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“The Difficult Child”

September 10, 2024bebandoEducational VideosMedical ArticlesPatient StoriesUsefull info Links

By: Dr. M. Kyu Chung

Children who have extreme behavior such as tantrums, melt downs, when seen by a psychiatrist get categorized as having a psychiatric condition such as Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD), Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Pathologic Demand Avoidance (PDA). The problem with these diagnoses is that there is no attempt at looking for a physical cause for their conditions. They then are treated with either behavioral therapy and/or medications. Also, for every child who is severe enough to be given these diagnoses, there are many more that have lesser degrees of symptoms who are assumed to be somehow a part of their personality or just simply a very moody difficult child.

We at the Chung Institute of Integrative Medicine have found an effective solution for many children with these symptoms.  We believe the problem is due to physical reversable abnormalities in the brain due to inflammation. The inflammation can be from abnormal reactions to foods, Lyme disease, other tick-borne illnesses, inflammation from bacteria, viruses, mold, parasites or vaccines. This inflammation then can be treated and reversed with simple Low Dose Immunotherapy (LDI) and/or with avoidance of the offending item.

Many parents have kids who are “difficult” and during ages two and three are presumed to have a case of bad “terrible two’s”. We have found that many of these children have a physical cause for their behavior that can be reversed.

Case examples from the Chung Institute:

Case 1: Child with extreme mood swings

A four-year-old boy was brought to the office for assessment of severe mood swings, tantrums and meltdowns that lasted for many hours. This had begun with general irritability as an infant and progressively got worse as he got older. He exhibited rigid behavior and the mother thought that he fit the diagnosis of “Pathologic Demand Avoidance” disorder. He refused hygiene activities, going to school, and had little desire to walk, jump, or play.

Autonomic Response Testing (ART) revealed that his brain had evidence of inflammation. A sample taken from deep inside his nasal passage with a thin nasal swab tested abnormal on ART and suggested that this was likely a source of his brain inflammation.  We made a Low Dose Immunotherapy (LDI) solution from this swab and began having him take it once weekly.

At his two month follow up visit, his mother noted marked improvement of his behavior and mood. He was “happier”, no longer angry, no more sensory issues, no more issues with hygiene. He went to school without difficulty and appeared much happier.

4 month follow up: Marked continued improvement.  The mother now says he is a loving pleasant child.  see  video testimonial.

Case 2: Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder/Intermittent Explosive Disorder (DMDD/ IED) due to gluten intolerance: 

We have seen several children whom we detected severe gluten intolerance via ART whose chronic labile anger resolved completely with the elimination of gluten

See here for video case report.

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Case of the month: Speech delay in 22-month-old

August 15, 2024webadminEducational VideosMedical ArticlesPatient StoriesUsefull info Links

A look at healing through lead detoxification

By: M. Kyu Chung MD

A 22-month-old boy presented to the office with severe eczema and speech delay. His mother noted that he barely spoke 9 words while his peers of the same age spoke two-word sentences.

He had severe eczema on his face and body. 

History was pertinent that they lived in a house built before 1978.

Physical exam: revealed a slender toddler with moderately severe facial eczema. 

Autonomic response testing (ART) revealed lead and nickel sensitivity.

He was treated with oral EDTA chelation and a low nickel diet.  The video is a testimonial to his healing:

Over the past 20 years we have seen numerous patients with various neurological conditions recover and regain their function following chelation. In addition to this case, we have seen reversal of attention deficit disorder (ADD), and peripheral neuropathy when those individuals tested positive for lead before treatment.

Discussion: 

Currently lead toxicity is poorly understood and poorly managed in conventional medicine. Most physicians do not understand how to best diagnose chronic lead toxicity. Even when lead toxicity is diagnosed or suspected, most experts do not realize that neurological damage from lead can be largely reversed.

There are misconceptions regarding lead toxicity.

Misconception #1:  To test for lead toxicity, one should obtain serum lead levels.

The current method of diagnosing lead toxicity is by testing the blood for elevated lead (serum lead level). Unfortunately, when one has been exposed to lead contaminated food, water, or air (contaminated dust) the lead levels drop to normal levels within a brief period of time. Some of it is naturally excreted but some of it becomes deposited in your body in the extravascular compartment such as your organs, bone, and nervous system.  When this happens, the lead does not remain in the blood and will not be detected through a serum blood test even though the lead may be causing health problems. ,

Misconception #2: Once neurological damage occurs from lead toxicity, little can be done to reverse the damage other than behavior enrichment programs.

EDTA chelation therapy has been shown to be effective at removing lead from the body, reducing symptoms of toxicity. Studies have shown that chelation therapy lowers blood lead levels and can improve verbal ability, memory and motor speed. We have found this to be true, not only in the video case presented above, but in many of our patients who were symptomatic of lead exposure.

Information for patients:

Any lead exposure is considered dangerous, so minimize risk of exposure.

To Decrease potential exposure to lead:

Message to physicians:

Having instructed medical students for the past 40 years, I am very aware that students are rarely taught about heavy metal toxins or other toxins. Just because you have never been taught or heard of treatments for heavy metal toxins does not mean that effective treatment does not exist. Since there is no toxicology physician specialty or training in traditional medicine, you must learn about heavy metal toxins on your own through conferences outside your own specialty.

The most common alternative method of diagnosing heavy metal toxicity is by performing a provocation heavy metal testing. This is a method by which one administers a set dosage of a chelating agent and measures the lead that is excreted from the urine. A chelating agent will attract and bind to the lead that is in the tissues and will get excreted out to the urine.

Pros to provocation testing:

  • Can detect heavy metals that are found outside the blood.
  • Gives an objective quantitative number that one can use to follow as treatment progresses.

Cons to provocation testing:

  • Sometime does not correlate with patient clinical status. E.g., individuals may have minimal symptoms and have elevated levels, or some individuals may have severe symptoms with minimal elevations.
  • Usually takes a specialized lab and takes up to 14 days to receive the results. Doctor’s Data does this testing.

At the Chung Institute we use a muscle testing method called Autonomic Response Testing (ART) developed by Dietrich Klinghardt, MD. We have found this testing to be the most clinically useful test. We often use provocation test following ART and have found them to show consistent results.

Pros to ART:

  • Can detect heavy metals that are found outside the blood.
  • We can obtain information as to whether that the toxin is in the area of disturbance. For example, an adult may show high levels in the feet and not in the head.
  • Results of the testing are immediate.

Cons to ART:

  • No objective number to follow or show to the patient.
  • Conventional medicine and even some Integrative Medicine practitioners do not recognize this method.
  • It is a skill that requires practice after taking course work to be able to trust the testing.

You can take coursework on ART through Dietrich Klinghardt, MD (What is A.R.T.? – Klinghardt Institute)

Those practitioners who are serious about learning how we manage this method are welcome to take a short preceptorship at our office.

