At the beginning of month 9 I am more stable at 60% well. I have noticed an increase in OCD symptoms (dermatillomania) and EBV type feelings (sore throats and constant swollen glands and increased fatigue as if I have a cold). I am able to function pretty much every day, working full time (from home 4 days a week and 1 day in the office). I leave the house about 4 days a week and do things and see friends. I have also managed to exercise a couple of times doing HIIT classes without feeling too bad the next day, which is a huge improvement (however, with the swollen glands it is difficult to maintain). My stomach is much more settled and food allergies severely decreased – I accidentally ate gluten and had no reaction. I am still experiencing heart palpitations and insomnia a couple of days a week. I still have brain fog, but can think much more clearly now and my friends keep telling me I seem back to my old self. My vision is slightly improved as I do not have light sensitivity anymore, but it is not fully better – I still feel like everything is hazy/like I am stoned. There has been little improvement in tinnitus yet. My joint pain/body aches are pretty much non-existent now. I am still struggling with weight gain and cystic acne which is a real bummer but I am hoping focusing on supporting my liver will help (although I had a liver function test done which came back fine). Fatigue is still my biggest issue, as well as feeling permanently hungover/like I have a virus.
I realised I was having continuous heart palpitations and nervous butterflies, so I decreased my Nature Throid from 4 grains to 1 grains and felt better again. However, on 1 grain of Nature Throid, my blood tests showed I was hypothyroid quite severely. I have added in 75mcg of T4 and will stay on 1 grain of Nature Throid as well as I could not handle the high dose of T3 of being on 4 grains. My body is obviously converting T4 to T3 better, so I need less T3 which is a good sign. However, this trial and error of not being able to get my thyroid balanced is truly frustrating!
At the end of month 9 I did an iron IV (1ml/100mg) to boost my ferritin levels which have ranged from 20 to 80. Speaking with Infusio, they recommended I get ferritin over 100. However, I had a terrible delayed reaction to the iron IV – I felt intensely nauseous, brain pressure, tinnitus increased 10x, vision problems increased, no energy, no brain function and severe depression – this ruined my Christmas period. Two weeks later (first week of month 10) I am still struggling so have booked in a venesection to therapeutically remove 500ml blood and therefore, the iron. All IVs and the majority of supplements have been on hold whilst I get over this, although I have been doing glutathione IVs to help and turmeric to chelate the iron.
A blood test confirmed a transferrin saturation of 58% (too high) and ferritin of 100. I had the blood removed. After the venesection I felt dizzy and the room was spinning all night, but 24 hours after, the iron poisoning symptoms began to shift away. However, a week later, I still have not bounced back to where I was before – I feel run down, dizzy, weak, fatigued, cold symptoms. I am doing EPO injections to increase my red blood cells again. This has been a huge knock. After another blood test though, my iron had normalised after the venesection.
After the iron, I caught the flu for 2 weeks. I woke up one day with what felt like a blocked ear with fluid. A week later the glands around my ear were very swollen, making it hard to chew. I generally felt exhausted, sore throaty, a gnawing headache in the back of my head, extremely fatigued, dizzy and generally like everything is a massive struggle. It is scary to feel like I am going backwards, but I need to remind myself this is just the flu. One thing I was sure of is that this was a real flu but the majority of symptoms manifested themselves neurologically with the room spinning etc.
After the flu was over, I also accidentally ingested B vitamins through an electrolyte drink and had a horrible reaction that lasted 2/3 days at the end of the month (vomiting, shaking and feeling like I had brain damage).
It is hard to tell after so many knocks where I am at the end of month 10. I am now going to Infusio for ACT and further treatment – I will reassess after the adaptive stage of the ACT is over.