
Functional Medicine Campaign
Donation protected
TLDR version; I've been having near constant somatic symptoms for almost 7 months and no one in either the traditional medical world or mental health world really knows what's going on. Because of that, I'm venturing into the world of functional medicine. However, most functional medicine is not covered by insurance companies (not even the doctor's appointments are covered). It's not that it's less sciency; they are just dealing with issues like Lyme, autoimmune and the like (and these issues and medical practices haven't hit mainstream medicine yet). Aka, people can't make real money off of it yet. Long story short, I can't afford this right now, and I'm running out of options. I wouldn't be here right now without the support of my friends and siblings, and I mean that literally. And as much as it hurts my pride, I'm here to ask for financial support to get the few first appointments and diagnostic tests done.
For nearly 7 months, I have been in and out of mental health facilities. Back in January, I was in a therapy session and was discussing the stress around a horrific reaction that I had had to an old school anti-psychotic called Compazine. I had the stomach flu; the zofran wasn't working; and they gave me said drug. Apparently, most people have the reaction that they are supposed to have; their nausea goes away. I, however, had a truly terrifying reaction; and I do not use that word lightly. It was like my body was shifting in and out of an aggressive wave of skin-crawling dread. It was horrific. Because of the stress around the conversation I was having with my therapist about Compazine, I started to have a hot flash; and that hot flash lasted roughly 3 weeks straight (gaining and losing intensity, but near constant, throughout each day).
That first hot flash put me in Crisis Resolve's residential program for the first time. I was there a week. When you have a hot flash for 3 weeks straight without relief (it can feel like a high fever to those of you who haven't had one), I promise you that you can go to some dark places. Now, I have been formally diagnosed with Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. However, I'm used to the "typical" somatic symptoms that come with said disorders; such as shortness of breath, chest pressure and panic attacks, throat constriction, trouble swallowing and the like. Generally, TIP skills I learned in intensive outpatient (like holding an ice-cube in your hand until it melts) and Buspar have helped over the past year. But these symptoms I'm experiencing now are different. Clearly, my first hot flash was initially triggered by the fear of having another reaction like I did (to the Compazine), but the symptoms of the last 6ish months have been A) near constant (meaning that I wake up and they are there and I go to bed and they are still there) B) they are variable in intensity through-out the day, but are almost always present C) they are unusual. By unusual, I mean that I experience symptoms that resemble Akathesia, restless leg syndrome (but over my whole body), and intense pressure over various points of my body. Overall, my body feels like trash every single day. The hot flashes and feelings of hot flushness come and go. But, rarely are symptoms not occurring (either at the same time or separately).
All of the above has led to 2 week long stays with Resolve Crisis; dozens upon dozens of calls to their suicide hotline; 2 intensive outpatient programs in the last 6 months; and numerous trips to the ER. Now, I want to make it clear that I have the dark thoughts I do because of these symptoms. My life hasn't exactly been peachy, but I can deal with my aforementioned mental health disorders and depression. I've gotten used to that. My siblings and I learned how to be resilient the hard way. I also dealt with all this while getting my masters degree from Carnegie Mellon (which isn't exactly easy even without my stuff happening). I say all this to let the reader know that I can deal with shit. But, this is becoming far too much. This is the hardest thing I've ever dealt with in my life, and not knowing what it is doesn't help. I've been to multiple PCPs and had multiple blood panels that came back fine; a neurologist who had a brain scan done (which also came back fine); and multiple psychiatrists who can't quite fit this in to any mental health disorder. The closest label they gave me is Somatic Disorder; which means that I've been having these symptoms in a chronic way for more than 6 months. But no one can figure out what's causing it. Anxiety is clearly playing a self reinforcing role, but I think it's safe to say that I've moved beyond anxiety as the sole reason why these symptoms are happening as aggressively and constantly as they are.