Contact:

Brigid Bandomer: bbandomer@wonsookchungfoundation.org

Or Carolann Wileczek:  cwileczek@gmail.com

1 professional, C. C. medical. (n.d.). Lead poisoning: Causes, symptoms, testing & prevention. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/11312-lead-poisoning

2 Sanders, T., Liu, Y., Buchner, V., & Tchounwou, P. B. (2009). Neurotoxic effects and biomarkers of lead exposure: A Review. Reviews on Environmental Health, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh.2009.24.1.15

3 Barbosa, F., Tanus-Santos, J. E., Gerlach, R. F., & Parsons, P. J. (2005). A critical review of biomarkers used for monitoring human exposure to lead: Advantages, limitations, and future needs. Environmental Health Perspectives, 113(12), 1669–1674. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7917

4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Lead exposure symptoms and complications. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/symptoms-complications/index.html

5 World Health Organization. (n.d.). Lead poisoning. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health

6 Fulgenzi, A., Vietti, D., & Ferrero, M. E. (2020). EDTA chelation therapy in the treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases: An update. Biomedicines, 8(8), 269. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines8080269

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). About childhood lead poisoning prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/about/index.html

8 Register for Webinars. Doctor’s Data Doctor’s Data Specialty Testing Clinical Laboratory | Doctor’s Data doctorsdata.com. (n.d.). https://www.doctorsdata.com/

9 What is A.R.T.? – klinghardt institute. Klinghardt Institute – Welcome to the Klinghardt Institute. (2024a, June 23). https://klinghardtinstitute.com/what-is-art/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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WHERE IS MY PERIOD?

July 1, 2024webadminEducational VideosMedical ArticlesPatient StoriesUsefull info Links

By Dr. Tracy Brobyn

          We women live a substantial chunk of our lives at the mercy of biological cycling.  Why am I late? Did I remember to throw a tampon in my purse? And finally, the dreaded….do my teenage daughter and I have our periods at the same time and if so, will the men in the house survive it?  In truth, all humans live through cycles whether it’s the seasons or the gravitational pull on our Earth from the moon.  However, as women, biological cycling becomes so much a part of our lives that it can only be described as both miraculous as well as irritating.   That’s why, when our cycles stop for any prolonged period, it sets off a major alarm in our brains and in the absence of pregnancy or menopause, it should.

          What is often overlooked, is that our menstrual cycles are connected to our psyche, energy and any other challenges our body must face at any given time.   That means if we aren’t getting enough sleep, we are under significant stress, we are either ill or not getting enough calories; our brains may decide it’s not a good time to get pregnant and shut down our cycles temporarily.  Temporary loss of cycling in response to such stressors is a normal biological process.  But what if we lose our cycles for longer periods of time, also known as amenorrhea.  Why does this sometimes happen and what can we do about it? 

          Menstrual cycling is a result of the delicate dance between the brain and the ovaries with hormones acting as the messengers between the two.  This dance can be disrupted by many factors but one of the most prevalent in our technological 21st century is toxins.  Toxins range from heavy metals in our air and water, to pesticides/weed killers in our food to any number of hormonal disruptors in the general environment such as the so-called “forever chemicals” known as perflurorocarbons.   Add to that list plastics including BPA.   Perflurorocarbons are particularly interesting because not only do they disrupt menstruation, but menstruation itself acts as a detox mechanism for these chemicals.  Amenorrhea is therefore not only a consequence of these chemicals but adds insult to injury by reducing the body’s ability to eliminate them.

Detoxification can be a powerful mechanism to re-establish communication between the brain and the ovaries.  In our practice, we use natural detox mechanisms such as cilantro (like the parsley) or chlorella (the active ingredient found in seaweed) to clean out the body’s systems.  We may use chelating medication if there is a need for it.  Ionic foot baths can also play a role in detoxification.  Patients can help themselves detox through additional means such as Epsom salt baths and saunas.

 Most detox mechanisms, including medication, bind to toxins. The body then eliminates the bound toxin through sweat, stool or urine but stool is the most important mechanism.  That means the patient needs to have regular bowel movements to successfully detox.  Maintaining a normal GI tract filled with healthy and helpful bacteria now becomes critical to re-establish menstrual cycling. Looking at food sensitivities (for example, gluten intolerance) is an important factor in maximizing GI health and subsequent fertility.  Additionally, menstrual function is highly reliant on good sleeping habits so that also becomes a large focus on the treatment of any patient who presents with these issues.

Once communication has been restored, the body needs energy to set the network back in motion.  Acupuncture, with its ability to be directed at specific regions of the body, acts nicely in this capacity. .  Energy blockage to the body’s hormonal circuitry can also be jump started through an injection process known as neural therapy.  One particularly important focus of this therapy is the pituitary gland, which acts as the conductor of this amazing network of communication .  This multifactorial approach to cycle dysfunction emphasizes the role all body systems play in our overall health, of which reproduction is just one part.  If you are having menstrual issues, irregular cycles or even no cycles, consider using the holistic approach we take at The Chung Institute.  In most cases, we can get her back!

Excited to share this video of one of Dr. Brobyn’s patients who successfully had her period restored!

1.         Zhou, W., et al., Plasma Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Concentration and Menstrual Cycle Characteristics in Preconception Women. Environ Health Perspect, 2017. 125(6): p. 067012.

2.         Lum, K.J., et al., Perfluoroalkyl Chemicals, Menstrual Cycle Length, and Fecundity: Findings from a Prospective Pregnancy Study. Epidemiology, 2017. 28(1): p. 90-98.

3.         Lyngsø, J., et al., Menstrual cycle characteristics in fertile women from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine exposed to perfluorinated chemicals: a cross-sectional study. Hum Reprod, 2014. 29(2): p. 359-67.

4.         McClam, M., et al., Associations between exposure to cadmium, lead, mercury and mixtures and women’s infertility and long-term amenorrhea. Arch Public Health, 2023. 81(1): p. 161.

5.         Piazza, M.J. and A.A. Urbanetz, Environmental toxins and the impact of other endocrine disrupting chemicals in women’s reproductive health. JBRA Assist Reprod, 2019. 23(2): p. 154-164.

6.         Wong F, M.M., Mueller JF, Cousins IT. , Enhanced elimination of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid by menstruating women: evidence from population-based pharmacokinetic modeling. . Environ Sci Technol. , 2014. 48: p. 8807-14.

7.         Corrie, L., et al., Combination therapy of curcumin and fecal microbiota transplant: Potential treatment of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Med Hypotheses, 2021. 154: p. 110644.

8.         Notaristefano, G., et al., Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: gut microbiota composition and the effects of exogenous estrogen administration. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 2024. 326(2): p. E166-e177.

9.         Stazi, A.V. and A. Mantovani, A risk factor for female fertility and pregnancy: celiac disease. Gynecol Endocrinol, 2000. 14(6): p. 454-63.

10.       Mumtaz, A., et al., Diagnostic dilemma of celiac disease presenting with weight loss and secondary amenorrhea: A case report. Medicine (Baltimore), 2022. 101(42): p. e31350.

11.       Mamouni, S.E., et al., P159 Reproductive disorders in celiac disease. Gut, 2023. 72(Suppl 2): p. A138-A138.

12.       Lateef, O.M. and M.O. Akintubosun, Sleep and Reproductive Health. J Circadian Rhythms, 2020. 18: p. 1.

13.       Yaqian, Y., et al., Successful spontaneous pregnancy with acupuncture after premature ovarian failure. World Journal of Acupuncture – Moxibustion, 2018. 28(2): p. 137-140.

