Laura's treatment fund

Hi there, my name is Laura.

Everyone close to me will know that I have been struggling with my health for nearly 10 years now. It’s been an unnerving and frustrating rollercoaster visiting countless GP’s, consultants, surgeons and nurses.  I’ve been scanned, x-rayed, injected, manipulated, prodded, poked and strapped to all kinds of devices including a week long heart monitor and 24 hour blood pressure monitor.

My symptoms vary from day to day. Some become worse, some can improve slightly and some stay the same. They include:

Heart palpitations and heart block
Autonomic nervous system dysfunction (Dysautonomia)
Blood pressure and heart rate abnormalities
Auto immunity
Fatty liver and jaundice
Extreme back and hip pain and stiffness
Chronic fatigue
Weight loss
Hair loss
Digestive issues
Various food and chemical intolerance
Brain fog and memory loss
Anxiety and depression

In the past 4 years my symptoms have become more life limiting and I am now unable to work full time or involve myself fully in a lot of the day to day stuff expected of a woman in her early thirties. I sleep a lot yet feel constantly exhausted. I’ve blacked out on a bus, in a car and while working on a till. Sometimes I can hardly move because of the pain. I’ve forgotten the names of people I have known for years and even gotten lost in a Morrison’s carpark. About a year ago I lost 2 stone unintentionally and very rapidly became clinically underweight. I often feel like I’m walking around in a daze. I never know what to expect from one day to the next.

I have sadly come to the end of my journey with the NHS. Final stop? A referral to a pain clinic, where I will apparently learn ‘coping strategies’ to manage my pain. With my head hitting this huge and final brick wall I finally lost hope. The fight I’ve maintained throughout all this left me and my spirit broke. I don’t want to just live with it! I want to find an answer and live and work again. I want to study and give something back. I don’t want my family and friends to worry anymore. I don’t want to live in fear of my body giving up on me.

I paid to see a private doctor and was told I have the bacterial infection Lyme disease but would not be able to receive treatment on the NHS as they do not recognise the infection in chronic form.
With this diagnosis I was led to a private clinic in Hemel Hempstead called Breakspear. They were recommended to me as they are one of, if not the only, clinic in the UK that deals with chronic Lyme. At the end of last year I was lucky enough to go to the clinic for testing. My appointment at Breakspear revealed that Lyme was the least of my worries.

My Autonomic nervous system is not functioning normally and my brain stem is being over stimulated. This is pretty serious as your autonomic nervous system controls pretty much everything including breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and digestion.

I found out I’m a mutant! I am completely missing a detoxification pathway that allows the body to get rid of toxins and one of my other pathways is incomplete. Over the years I have steadily built up dangerous levels of chemicals and nasties in my body which is now overburdening my struggling liver and being stored in the tissues of my body. I am also unable to methylate correctly.

I have allergies and intolerances to quite a few foods and chemicals. I struggle to get the nutrients I need to sustain myself and this has led to me being deficient in many vitamins and minerals.

For the Lyme I was tested via a Western blot and showed positive for 3 bands. The Dr said it is something I need to be aware of but at the moment I should address the other issues first. My body would not be able to cope with antibiotics or any form of ‘die off’ as it would have nowhere to go and be trapped in my body.

All of this has lead to my immune system being put under a huge amount of pressure and the poor thing has gone mad. It is now attacking healthy tissues because it can no longer differentiate between good and bad. This is called auto immunity and can lead to complications and in some extreme cases death.

There is a lot of information to take in but I have some answers! I do have some serious issues but they are treatable and hopefully I can improve. This clinic holds hope for me but of course it comes at a price as it cannot be funded by the NHS and that is why I am unfortunately here asking for your help.

They have outlined an initial 12 week plan which includes further testing and various treatments to combat the damage that is being done and try to level the playing field a little. Once my body is in a better state then I can look at how I can treat my problems long term and hopefully maintain a more normal existence. To start with this will mean travelling to Hemel Hempstead twice a week for 12 weeks for testing then treatment. I will also, at some point, have to be admitted to the hospital for a short period of time. There will also be the prescriptions they write for me which I have been told will be many and I will have to maintain some amount of supplementation for the rest of my life.

I hate to ask for money. Money is the least valuable thing in the world but holds so much power. I understand not everyone will be in a position to offer financial help but if you can spare a few quid or even a few pence to help me on my way then that would be incredible. If not, no problem. You could maybe help me by sending this link to others. Either way I would be forever grateful.

For those who choose to join me on my new journey, my aim is to post regular updates showing my progress along the way.

I truly believe that great things can happen and for the first time in years I’m excited for the future.

Thank you for your time. Big love,

Laura x