I've followed nearly everything I've been told in the mental health world; I've been doing intense swims nearly every single day for the past few months; although I need to do more work on it, I've been changing my diet for the better; I've tried 5 different SSRIs and wasn't able to stay on any of them for more than a few days or few weeks (because the adjustment period was making my somatic symptoms even more intense); I use "TIP" skills (like holding an ice-cube in my hand until it melts); and I've tried to hang out with people, work and live my life as I would without this (but that's getting increasingly hard to do). I moved to a new class of SSRI and have been on it longer than any of the other ones (it's called Remeron). Now, SSRIs can take 4-8 weeks to kick in and dosages need adjusted, but I don't feel any relief and it's been a month. And where I hope I'll be wrong in a few weeks, I can't just bet on that. I'm at the point where I need to explore other medical options; because I need options if this med doesn't help (but sometimes SSRIs help with weird stuff).
This is where functional medicine comes in. There are a few folks who have brought up Lyme disease and other autoimmune diseases (which are also difficult to diagnose and many of them have a lot of false negatives). Functional medicine explores diagnostic methods and treatment plans that don't always fall in the scope of mainstream medicine. As a consequence, insurance providers don't cover them. But there is a whole host of research that shows that functional medicine can often A) find the causes to things that were not found in mainstream medicine (the weird stuff) and B) have effective treatment options for people with unusual diagnosis's.
The initial appointment alone is 400 dollars. And follow up appointments are 250 to 300. And this isn't including treatment or tests. I may have enough when I get my first paycheck in a month. But I don't right now, and I don't know how expensive this will be. And a month seems like an eternity with these somatic symptoms. And so, as humiliating as this is to ask, I need your help. I really need your help. Theoretically, my life couldn't be better right now; I just started a dream fellowship; I plan on applying to PHD programs in the fall; I have a ton of supportive and genuine friends; my band and music are going great; and I'm alive. I grew up broke in a complicated home and with support and a ton of hard work I'm where I am. And so the timing of this seems like a bad joke. A really bad joke. However, quality of life matters, and it has been incredibly low for the past 6 months. I'm doing everything I can to be here and stay here, but I need a break through. And while functional medicine may not help, I need to try other options. And it's the most viable option out there.
I can't begin to explain how thankful I'll be if you assist with this. You could quite literally be saving my life. And while prayers are welcome, it's going to take far more than prayers to help me; it's going to have to take different forms of medicine that cost quite a bit.
For nearly 7 months, I have been in and out of mental health facilities. Back in January, I was in a therapy session and was discussing the stress around a horrific reaction that I had had to an old school anti-psychotic called Compazine. I had the stomach flu; the zofran wasn't working; and they gave me said drug. Apparently, most people have the reaction that they are supposed to have; their nausea goes away. I, however, had a truly terrifying reaction; and I do not use that word lightly. It was like my body was shifting in and out of an aggressive wave of skin-crawling dread. It was horrific. Because of the stress around the conversation I was having with my therapist about Compazine, I started to have a hot flash; and that hot flash lasted roughly 3 weeks straight (gaining and losing intensity, but near constant, throughout each day).
That first hot flash put me in Crisis Resolve's residential program for the first time. I was there a week. When you have a hot flash for 3 weeks straight without relief (it can feel like a high fever to those of you who haven't had one), I promise you that you can go to some dark places. Now, I have been formally diagnosed with Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. However, I'm used to the "typical" somatic symptoms that come with said disorders; such as shortness of breath, chest pressure and panic attacks, throat constriction, trouble swallowing and the like. Generally, TIP skills I learned in intensive outpatient (like holding an ice-cube in your hand until it melts) and Buspar have helped over the past year. But these symptoms I'm experiencing now are different. Clearly, my first hot flash was initially triggered by the fear of having another reaction like I did (to the Compazine), but the symptoms of the last 6ish months have been A) near constant (meaning that I wake up and they are there and I go to bed and they are still there) B) they are variable in intensity through-out the day, but are almost always present C) they are unusual. By unusual, I mean that I experience symptoms that resemble Akathesia, restless leg syndrome (but over my whole body), and intense pressure over various points of my body. Overall, my body feels like trash every single day. The hot flashes and feelings of hot flushness come and go. But, rarely are symptoms not occurring (either at the same time or separately).