14.       Luo, Y., et al., Auricular acupuncture for premature ovarian insufficiency: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine, 2020. 99(39): p. e22212.

15.       Zhou, K., et al., Electroacupuncture modulates reproductive hormone levels in patients with primary ovarian insufficiency: results from a prospective observational study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2013. 2013: p. 657234.

16.       Lim, C.E.D., et al., Acupuncture for polycystic ovarian syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2019. 7(7): p. Cd007689.

17.       Jedel, E., et al., Impact of electro-acupuncture and physical exercise on hyperandrogenism and oligo/amenorrhea in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 2011. 300(1): p. E37-45.

18.       Brobyn TL, C.M.a.L.P., Neural Therapy: An Overlooked Game Changer for Patients Suffering Chronic Pain? J Pain Relief, 2015. 4(3).

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Treatment of TMJ, jaw clenching, teeth grinding.

July 1, 2024bebandoEducational VideosMedical ArticlesPatient Stories
Treatment of TMJ, jaw clenching, teeth grinding.

Written by M. Kyu Chung, MD

Jaw clenching, teeth grinding and subsequent TMJ pain is often a difficult clinical condition that is poorly managed. We at the Chung Institute have found an unexpected simple solution to this condition. This treatment often is cleared with only one simple tiny injection of a local anesthetic.

Individuals sometimes complain of chronic tendency to clench their teeth or grind their teeth at night.  This chronic behavior results in damage to the teeth either by wearing down the surfaces of the molars or even cracking their teeth or injuring the roots. It can result in chronic spasm and tightness and shortening of the masseter muscle (chewing muscle). This shortening of the muscle impairs the jawbone from gliding forward properly when they open their mouths and puts considerable pressure on the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) causing it to make clicking noises as wells chronic irritation to the joint resulting in arthritis and pain in the joint.  It also can prevent full opening of the mouth.

Chronic clenching can also cause the jaw muscle to become too large and give the person a square jaw appearance.

The current standard methods of treatment do not address the cause but try to ameliorate some of the symptoms.   Here are some of them.

  • Dental splints or night guards.  These do nothing to prevent the clenching but may help prevent the wear and tear on the surfaces of the teeth. Some custom night guards can be quite expensive.
  • Trigger point injections to the masseter muscles. This can temporarily relax and lengthen the shortened muscle for up to a month or so. This is the method we employed for many years, but it rarely “cured” the problem of grinding and subsequent recurrence of the symptoms.
  • Botox injections to the masseter muscles.  We have employed this method with what we thought was great success. The recurrence rate occurred less frequently, but patients still required repeat treatment 2 to 3 times a year.
    • Pros: it shrunk the size of the masseter muscle and narrowed the appearance of the widened jaw so women who had a square jaw liked the appearance of a narrow appearance of the jaw.
    • Cons: it required a fair amount of botox and hence would be costly. (We charged $500; most dermatologists charged much more).  It still did not address the cause and therefore required periodic retreatments.

Breakthrough in treatment:

We came across this treatment by accident. We have found that injecting the tongue frenulum with simple novocaine or lidocaine instantly caused a reflexive long lasting relaxation of the masseter muscle.  But more surprisingly, the treated patients found that they no longer grinded their teeth. Furthermore, only a third of the patients required a retreatment due to a recurrence.

We have treated over fifty consecutive patients with greater than 95% success. These successful patients no longer needed night guards. More than 50% required only a single treatment.

Additionally, many patients also noticed that their chronic neck tightness disappeared as well.

There is no conventional explanation for why this works. In acupuncture theory the point where the frenulum attaches, is where the stomach point is located on the surface of the tongue. A branch of the stomach channel runs right over the region of the masseter muscle. Hence, a disturbance in the stomach channel could likely disturb the masseter muscle. In neural therapy, irritating nerve foci from abnormal scars can cause severe myofascial dysfunction. The frenulum acts in a similar fashion but without a previous history of scar or injury.

If you are someone who suffers from chronic jaw clenching, and/or restricted range of motion of the jaw, pain in the TMJ (Temporomandibular joint), you may have an abnormal tongue frenulum which may be causing this problem. Many years of suffering from this condition can often be resolved with this surprising nearly painless simple procedure.

Conclusion:

We have found that more than 90% of the patients who complain of jaw clenching, jaw tightness, jaw pain has an abnormal ART testing of their frenulum and a simple tiny injection of a local anesthetic results in either out right cure or long-lasting relief.  See video example.

Note to medical practitioners:

For those rare doctors who know how to perform ART (Autonomic Response Testing)

  • Palpate the patient masseter muscle and test for “blocked regulation” (almost all patients with problems with TMJ and/or jaw clenching will show abnormal blocked regulation in the masseter muscle)
  • Have patient lift her/his tongue up high and test for “blocked regulation”. Most of the time you will find them to have blocked regulation.
  • Simultaneously touch the masseter muscle while having patient lift tongue up and the patient will likely reverse back to normal open regulation.
  • You have demonstrated the “two pointing phenomena” and injecting the frenulum will very likely result in eliminating the tightness in the masseter muscle and the patient will note disappearance of tenderness of the muscle as well as improved range of motions of the jaw. If the patient also has chronic neck tightness, some, or all of that will also improve.

If you are a dentist:

  • Palpate the masseter muscle and confirm that it is tender
  • Have patient open the mouth as wide as possible and confirm loss of range of motion
  • Empirically treat the frenulum with an anesthetic gel and wait a few minutes
  • You should notice improvement of the tenderness of the masseter muscle and improved jaw opening range of motion.  You now have confirmed the causal relationship of the frenulum to the jaw muscle, and you can inject the frenulum where it attaches to the tongue with 1% lidocaine without epinephrine for a more lasting result.
  • You will likely find that they no longer need their night guard.

If you are a physician who doesn’t know how to perform ART:

  • Palpate the masseter muscle and confirm that it is tender
  • Have patient open the mouth as wide as possible and confirm loss of range of motion
  • Inject 1/3 cc of 1%lidocaine without epinephrine to the attachment site of the tongue frenulum. (This such a low-risk procedure with such a high chance of a positive result, even if you do not know ART, it is worth treating the frenulum empirically)
  • Confirm that the masseter muscle is no longer tender and that the patient can open his/her mouth wider and more easily.

For those practitioners who would like to learn this procedure contact our office for a preceptorship.

M. Kyu Chung, MD

Director, Chung Institute of Integrative Medicine,

Clinical Professor, Cooper Medical School

Contact: either Carolann: 856-222-4766

Or email Brigid Bandomer: bbandomer@wonsookchungfoundation.org or 609-760-3793

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A Different Approach to Lyme Disease

December 7, 2019webadminPatient Stories
A Different Approach to Lyme Disease

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By Tracy Brobyn

The increase in tick borne disease has sparked interest in both traditional and alternative medicine communities regarding the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. Transmission most often occurs through the bite of a deer tick carrying the Borrelia (Lyme) bacteria into an unsuspecting host. In some people this leads to an illness with multiple organs becoming affected by disease.

 

LYME “INFECTION”

Normally when we think of “infection”, we imagine someone lying in bed with sweats, fever, and weakness.  These symptoms appear when the bacteria or virus attacks the healthy body.  When the body reacts appropriately against the invading organism or receives the correct antibiotics they should recover.  This type of infection frequently results in a positive antibody test. Both integrative and traditional doctors question whether or not Borrelia transmission consistently results in the type of “infection” described above. If it doesn’t result in a classic infection, we wonder if a traditional antibody test will give consistently positive results.

