers. I was repeatedly told that it was just anxiety and it was just depression. I had been prescribed antidepressants but they only caused unpleasant side effects and gave me very little relief. I finally participated in an eight-week outpatient treatment program. Here, I was diagnosed with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder), anxiety, and depression. I was offered the opportunity to do a DNA test which would show us what medications I was able to metabolize and which ones I couldn’t. This is called the GeneSight Psychotropic Test. I am still astounded by this test and have absolutely no idea how it works, but it does. Because of this test, we were finally able to find a medication that would actually help all of my symptoms! This was a huge breakthrough for me. I am still thankful to my psychiatrist who suggested the testing in the first place. Now that I am on the correct medications, my symptoms are managed. They are still affecting me though. Along with my mental illnesses, I developed a chronic physical illness as well. I had these weird symptoms that no one could explain. Joint/muscle pain, fatigue, night sweats, heat/cold sensitivities, swollen lymph nodes, muscle spasms, lightheadedness, dizziness, insomnia, and a whole bunch of other things that are in a long list of symptoms. After numerous tests and specialist doctor visits, I was diagnosed with ME (Myalgic encephalomyelitis), more commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The CDC describes CFS as “Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a serious, long-term illness that affects many-body systems. People with ME/CFS are often not able to do their usual activities. At times, ME/CFS may confine them to bed. People with ME/CFS have severe fatigue and sleep problems. ME/CFS may get worse after people with the illness try to do as much as they want or need to do. This symptom is known as post-exertional malaise (PEM). Other symptoms can include problems with thinking and concentrating, pain, and dizziness.”. CFS was originally believed to be a psychological illness but was later determined to be a physiological illness meaning that it is an imbalance of chemicals in the brain that causes physical effects. There is very little known about this illness and even less funding going towards research into it. There is no known cure and treatment focuses on symptom relief. The development of my CFS has caused me to miss important social events, lose friends, miss school and work, and has caused my quality of life to decrease significantly. Because of my ME, I am not able to work as many hours as I’d like to. I can only physically manage short shifts at a time and just a few a week. . The donations that I receive would not only help Iuka but would also help me and my quality of life a ton! This illness has been extremely hard for me to cope with but support groups and Iuka h
EDIT I'm not sure why my story cut short but I will fix it as soon as I have access to my laptop.

Organizer

Hailey Schauer
Organizer
Mankato, MN

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