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Chandra’s Lyme Treatments

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My Lyme journey started over 15years ago. I had no idea there was a bacteria taking over my body and brain, but it sure explains the mysterious chronic illness. Although I am unsure of exactly when I contracted Lyme, we suspect sometime around 4th-6th grade. 

Throughout my childhood, I was always the sick kid. Most thanksgivings were spent at home with a sick stomach. Headaches were a common ailment, starting from a very young age. I learned to get through most days I needed to take up to 12 Advil Liquid Gels, which eventually stopped working. Anxiety and depression reaked havoc on my life. Chronic fatigue was a daily struggle, but somehow I could never sleep. The nausea was constant, some days I couldn’t keep anything down. In one scary instance, I lost use of my throat. This was just the tip of the icebergs. As I got older, my symptoms only got worse. Headaches turned daily, followed by dibilaitaing migraines. I would be stuck in bed for up to 10 days, unable to move without feeling like I was struck by lightening.  Lights, sounds, noises were too much for me. My dark room was all I could stand. Sometimes the clothes on my body and the touch of Andres would just burn. I would lay naked on the tile just to feel the cold on my burning skin. The neurological symptoms were by far the worst. I lost the ability to read , speak, or reason. As somebody who could hold an intellectual conversation, read any book and understand it, and be productive in a work environment, it truly felt like I had lost my brain. This lead me into a deep depression, death felt welcome compared to the daily pain. 

With the help and support of my family, I sought out answers. My first symptoms on my list to deal with were migraines and anxiety/depression. I went to any doctor that would see me. This is where the misdiagnoses started. Every doctor had their own opinion and treatment plan. I tried anything the doctors threw at me. I did tons of blood tests, nerve blocks, Botox, IV therapies, psychotherapy, biofeedback, all the medications available, physical therapy and chiropractic work, and many more. All of these made no impact, I just kept getting worse. And the worse I got, the worse the doctors treated me. I was constantly told that I was making up the pain, that I was just lazy and crazy. They would say there is nothing we can do for you. I never gave up, I kept searching for answers. 

In 2017 things started to get better, a huge leap of faith ended up working: Neurofeedback. This helped me manage my migraines, but my daily migraines turned into daily headaches, and I still had all of my other symptoms. This debunked the theory that I just had a migraine brain and I would never get rid of it, but it still left me with a lot of questions. We soon found a functional medicine doctor that looked at my body as a whole. We addressed each of the symptoms at the same time. I started to heal, but about a year in I hit a plateau. We started searching for the root cause. We knew that I was healthier: my immune system was working better, my stomach issue became much less, and my depression/anxiety were manageable. But I was still in daily pain, and I was getting really nasty flair ups that would leave me knocked out.  Lyme disease was discussed and we de used to test for it in January. Positive. So here I am searching for the appropriate  treatments and the smartest course of action to put Lyme into remission. After months of research and consideration, I reached out to a doctor at Envita Cancer & Lyme Medical Clinic. After reviewing my labs and history, he determined a good treatment plan.

The treatments. The doctor (and research) recommend a pulsing, rotational antibiotic regime. It will include both oral and IV antibiotics. There will also be detox, detox support, immune boosting, and nervous system support included in my plan. These will all be targeted by different treatments and supplements designed to address my entire system. Unfortunately all of these IVs, medications, and treatments are not covered by insurance. The CDC does not recognize Lyme Disease as a Chronic and complex disease. The treatments and care at Envita is expensive, but successful. Most patients get treated by Envita for months, and leave with a $60,000 - $90,000 bill. My doctor has worked with me to create a unique treatment plan that will be heavy the first month, and then will be at home work and oral antibiotics for months after, with a rebuild period. This was created to help save money for me. We are looking at about $20,000 for one month of IV antibiotics and treatments, followed by thousands of dollars each month after. We are asking kindly and humbly for donations to help with the cost.
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Donations 

  • Marian Yeager
    • $100
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer

Chandra Vargas
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ

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