When an organism infects a person, their immune system makes antibodies against it. This helps protect against future infections. When we perform a blood test to check for Lyme, we look for antibodies to identify whether or not a person’s immune system has recognized the Borriella bacterium at some point in their life. Both traditional and integrative doctors question whether or not the immune system is consistently able to recognize the Lyme-causing bacterium. Therefore, we need a different way to test for Lyme infection.

BORRELIA BIOFILM

Biofilm acts like a huddle of penguins

Borrelia is a corkscrew shaped bacterium. This shape allows it to wrap around its fellow bacteria forming a biofilm.  The biofilm works like a family of penguins in a huddle. It shields itself from the immune system’s attempt to fight the bacteria like the penguins huddle shield them from the cold.

https://sites.newpaltz.edu/ticktalk/ottaway-2014-lyme-disease-investigation/story-by-john-carey-2/

We can surmise that many people may have Lyme biofilms and live completely normal lives without any symptoms.  However, there are a percentage of people whose immune systems see the Lyme biofilm as an “unwanted house guest.”  This “guest” overstays their welcome, making the house a mess, playing music or video games loudly.  In the body, people develop a variety of symptoms like feeling tired and achey, having brain fog or word finding issues.

UNWANTED HOUSE GUEST

Lyme can act like an unwanted house guest.

Initially, the immune system of an infected patient may mount a defense against these “house guests”.  Just like in our home, getting rid of an unwanted house guest can create a messy situation. When trying to remove these “guests”, you might yell or throw a glass and/or other objects which can lead to broken windows and damaged walls.  In essence, self-inflicted and unintentional damage to your own home.  This same problem can occur in some Lyme patients when their body has an over active immune response causing an increase in type and severity of symptoms.

ANTIBIOTICS: A TRADITIONAL TREATMENT

Once diagnosed, Lyme disease is traditionally treated with antibiotics. The idea is to help the immune system fight the bacteria. Antibiotics act like a SWAT team sent in to destroy the enemy, the infection. Most of us have experienced this approach with other illnesses such as strep throat, pneumonia, etc. If we think of using antibiotics as the body’s equivalent to a SWAT team, we realize it can succeed in eliminating the unwanted guests. Unfortunately, the team might be aggressive, taking out our grandmother and the guy fixing our plumbing or damage our home in the process due to the effective and aggressive nature of antibiotics.  When antibiotics are used, there can still be a percentage of “house guests” who evade the team by hiding in the biofilm. For this reason, we don’t use antibiotics at the Chung Institute.

https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-outsmarts-immune-system/?fbclid=IwAR36tiC9vrv2_lUPxneD5k2FyCtQj0Deyiv_y1OSxG6V2xQvQ-ngWL6WWH0

HOW OUR PATIENTS PRESENT WITH LYME

At the Chung Institute, most of our Lyme patients are not in the early infectious stage.  These patients do not have symptoms of an acute infection, such as fever.  In fact, it is often the case that they never experienced symptoms of acute infection.  In other words, the Borrelia that is “infecting” their body is not behaving like an infection at all.  This calls into question the accuracy of the western blot test, which is frequently used to diagnose Lyme. At the Chung Institute, we rarely use this test in our diagnosis.

OUR TREATMENT METHODS

Our first goal in treating Lyme is to get rid of as many of the unwanted “house guests” as possible. We use herbals, ozone and bee venom. Some of the “guests” will hide in the biofilm, preventing complete eradication. Bee venom is especially helpful because it has the ability to pull Lyme disease out of the protective biofilm. The disease then becomes vulnerable to treatment with herbals and ozone.    https://www.chunginstitute.com/service/bee-venom-therapy/

When we can’t completely remove the unwanted “house guest”, we try to find solutions to live more peacefully with them. We move them further away from your room or encourage them to lower the volume of their music or games. This is the second critical step in getting back to living a normal life for patients with chronic Lyme, helping the immune system live more peacefully with the “Borrelia house guest.” We use ozone as both a “guest” remover and an immune system trainer. We use a technique called low dose immunotherapy or LDI.  LDI trains the immune system to be more tolerant of Lyme while maintaining a strong immune system in general.

https://www.chunginstitute.com/service/ozone-therapy/

https://www.chunginstitute.com/service/lda-low-dose-allergy-immunotherapy-ldi-low-dose-immunotherapy/

At the Chung Institute, we use our autonomic response testing (ART) to determine which treatments are going to be useful for each patient. Every patient is unique, using ART allows us to create individual treatment plans for each patient. Using this approach tailored specifically to each patient has led to truly remarkable recovery in our chronic Lyme disease patients!

https://www.chunginstitute.com/service/autonomic-response-testing/[/vc_column_text]

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Gianna’s Story: Eczema

November 10, 2019webadminPatient Stories
Gianna’s Story: Eczema

When Gianna Marella was about three, her mom, Sarah, recognized Gianna had eczema by the mild irritations in the crooks of her arms and knees that would come and go. At about age 9 hydrocortisone cream was started for flare ups.

By the time Gianna turned 12, the eczema had spread to her neck. Her skin was red and raw from her chin to collarbone. It hurt when anything came in contact with it. Laying down in her bed was painful making a good night’s sleep impossible. Water burned so swimming, showering and anything involving water was avoided. Hydrocortisone cream no longer seemed to help. In addition, Gianna started having infrequent but severe migraines.

Eczema opened the skin at her wrists early on

Eczema treatment round 1: Oral and Topical Steroids

In August 2017 before the start of eighth grade, Gianna’s skin was painfully out of control. She was unable to sleep and had no energy. Her body was covered in more red, raw patches than healthy skin. When the pediatrician was unable to see her, her parents took her to urgent care. There she was diagnosed with contact dermatitis and began a course of oral steroids in addition to topical steroids. Her skin cleared up during the steroid use. As soon as she stopped the steroids, inflamed skin returned.

Eczema treatment round 2: Steroids, Antihistamines, Bleach Baths

In September Gianna and her parents were desperate to get her eczema back under control before school started. Eighth grade can be hard enough without having to worry about red, painful skin. The pediatrician prescribed another round of steroids along with oral and topical antibiotics. They started using wet wraps on the open areas. They tried antihistamines and bleach baths. Doctors suspected a staph infection caused this inflammation. The Marella’s took Gianna to see an allergist who did an allergy blood panel and a skin test. No major allergies showed on the testing.

Eczema covered Gianna

Eczema treatment round 3: Steroids, Antibiotics, Allergist visit

Gianna went to the allergist, once again hoping for an answer. The doctor performed patch testing which left her sick, feverish and lethargic. Her skin was red all over and open in patches. The results of the test were inconclusive. The allergist insisted that she had an infection and prescribed a treatment similar to her September treatment: oral steroids, topical steroids and a different antibiotic. The Marella family all agreed, this would be the last time they would try steroid and antibiotic treatment. If it didn’t work, they would pursue a different option. They knew something was wrong and they needed an effective, long term solution.

