Barbara’s Story

I read every word of your wonderful diary (you are so great to have kept your sense of humor throughout your ordeal) – I laughed and I cried (literally) and was amazed at our similar experiences.

Now 45 years old and not sick a day in my life before this horror, I have suffered for the past 2 years with many identical symptoms (fevers, rashes, constant dizziness, muscle weakness, swollen body parts (face leg), heart problems, head pain, difficulty walking, leg cramping and terrible pain, palpitations, period irregularities, the same adrenal rush you speak up that jolted me awake (I literally did not sleep for a month), eye problems, difficulty swallowing,  body tremors, insomnia, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, and much more.  I also had many blood abnormalities that doctors either ignored or didn’t know what to make of. After 2 years of suffering, both with the disease and the terrible treatment I got from scores of subhuman doctors,  I am finally back on the road to reasonably normal health.  At the risk of sounding like I’m berating you; you MUST give up on the medical establishment and start treating yourself! They (pathetically narrow minded, insecure and ignorant) are obviously NOT going to find the answer because of their own limitations and egos (sounds like we visited the same doctors).  EVER!  To continue visiting them and taking the medications that they throw at you is just masochistic and, I assure you, is adding to your physical problems. I understand the allure of searching for that ‘official’ diagnosis – the lingering hope that ‘ maybe this time; maybe this one will figure it out’. The dream of being able to finally go back and reproach all the morons and say AHA! I TOLD you so! The dream of finally finding validation (and perhaps the countless apologies owed to you). Of being able to prove that no, you aren’t depressed, stressed, insane, it isn’t psychosomatic or just the result of middle age – that you are truly sick! The sooner you let go of trying to get somewhere with the medical establishment, the sooner you’ll be able to start getting better.  I speak from experience. Right now all that matters is getting well and finding relief from your suffering.
Let me first say that I am not a health food nut – I have always been extremely skeptical of naturopathic medicine and it was only sheer desperation that made be go the less conventional route. When I started, I just knew it was going to be a waste of time – but I was WRONG!  It worked.

-There are two good and INTELLIGENT doctors here in Toronto (with actual medical licenses) who have a wonderful grounding in conventional medicine but also are open to less conventional ideas. If you’d like their names please let me know. Don’t let that joke of a naturopath you saw scare you off – I assure you, they are not all like that and he was absolutely the bottom of the barrel. I should cut to the chase. I believe your disease, like mine, is fungal/allergic/autoimmune in nature. I know you’re probably skeptical, thinking how can fungus possibly cause all these problems? It can!  PLEASE PLEASE just try what I am suggesting; what in heavens name have you got to lose? I was where you are at right now, believe me, just as sick. (I even went to the Mayo clinic – talk about jokes!)  Treatment will mean a drastic change in how you eat and in your lifestyle, but it i++-s worth it. I could go into great detail about the scientific basis of the whole thing, but it would just take too long.

It is not easy – you have to cut sugar, alcohol, wheat, vinegar, fruit and a host of other foods from you diet. And maybe even some of your pills (I was actually allergic to the gelatin that many were encased in and this exacerbated many of my symptoms). Many doctors are now beginning to realize that for some people even blood drawing and intravenous treatment are, in and of themselves, dangerous (there are preservative fungi in these things as well as alcohol, absolute no-no’s for people with fungally based diseases). If you pursue this course you will feel much worse at the beginning, with a marked increase in pain (I had read that this phenomenon can take up to one month – for me it was much longer and frankly it was horrendous – for one month I literally screamed in pain, and believe me, I’m no sissy when it comes to discomfort).  The greatest immediate blessing was that within a couple of weeks my dizziness drastically abated. Try it for a month – if you feel worse on this healthier diet, then you know it’s working and that your problems ARE fungally based. If it doesn’t work, if there are no changes for better or worse, well, at least you’ll be that much healthier and you can go back to your old lifestyle. There is simply too much to discuss in an email – my first suggestion is that you get yourself a copy of the book I now refer to as my ‘bible’ – COMPLETE CANDIDA YEAST GUIDEBOOK REVISED 2ND edition by Jeanne Marie Martin and Zoltan P. Rona, M.D. Don’t be mislead by the title – this is NOT a book about vaginal yeast infections   – this is about a disease that can do everything and more than you and I have experienced. If you should ever want to speak to me I’d be delighted and can be reached at XXX-XXXX or by email. The next step forward for me, after trying scores of naturopathic remedies that did absolutely nothing, was finding ESSIAC. That helped me turn the corner too. Great for pain relief and a score of problems, you will see it mentioned primarily as a cure/aid in cancer treatment, but it is also recommended for a score of other autoimmune problems (and as you probably know, thyroid problems are autoimmune in nature). PLEASE just try it!

I pray that you will at least consider my suggestions and again, give it a try – I am still not perfect but day by day improving and oh the joy of having some quality of life again!

Good luck – you sound like a wonderful person.

Barbara