All of the above has led to 2 week long stays with Resolve Crisis; dozens upon dozens of calls to their suicide hotline; 2 intensive outpatient programs in the last 6 months; and numerous trips to the ER. Now, I want to make it clear that I have the dark thoughts I do because of these symptoms. My life hasn't exactly been peachy, but I can deal with my aforementioned mental health disorders and depression. I've gotten used to that. My siblings and I learned how to be resilient the hard way. I also dealt with all this while getting my masters degree from Carnegie Mellon (which isn't exactly easy even without my stuff happening). I say all this to let the reader know that I can deal with shit. But, this is becoming far too much. This is the hardest thing I've ever dealt with in my life, and not knowing what it is doesn't help. I've been to multiple PCPs and had multiple blood panels that came back fine; a neurologist who had a brain scan done (which also came back fine); and multiple psychiatrists who can't quite fit this in to any mental health disorder. The closest label they gave me is Somatic Disorder; which means that I've been having these symptoms in a chronic way for more than 6 months. But no one can figure out what's causing it. Anxiety is clearly playing a self reinforcing role, but I think it's safe to say that I've moved beyond anxiety as the sole reason why these symptoms are happening as aggressively and constantly as they are.
I've followed nearly everything I've been told in the mental health world; I've been doing intense swims nearly every single day for the past few months; although I need to do more work on it, I've been changing my diet for the better; I've tried 5 different SSRIs and wasn't able to stay on any of them for more than a few days or few weeks (because the adjustment period was making my somatic symptoms even more intense); I use "TIP" skills (like holding an ice-cube in my hand until it melts); and I've tried to hang out with people, work and live my life as I would without this (but that's getting increasingly hard to do). I moved to a new class of SSRI and have been on it longer than any of the other ones (it's called Remeron). Now, SSRIs can take 4-8 weeks to kick in and dosages need adjusted, but I don't feel any relief and it's been a month. And where I hope I'll be wrong in a few weeks, I can't just bet on that. I'm at the point where I need to explore other medical options; because I need options if this med doesn't help (but sometimes SSRIs help with weird stuff).
This is where functional medicine comes in. There are a few folks who have brought up Lyme disease and other autoimmune diseases (which are also difficult to diagnose and many of them have a lot of false negatives). Functional medicine explores diagnostic methods and treatment plans that don't always fall in the scope of mainstream medicine. As a consequence, insurance providers don't cover them. But there is a whole host of research that shows that functional medicine can often A) find the causes to things that were not found in mainstream medicine (the weird stuff) and B) have effective treatment options for people with unusual diagnosis's.
The initial appointment alone is 400 dollars. And follow up appointments are 250 to 300. And this isn't including treatment or tests. I may have enough when I get my first paycheck in a month. But I don't right now, and I don't know how expensive this will be. And a month seems like an eternity with these somatic symptoms. And so, as humiliating as this is to ask, I need your help. I really need your help. Theoretically, my life couldn't be better right now; I just started a dream fellowship; I plan on applying to PHD programs in the fall; I have a ton of supportive and genuine friends; my band and music are going great; and I'm alive. I grew up broke in a complicated home and with support and a ton of hard work I'm where I am. And so the timing of this seems like a bad joke. A really bad joke. However, quality of life matters, and it has been incredibly low for the past 6 months. I'm doing everything I can to be here and stay here, but I need a break through. And while functional medicine may not help, I need to try other options. And it's the most viable option out there.
I can't begin to explain how thankful I'll be if you assist with this. You could quite literally be saving my life. And while prayers are welcome, it's going to take far more than prayers to help me; it's going to have to take different forms of medicine that cost quite a bit.
Organizer
Nicholas Cotter
Organizer
Pittsburgh, PA