By this time, Gianna had seen many doctors including her pediatrician, an allergist and a few dermatologists. Throughout it all, Gianna continued fighting to live a happy, normal social life, hanging with friends, earning the lead in her musical theater class as Nala in the Lion King.

CHALLENGES OF LIVING WITH ECZEMA

Her family worked together to solve the mystery of Gianna’s eczema. They kept food journals and followed special eczema diets. At this point, her eczema was constant. Her parents were always on the lookout to pinpoint anything that seemed to make it worse than usual. Sarah had read that metal sensitivity could alter the gut and cause inflammation so she begged the orthodontist to remove Gianna’s braces in hope that would help. The orthodontist didn’t believe the theory. None of her patients had ever had a skin reaction that she noticed, certainly not skin issues like Gianna’s. The Marella’s were so desperate that her orthodontist finally agreed to remove the braces but they didn’t notice much of a change in her skin after removal.

As her skin worsened, Gianna felt miserable. She was self conscious. Her open, raw, painful skin developed an odor. She kept going to school, keeping her skin covered and trying to be “normal” but her body kept fighting her. Living with open skin made it hard to regulate her body temperature and painful to sleep or wear clothes. Exhaustion caused her to cat nap during the day, going to school was a physical and emotional fight.  One day, the gym teacher called Sarah to let her know Gianna had been in the bathroom crying. Her family decided it was time for her to stop going to school. They continued to search for answers, taking Gianna to other doctors, desperately seeking help.

Praying for Answers

During this time, Sarah kept hearing the Chung Institute name. Gianna’s principal suggested Dr. Chung to them saying she had a really good experience there. Then their hairdresser suggested going to the Chung Institute. The Marella family had faith it would be the right place for them before they even had their first appointment. They prayed Dr. Chung would have something different to help Gianna.

It was March 2018 and the appointment finally arrived. Gianna went to her first appointment with painful, sore, broken skin. The few areas of unbroken skin were dry and patchy. She was still dealing with a bone deep itch, scratching just couldn’t satisfy. Even her face and cheeks were covered with open, sore, sensitive skin. Her skin wasn’t doing it’s job. The prescriptions she had been on had thinned it. She couldn’t regulate her body temp well, she was sensitive to any and all products she put on it.

AUTONOMIC RESPONSE TESTING

During the first appointment, Dr. Chung assessed Gianna using autonomic response testing (ART https://www.chunginstitute.com/service/autonomic-response-testing/ ) and developed a plan of action. His assessment indicated nickel and aluminum sensitivity. Dr Chung told them he believed Gianna had atopy, which is typically associated with people who have a heightened immune response to allergens. He explained his theory that people with atopy are unable to convert linoleic acid to gamma linoleic acid. https://www.healthline.com/health/borage-oil#benefits

Treatment started during her first visit. Treatment didn’t include any of the prescriptions that had been tried and failed before. The Marella’s were hopeful. Gianna received her first IV EDTA treatment to detox some of the heavy metals trapped in her body. She also received her first acupuncture treatment. The family was told Gianna needed to follow a low nickel diet and take Cilantro to help detox some heavy metal at home. She also started taking borage oil, a supplement high in gamma linoleic acid, Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2.  https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17842-nickel-allergy https://www.chunginstitute.com/service/detoxification-therapies/

Healing

The Marella’s noticed improvement in Gianna’s skin within weeks of her first appointment, but she had a lot of healing to do. Gianna had missed a year of her life! Her lead role as Nala would never be. Softball season as the eighth grade captain never happened. She never got to dress up and go to the eighth grade dinner dance, a formal dance that all the girls at school look forward to each year. Most importantly, she missed walking across the stage with her classmates for her eighth grade graduation. Eczema robbed the entire Marella family of these memories.

Recent photo with mom and dad

Her skin slowly started to heal; gradually and consistently. Gianna was diligent with her low nickel diet and supplements. She received another IV treatment and started low dose immunotherapy (LDI). https://www.chunginstitute.com/service/lda-low-dose-allergy-immunotherapy-ldi-low-dose-immunotherapy/ She took responsibility for her health and healing. Gianna was a dedicated fighter. Her dedication to her diet and supplements paid off. Finally she was healthy and confident to go back to school to start ninth grade.  Her healing continued. Her skin finally became 100% clear and smooth.

Living Life Fully

Trip to Cape May with siblings

It is amazing the things we take for granted when your skin functions as it should. With her healthy, strong skin, Gianna is able to enjoy the things she missed. Most of them simple things we don’t even think about. She can swim in the ocean and hang out at the beach. For a year of her life her skin could only tolerate cotton t-shirts. Now Gianna can go shopping, exploring her own sense of style. She’s able to play sports and sweat. She savors the simple things: washing her hair, getting a shower and a solid night’s sleep, she’s able to socialize with friends and feels confident in her skin. Gianna has her life back!

Enjoying healthy skin!

 

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Oliver’s Story: Allergies, Infections & Nickel

August 17, 2019webadminPatient StoriesUsefull info Links
Oliver’s Story: Allergies, Infections & Nickel

[vc_column_text]Oliver was a healthy, thriving baby for the first year and a half of his life, hitting all of the regular developmental milestones. He was focused and mild tempered. His mom, Danielle, chose to be as natural and wholesome as possible with his food so she nursed and when he started eating, she made her own baby food.

When he was about 18 months old, Danielle noticed Oliver starting to develop dark circles under his eyes. He had frequent colds, seasonal allergies and recurring ear infections with fevers. He had bronchitis and would have frequent bouts of pink eye; sometimes in both eyes. He was almost always sick.

Danielle took him to an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT) and pediatric optometrist. The doctors would treat Oliver’s symptoms but no one was able to explain why he was sick so frequently or why he wasn’t getting better. Between 18-23 months he was in the emergency room (ER) three times with fevers of up to 107 degrees.

The third ER visit happened when Danielle was in labor with Oliver’s younger brother, Julian. Right after giving birth, Danielle went to the ER to be with Oliver. He wasn’t eating, had a double ear infection, bronchitis, and pink eye. She spent 12 hours with him while the hospital staff probed, pricked, and tested him for everything, trying to figure out what was going on. They left the emergency room with no new information, no reason why he was sick.

REMEMBERING A STORY ABOUT A SPECIAL DOCTOR

Before Danielle had any children, she heard a story that stuck with her. A coworker’s son became injured playing sports and despite the best care, he couldn’t heal. Doctors suggested surgery. Danielles’s coworker took her son to the Chung Institute before consenting to surgery. Dr. Chung treated him then he was able to continue his sports career without surgery. That story stuck with Danielle. She knew she would visit Dr. Chung before she would consent to surgery for any of her kids. Oliver was going to visit Dr. Chung.

