Cowden Support Programme || Week 1

In November 2015, I wrote this post about my struggle getting diagnosed with Lymes disease. Today I am going to be briefly updating you on where I am now and most importantly the treatment I am undergoing.

Firstly, let me apologise for abandoning my blog. It wasn't planned nor intentional but I feel I should explain what happened. Firstly, life got a little hectic. Between finishing school and trying to decide my next steps, holidays and my deteriorating health, my poor little blog got put aside. Even at times when I wasn't feeling too bad and nothing else to do, I felt a little lost with my blog. I felt my posts moving in a direction I wasn't happy with. However, I am back now and plan on continuing to post personal content I am happy with when I feel I can do so.

Now that that's out of the way, let's move onto this post...

Since November 2015 my health has had many peaks and troughs. There were times I was practically able to go about normal day activities, sure with a little struggle but I could do it. Yet there were times when I'd be in bed all day. It has been a momentous rollercoaster and a massive learning curve about my body and this nasty disease. Since my diagnosis, I have been on a month of antibiotics, about 6 months of homeopathy, chronic fatigue therapy/guidance and about 6 months of bio-resonance. I don't doubt that these have helped me in trying to live a remotely normal life. However, I'm not one to settle when I know there is a better outcome available. A cure isn't easy to find and it isn't easy to endure, but it's possible and so I didn't settle. It was after all this, about 2 weeks ago, that we (my mum and I) decided that the Cowden Support Program (CSP) would be worth a shot to give me back my health. 

I would really like to talk more about my journey and how we decided to give the CSP a shot. I think it would be easiest to do this via video so please let me know if you would be interested in watching that. 

So here we are today. I am currently on day 8 of the program, having just finished week one and ready to share what has happened. I really want to use my blog and possibly youtube to document my journey and hopefully my recovery so please let me know if that interests you. 

Here is what my first week of the programme looked like...

Day 1-

You know when you are having one of those horribly bad days, where everything goes wrong and it feels like the world is against you? Yeah, I was having one of those days. Not off to the best start. Along with the programme, I am eating gluten, refined sugar and cow dairy free as this is meant to give optimum results. I had never eaten like that before and this first day was really hard. We were still trying to get to grips with foods I could eat and our cupboards were lacking. Cue the hangry Holly! Besides that, it was easy enough to take the medication. I was feeling unwell but was yet to see a herxheimer reaction (I wasn't expecting to quite yet) and besides having a really bad day, it was okay.

Day 2-

*Repeat day 1*

Although my bad day was not quite so bad.

Day 3-

By now my horrible bad days had passed. We were starting to get to grips with which foods I could eat and I was still herx free! Bonus!

Day 4-

I was now past the initial detox stage and starting on microbial defense. I was still herx free at this point but suspected it wouldn't be far behind now. 

Day 5-

The herx begins. Nothing too bad yet just a rather persistent headache and feeling completely wiped out. Fatigue has been my enemy on the best of days, it didn't need a herx assistant!

Day 6- 

Mr. Herx sets in. My persistent headache becomes a shallow migraine. My body feels like it's been hit by a truck. My joints (particularly my left knee) start giving me pain. My eyes decided they hate the sun and all in all... I'm feeling it.

Day 7-

My shallow migraine subsides back to the persistent headache, although this time not quite so strong. My knees still dislike me nearly as much as my eyes dislike the sun. It takes all my energy just to leave my bed. Today I am gifted with nausea and throughout the day a pain located in my back (but feels like it's coming from within). This pain comes and goes but when it's at it's worst I forget to breathe. It's not all too fun and Mr herx is not my friend.

And that was my delightful week 1 of the CSP. Some may read this and wonder why I would continue with the programme if it makes me worse. The herxheimer reaction is just evidence of the Lyme bacteria leaving my body and as much as it sucks, I couldn't be happier because it gives me hope that this just might be the answer! 

I will be on this programme for an estimated time of 6 months. However, it could be more depending on how my body reacts and how long it takes my body to heal. I plan on documenting this entire process not only for myself but for anybody else who has an interest or is a sufferer of Lyme too. I will post all updates here on my blog and am considering using youtube to document the process too. Please let me know if you would be interested in this. 

I am so ready to kick some Lyme disease ass!

Holly Xx