NICKEL SENSITIVITY

The first visit with Dr. Chung did not disappoint. After he examined Oliver, Dr. Chung explained that Oliver was sensitive to nickel and air born allergens. He thoroughly discussed nickel sensitivity and the nickel free diet with Danielle. He prescribed some supplements as part of his treatment plan. Danielle followed it the plan perfectly.

https://www.chunginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Nickle-Free-Diet.pdf

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171205092028.htm

Oliver started to look better just one month after following the treatment plan. Within three months he was back to being a perfect, healthy baby boy. Oliver’s ears were clear and he hadn’t had any infections. A year and a half went by without so much as a sniffle.

http://www.vitaviva-info.com/en/healthproblems/nickel-allerg

This spring Oliver had a big allergy flare up. His pediatrician prescribed a steroid nasal spray and two other medications. Danielle really wanted to avoid those medications so she returned to the Chung Institute. Oliver was treated for nickel and seasonal allergies with LDI’s and supplements in the office and he continues those therapies at home.[/vc_column_text]

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Click on link below:

LDA & LDI

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Click on link below:

DETOXIFICATION THERAPIES

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Read the link for information about our detoxification therapies

Oliver is thriving since he’s been on the current treatment plan. He can do things he wasn’t able to do before his allergy treatments at the Chung Institute like visit his grandmothers house. Cats had always been a big trigger for his allergies and his grandmother has two cats. He would sneeze and become stuffy whenever he was around them. His eyes would swell shut and his face would get puffy so a visit to grandmas would mean he’d feel sick. After starting the therapies Dr. Chung prescribed he was able to visit grandma’s and even have a sleepover her house. He came home symptom free.[/vc_column_text]

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Olivia’s Story: Walkers, Pain and Lyme

July 31, 2019webadminPatient Stories
Olivia’s Story: Walkers, Pain and Lyme

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Lifetime of doctors visits

Olivia has always been a special person. She has dealt with different medical challenges from the time she was a little kid. Asthma was the normal kid challenge but she had unique challenges too. She has a long list of food allergies which really makes meals a challenge. She was born with a metabolic error that made processing B12 impossible. Olivia has two rare diseases diagnosed in childhood, one of which caused her to become legally blind. In other words, Liv was used to going to doctors and dealing with new symptoms and challenges.

Olivia needed two surgeries when she was 20. She had her wisdom teeth removed and a cornea transplant in a very short period of time. She had to take six weeks away from a job that she loved as a day care worker to recover from the cornea surgery. Things seemed to go well after the surgery. Allergy season was during that time and she was taking Benadryl for her allergies. She started to feel woozy but chalked that up to the Benadryl. The woozy feeling lasted and worsened. Within a few days, she was unable to stand up. Olivia was known in her family as being a bit of a drama queen. At first no one believed that she couldn’t stand up but they soon knew something was very wrong.

Guillian-Barre

https://www.healthline.com/health/guillain-barre-syndrome

Her mom took her to her doctor but she had no clue what was going on. Maybe she was just really wiped out? She suggested a visit to a neurologist. Olivia really wanted to figure it all out and get better. Her six weeks off from work was coming to an end. Her boss wanted to her back at work. She couldn’t go back to work when she couldn’t walk. She really wanted to get back to work and take her life off pause.

By the time she got to the neurologist, her face was droopy and numb. The visit was strange; he ran different tests than she had before. She was told that she had Guillain-Barre syndrome. The doctor wasn’t exactly sure why but suspected that it was from the stress of her two recent surgeries. The doctor set up a nurse to go to her house for a week for treatments that would help.

Needing a walker. Living with pain.

It was the lowest point of Olivia’s life. Everyone in her world was concerned about her. She’d be out with her walker and get strange looks that said “why does this young girl have a walker?” Her entire family was concerned and supportive. Her brother would hear her fall during the night when she would try to get to the bathroom. He would get up to help then take her back to bed, even on nights he had to wake up early for work. Her mom would help her wash her hair and shower. She spent her time apologizing for all the things she couldn’t do. “I’m fine.” “I’m sorry.” Her mom reassured her “Sweetie, I’d do this over and over again. It’ll be okay.” But nothing was okay.

Using the walker was helpful but frustrating. Olivia started going to PT and OT to move better. She did get a little stronger. She didn’t need to use the walker all the time. As she got stronger and was able to move more she began to get nerve pain. She had never felt pain that intense before. She would wake up screaming in the night. The pain was absolutely unbearable. She was in the emergency room for pain three times in just three weeks. The hospital had a pain management lady come and ask simply “you want some oxy?” it was that simple. The oxy didn’t really help the pain. It took the edge off but that was it. Olivia wound up having mood swings and an upset stomach. She became mouthy, mean.

Olivia had been going to OT and PT for months with minimal result. They suggested she could try going to the Chung Institute. They told her it would be good but different. With everything going on and dealing with such intense pain, it was time to try different.

The Chung Institute https://www.chunginstitute.com/new-patient-documents/

The first time Olivia went to the Chung Institute, she was the most miserable cynic. She met Dr. Brobyn and her team in February after her 21st birthday. Olivia walked in that day with no walker. She was sure of a few things one being that she couldn’t have Lyme disease since she was definitely not a nature girl. Olivia knew that she had already been at her worst.

Lyme

Dr. Brobyn tested her for everything on her cart and tested all the medicines she was currently on. Then Dr. Brobyn told her that she had Lyme disease. Olivia stopped listening very closely and just tried to hold her emotions in check. Then she heard that her body didn’t “like oxycodone” and that she needed to get off of it. That wasn’t a bad thing to hear. She didn’t like being on it but how would she manage the pain? She waited for Dr. Brobyn to finish and the staff to leave, and then she cried her eyes out like she had been told she had a terminal disease. Most people would be happy to finally have a diagnosis, but this was not the answer Liv wanted. It sounded terrifying.

You see, she felt that all the other things she had coped with before affected just her. Olivia was the one who couldn’t see or drive and needed eye surgery. She couldn’t eat what everyone else could. Only she would need an inhaler. Lyme affected Olivia’s entire family-everyone around her because it made her more dependent. She didn’t want anyone to see her if they couldn’t look at her without making the “Oh, I’m so sorry for you” face.

Treatments

She started taking an herbal remedy called Quintessence. Within a few days she was back to walking with a walker and felt sicker than she ever had previously. She had what is called a Herxheimer reaction-a temporary exacerbation of symptoms that can sometimes occur with treatment for Lyme disease. She had no idea what it was and called Dr. B who saw her right away. She went to her second visit using a walker. Dr. B explained what was going on. Olivia began low dose immunotherapy (LDI) and ozone therapy and continued treatments. Olivia knew Dr. Brobyn was a special person early on in her treatments. She took the time to listen; really listen. Dr. Brobyn would explain things and seemed to really understand. She was both a good doctor and a good person. This was something in Olivia’s experience that doesn’t always go hand in hand.

Click the links for more information about treatments

Disney

In just a few months, Olivia was dramatically improved. She was stronger and in less pain. In just five months, she was no longer taking oxycodone. Olivia was able to start working part time again in October. This past winter, she traveled to Disney to hang out with a friend who works there as a Disney princess. She was able to walk all over Disney-no fatigue, no pain, just a normal twenty two year old enjoying the Magic Kingdom. None of her friends or family; not even Olivia would have thought that possible just the year before.

Olivia is working part time 5-6 days a week now and is pain free. She still has some peripheral numbness and fatigue but Olivia pushes through it. She continues her visits and treatments at the Chung Institute and is looking forward to a healthy happy future.[/vc_column_text]

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My Story: MS, Lyme, Canes & Marathons

July 25, 2019webadminPatient Stories
My Story: MS, Lyme, Canes & Marathons

[vc_column_text]“Wow, you look great! I hear you’re running marathons now. That’s incredible.” 

  “Oh my gosh! It’s so good to see you. I heard you’re back to work! How wonderful!”

 I have heard both of the comments above in just the past week. They’re not surprising. I have conversations that begin similarly with anyone who hasn’t seen me in a few years. The change has been surprising, incredible even to me…and I’m living it.

You see most of the past twenty years have been struggling with painful muscle spasms, leg weakness, word finding, stuttering, balance issues and overwhelming fatigue. What people seem to remember most are things like helping me up from a fall, using my cane to herd children into a line at a school event or coaching field hockey “running” up and down the sidelines using my walker.

Specialists with no answers

In September of 1997 I developed some right shoulder pain with numbness and tingling that extended into my hand. At first, I thought it was just an old shoulder injury acting up. The feeling spread, it became difficult to use my arm at all. My family doctor sent me for an x-ray that showed some swelling in my neck. He suggested an MRI which showed an area of demyelization in my cervical spine. The doctor called to suggest I consult with a neurologist to rule out Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I hung up the phone and sat down sobbing. My 9 month old crawled up to me and snuggled in. It was as if she knew I needed something to cling to. I was hospitalized with worsening symptoms within the month.

Over the first two years of dealing with this myriad of symptoms, I went from specialist to specialist and received a new diagnoses and new prescriptions:

Infectious disease: “Maybe its Lyme. Lets try antibiotics” On IV’s for a month at home. No relief.

Rheumatologist: “I’ve got no idea but something is really wrong with you-go to Philly”. Wow, honesty. Would have been nice if he could have done anything to manage the pain. The Naproxen he gave did not touch it.

Rheumatologist in Philly: “You meet a lot of the Lupus criteria. Here’s some steroids.”  Here’s 60 pounds of weight, facial hair that came as quick as the brittle hair on the top of my head fell out. Six months of depression, avoiding mirrors, destroying evidence of what I looked like.

Neurologist in Jersey: “Maybe you just have really bad PMS. I put my wife on some antidepressants for hers and she’s doing much better.” Are you kidding me?!?!?! I’ll show you some PMS.

Neuropsychologist: (to my mother) “So, did you hit your children when they were growing up? Was she abused in anyway? I think she has conversion disorder and has blocked out trauma from childhood.” Once again, are you kidding me?!?!?!

Multiple Sclerosis

In March 1999, I suddenly became unable to walk or lift my right arm or speak clearly. I was sent to the hospital. There I was officially diagnosed with MS. I really wasn’t able to think clearly and have few memories of that time. I just wanted to be home.

PT visited to teach me how to use a cane before I left the hospital. No one in my house liked that cane it was an unwelcome guest. My three year old decorated it with pastel ribbons and bows. Instead of hiding the hospital look, somehow it brought it out more. I hated using that cane. I was still in my twenties but walking like an old lady. Using the cane was a constant reminder of what I could no longer do. I started collecting cooler canes and got rid of the hospital cane. No matter how cool they were, I never liked using them. When I was looking for pictures for this post, I could barely find any with canes in them. I’ve destroyed most of the evidence. No one would see me needing help.

Living with Ups and Downs

Life settled into a pattern over the next 15 years or so. During my good periods, I “only” slept about 2- 4 hours each afternoon. I was able to volunteer to help with activities for the kids and be present at different school events. I enjoyed being with the kids and their friends and appreciated all I could do.

During the bad times, I wouldn’t be able to do that. Each new flare I’d sink into an angry depression. The pressure in my head made it too hard to cry or yell or scream. My husband who was generally supportive would be frustrated by my depression and anxious about my health. We would argue more. My kids were anxious around me, they never knew when I’d be coming to quietly “yell” at them to be quiet or would get up to try making dinner or help them with homework only to fall right down.

We’d eat dinner together in the dark and I’d need help back to bed after because it was that fatiguing just to sit up and eat. The angrier I got the more I’d stutter and have word finding issues. I needed to learn to use a walker because my balance was so bad and neither of the kids needed a stroller anymore. Yes, I totally got away with not using a walker sooner because of the stroller. I was sad that the kids were growing up but sadder that I needed to add another assistive device to my world.

Silver Linings

We took a trip to Disney-the biggest, most challenging, family exhausting place in the world and guess what- I needed a scooter to navigate that. My kids and I found a silver lining: handicap access to amusement park rides but that was about it. The longer I was up and doing things, the weaker I became. Big trips would exhaust me for days after, making all the symptoms even worse temporarily.

There were months during which my symptoms were really minimal. My husband and I even had another child during one of the good periods. I felt my healthiest during pregnancy. I was not on most of my medicines and had great energy- no symptoms at all the entire time. Within a month of her birth I had a huge flare, was on IV steroids and started back on all of my other medicines. My mind shut down along with my body. My husband, mom, older daughters, and Nick Jr. swept in to ‘mother’ the baby.

I developed a great relationship with my physical therapist who consistently helped me regain strength and find a way to meet challenges. Everything seemed to stabilize with flares here and there. I was resigned to living my life with these challenges. After all, everyone has challenges, right?

Chest pain, Palpitations and Migraines

Then in September of 2014 my heart started to get fluttery here and there. Sometimes I would have difficulty breathing from chest tightness. I would pass out when I stood up after a period of sitting. The first time it happened was at the end of a soccer game. I went to the emergency room as I was exceptionally weak, my head wasn’t clear and I couldn’t get my legs to respond to what I wanted them to do.

Loosing sensation and feeling is always scary. Each time it happens the initial fear is there but eventually the fear doesn’t last as long the brain kicks in with “Okay I’ve done this before, I can do it again”. This was something different. The fluttering and tightness was new and fear stuck with me.  These episodes increased in frequency and severity. Neither the cardiologist nor the pulmonologist could figure it out. I worried that something was horribly wrong, in addition to MS. My anxiety was intense and all the doctors could suggest was “You really need to get your anxiety under control.” No kidding, fix me and it will be under control!

At the time I was also suffering from pressure in my head and light sensitivity. The pressure would vary in intensity but I rarely would call it pain. It was persistent, lasting for months. The neurologist I was seeing wasn’t sure what was going on. Then one day in her office, I suddenly lost use of my arm, my face drooped. I couldn’t respond to questions correctly. My tongue felt too big for my mouth and my legs refused to do anything at all. The doctor sent me right to the hospital to rule out a stroke. I was diagnosed with complex migraines. The cardiac and pulmonary symptoms were not discussed and continued after the hospitalization.

I was defeated, hopeless and beginning to assume that I would continue the downward spiral. A friend from high school was more insistent, “You have to go see Dr. Chung.”

Integrative Medicine

I had spent years hearing “you really should see my naturopath” or “you really should go to a nutritionist” or “did you hear about the lady who cured her MS by…” all well meaning people who I would roll my eyes at before saying “thank you, I’ll think about it.”

Don’t get me wrong, I had acupuncture previously and found it fairly effective for energy and pain. I had massages and physical therapy all of which had some benefit. In addition, insurance didn’t cover most of those services. Even if I wanted to try an integrative doctor, the cost would have been a challenge. Plus, I had the best health care available in the world, right? My doctors were all tops in the region. My health insurance was excellent. Everything I ever needed was covered. But NONE OF IT WAS WORKING! So, in spite the out of pocket cost, I went to see Dr. Chung in January of 2015.

The first visit to the Chung Institute can be an overwhelming experience. You wait for awhile in a room, eventually not just the doctor but one or two medical assistants come in with a cart loaded with a multitude of vials. They introduce themselves, ask a few questions then get started with his assessment which is different from any other assessment any other doctor will do. There is no simple way to describe it so I included a link for anyone who would like to learn more about it.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ART

Lyme

He finished the assessment and said something like “I think I can help but it will take a little time.” He had specific things he found that could be treated. He said “I think you have Lyme disease. I believe that’s caused a lot of your symptoms.” WHAT?!?! Then he proceeded to talk about the other things he found: parasites, metal sensitivity, mold sensitivity, and babesia (another tick borne bacteria). This was both one of the most overwhelming and hopeful things I’ve ever heard.

The idea I had parasites was the most disgusting and unexpected diagnoses I had ever received. How gross? How could I get them? I actually felt dirty and more nauseous just hearing that the first time. Turns out its easier to pick them up than most doctors in the US recognize. Then there’s the whole, “I think your neurological symptoms are mostly from Lyme” part of the visit. It required such a leap of faith, had I spent most of my adulthood fighting the wrong illness? Had other doctors had been wrong-but they were the best in the area? I started questioning everything I thought I had known.PARASITE INFORMATION

Dr. Chung was so confident in his assessment, and confident in saying “I think I can help”. I left with this thought: what if he actually can? I left that visit with something I never had left a doctors office with before: hope. So, I followed the treatment plan he suggested despite how foreign this visit seemed compared to all of the other doctors I had visited. I began prescriptions for anti-parasitic medicine, vitamin supplements; had laser therapy and chelation for metals and began a homeopathic series for the bartonella and babesia.

Treatment

I felt awful once I began treatment. It was as bad or worse than any other rough patch I had been through. I spent most of that week in bed. I didn’t know at the time, but that can happen when you begin treatment for Lyme disease. This is called a Herxheimer reaction or “herxing”. This is an adverse response to toxins released by the bacteria as they die off. Symptoms can cause intense fatigue; heavy, weakened limbs; joint and body pain. My whole body felt as if I was in a different planet that had a much heavier gravitational pull. It was awful.

When I went back for my follow up visit, I discussed how frustrated I was with him. He explained about herxing and once again I had hope. If this was a die off, I would start to feel better soon. Some treatments were added: bee venom, a special form of ozone treatment and some neural therapy. Fortunately, I noticed some improvement after that visit.

BEE VENOM INFORMATION

NEURAL THERAPY INFORMATION

OZONE THERAPY INFORMATION

By my third visit, I noticed more improvement in my fatigue and headache symptoms. Improvement went slowly and steadily from there. After about 6 months, according to my chart, I felt 100% improved. I was enjoying my newfound health. I had been taking prescription medicines for 20 years but by January 2016, I stopped taking all of them.

Walking to Running Marathons

I had to start exercising in my thirties to manage the balance and muscle problems I had. It was a way of keeping up with the kids, helping maintain some energy and using my cane a little less. It was something I had to do. My weaknesses would hold me back if I didn’t fight them off with exercise. Walking and strength work became part of my routine. As my strength grew after my first visits to the Chung Institute I was able to add some running into those walks. Eventually I was able to run most of my regular walk route.

In October 2015, I ran my first 5k. That had been a goal of mine since I first started going to WalkMS events shortly after my original diagnoses. For the most part, I’ve been running ever since then. In general, my health is better now at 50 than it was at 28. I ran my first marathon in September. I started my first job in twenty years the week after my marathon and reactivated my nursing license this past February. This April, I celebrated my 50th birthday, feeling excited and energized to enter a new decade healthy and back to work.

It has been an incredible journey and I feel like I am just beginning a new chapter. You see, there is NO END to maintaining good health, especially after years of struggle. I have to work to maintain my health. Stress management, exercise, eating well all make a difference in how I feel. Life is an unpredictable juggle. I’m grateful to have a partner in staying healthy now-the Chung Institute.[/vc_column_text]

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Symptoms Sometimes Flare Up

July 21, 2019webadminPatient Stories
Symptoms Sometimes Flare Up

[vc_column_text]Even stories with happy endings sometimes have bumps in the road. They can happen any time. After I started school in January, I started to feel a little off my game. Sure, I was working part time and volunteering at school several hours per week but I was more than tired. On occasion, my legs would suddenly disappear on me. My thinking wasn’t clear, something I refer to as brain fog. Fatigue was constant, all I would want to do is lay around. This was all frustrating but not surprising. Between work, school, family and volunteer jobs I hadn’t been taking the best care of myself. My symptoms were coming back.

https://www.care.com/c/stories/1545/how-to-manage-stress-work-home/

It was manageable. I went to Dr. Chung and he gave me bee venom and low dose immunotherapy for Lyme disease. These helped me feel okay but not as strong and healthy as I had been. It felt like I was treading water: I could do all the things I had to do. I didn’t miss many scheduled events. Exercising was a challenge, I wasn’t able to run but could walk. I went to work and volunteer jobs but occasionally fell while I was there. When I was home I’d fall sleep right away. I was just staying afloat.

Then one day in early May I woke unable to move my right leg. For the first time in four years I needed to find my cane and use it. I was furious about it. I planned on going to a family party the next day and all I could think was “Oh, God, they’re going to think I can’t handle working and doing all the things I’ve been doing. They’re going to be so worried seeing me like this.” They were but it was okay.

Dr. Brobyn was kind enough to squeeze me in on Monday. I tested for retrovirus and mold in addition to Lyme. So, I started taking all the supplements she recommended: cistus tea, cocktail, nasal sprays for mold and chlorenergy. In the office that day I also had some low dose immunotherapy. Even being a patient for years and having a good idea what the docs here do, I still found the entire visit a bit frustrating and sad. In my head I knew that I wasn’t back to square one, but I certainly was no where close to the marathon shape I had been in just a few months before.

https://www.chunginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Chlorella.pdf

Over the next few weeks there was little change. My good days were better but I still felt weighed down on most days. My thinking was definitely clearer which was the most important thing to me. One day, when Dr. Chung came in during my ozone treatment to give me bee venom, he asked how I was. It was all in my power not to cry. I just said “frustrated” I had thought I would have been better faster. He checked way back in my chart then retested me for metals. It seemed there was some lead sensitivity affecting me much to my surprise. Dr. Brobyn had just checked me for metals and everything else. There was no lead specifically noticeable on her testing at that point. But that is how the testing goes sometimes. Sometimes the weaknesses in our bodies appear at different times.

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I started foot baths, had laser detoxification therapy, IV EDTA and continued on all of my other supplements. Within the week I felt better and started working on my activity tolerance again. I built up walking, stairs and strength work gradually and began running again a few weeks later.

Click for information about detoxification therapies.

I’m sharing this story because its important for readers to know its not always easy. There can be bumps in the road. Pacing ourselves is important. There are times finding the right answer for what’s going wrong with the body takes longer than we would like. Dr. Brobyn often says “It’s peeling the layers of the onion.” Hang in there. It will get better.[/vc_column_text]

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