Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and am not suggesting anyone try this. This is for information purposes only, as I tell my story and battle with chronic lyme disease

It started about two years ago for me, the stomach problems, which forced me to stop taking the antibiotics I had always relied on. I simply couldn’t take one more pill. I was nauseated constantly, had no appetite, developed heartburn and gastritis (which I have healed since which is for another post). This put me into research gear, which I never really leave, once again for an alternative to keep  the lyme at bay. I really had lost hope of becoming well at this point, but because of my involvement with our lyme community I have seen one to many people not treat, give up treating, and oh how much worse things can get! This is the fight for my life. I had known about ozone for many years, and about hyperbaric oxygen for that matter. But each modality was sooooo expensive, and therefore inaccessible to me. A friend of mine went to the Hitt clinic in Mexico for Chronic Fatigue syndrome with viral complications. During her time there a few things happened. One, she received intensive IV ozone autohemotherapy for 12 days, along with multiple other modalities. But ozone was the one that really, intuitionally, felt like the one to pay attention to. She had horrendous herxheimers from it, which if you know about lyme and other infections is a GREAT thing. She came home about 40 % better. She also met the brother of another Lymie who had gotten totally well by doing the Hitt clinic treatments, mainly ozone, high dose vitamin c, auto-urine injection, and possibly some amino acid therapy. I spoke with him, and he goes back a few times a year to do 3-5 days of ozone treatment as a booster, a pick me up. But he runs a company, is an activist, and travels all the time…so he is doing well. Yay. The problem at that time was financing, as I know this is the case for many people with lyme. My friend spent nearly 7000.00 dollars in 12 days. When she came home, she felt a lot better for a few months, but then began to decline due to lack of additional treatment. The man I spoke of did 4-5 weeks of the same type of treatment, quite a bit more than her, and that did it for him. He went from Lyme to better! Yes, it does happen. But of course, I am doing the math, and if 12 days costs 7000 (approx), then the five or more weeks I would need for lyme would simply be out of the question for me.

This is an important topic for all lymies I want to take a moment to address. Lyme requires constant, consistent effort in treatment regardless of the type. So I think the smartest way to look at our situation is through the lens of accessibility, both physical accessibility (distance, range, and ability to handle the treatment) and financial accessibility. After nearly 10 years with this disease I realized, If it is not accessible to you, you will not be able to complete/continue the treatments. It’s the same if the treatment is too toxic, i.e. antibiotics. We are often stuck in a state of limbo, where treatments may need be applied for 10 or more years, as in my case. We must be diligent in our personal responsibility to our bodies, minds, and spirits throughout these processes. Knowing our limits, but also pushing ourselves past them is a paradox we must develop discernment about because the truth with lyme is that it is a process of healing. There are no magic bullets, but if something could come close it is ozone. That is why we must be able to actually walk, for a while, the path we pick. And this is where home ozone therapy enters.

So IV ozone costs approximately 150 per treatment, which for lyme is needed minimum 2x per week for at least a year. That adds up to 14,400.00 dollars. And you may, probably will, need to continue on after that. Because of my situation which I share with so many of you, cost is very difficult for those of us living on disability (if we are even that lucky), which is the case for me. The ethical considerations as to why this particular treatment is being offered at such a rate is another topic all together.

Ok, back to home ozone therapy. This has basically been a miracle for me. I purchased my own equipment with the help of my boyfriend (God bless him for this and so much more). The cost of the unit and all the accessories including the sauna itself is approximately 2000.00 dollars from Promolife.com. There are other places to purchase an ozone unit from, but do not be fooled into buying one of the cheap water ozonaters, they are useless for our purposes. I started my treatments on February 1st of 2012. I came off antibiotics at that time, and in the past have only been able to stay off of antibiotics for a month or two at a time. The most I ever went, even while applying other treatments, was 6 months and then a serious decline and/or flare would begin. The pain would become unbearable, and I would succumb to another “season” of antibiotics. This time, it is sticking! So happy to say. I have not needed any antibiotics since the day I began my ozone treatments and it is nearly a year. I try to wait 6 months into trying a new therapy before reporting it on my blog, because so many things do and will fail. But like anything else in life it is fail 5 times, succeed once. I am excited to express this joy of being free of constant toxic antibiotics with my fellow lymies. It is a freedom hard won. Now lets get into the treatments, what they are, how to do them.

There are a few different ways to get ozone into the body, however it is UNSAFE to breathe. Ozone is a gas, an atomically charged form of pure oxygen. You hear about the “ozone layer”, but this is medical ozone for application to the human body. It is a highly antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral element. In the comfort of my own home I do the following treatments:

Ozone steam saunas – This must be done with your face outside the sauna because you CANNOT breath ozone in, but there is a special sauna I use where my head sticks out

Ozone ear insulflations- letting the ozone go directly into the ear canal at a very low flow rate

Ozone vaginal insulflations- letting ozone flow into the vagina, where it is picked up by the lymphatic system and carried into the rest of the body

Ozone rectal insulflations- ozonating the rectum directly, but a colonic or enema must be done first to prepare

Ozonated water on an empty stomach- ozonating the water and drinking it on an empty stomach is simple and very helpful

How often? 

For me, I started out doing saunas a few times a week with doing ears directly afterwards. I am now working on doing at least five days a week of ozone treatments, this did take nearly a year as there are significant herx reactions to the treatments just like with any other effective treatments. The beautiful thing about the sauna is that you are getting a heaping dose of ozone directly through the largest organ of the body, the skin, while at the same time sweating out the toxins from the dying lyme, so there is a rejuvanetive quality to the treatment even though it is also intense. The other benefit is that in my mind, I know ozone is non toxic to my body (at appropriate levels), so I am not adding insult to injury so to speak. I always feared the herx reactions with antibiotics, because I know the killing off the lyme was causing a lot of the pain and discomfort of the herx, but the element of feeling poisoned or toxic from the drugs themselves was always there. This is avoided all-together with ozone.

I do ear insulflations every time I do a sauna because the lyme likes to run to where they are safe. If I do only my body they will show up in my brain, so I do ears every time to get both major areas. This system has worked well for me. Currently I do a morning glass of ozonated water, then a sauna, then ears on as many mornings as I possibly can.

What equipment is needed?

1. An oxygen source, i.e. oxygen tank or oxygen concentrator, if the ozone unit does not require an oxygen source you know NOT to get it….tank vs. concentrator, there are some differences to be noted..tank allows lower flow rates for ears, concentrator allows convenience and never having to refill. Concentrator is more expensive short term, tank is more work but allows lower flow rates which becomes important.

2. An Ozone generator, again it must require an oxygen source, but there are many companies that sell them. I used promolife.com and am extremely happy with them and the unit. It comes with a five year warrantee . And you can get everything but the fan on this list from them

3. A steam sauna with a hole for your head!! This picture is of the one I use, the cheaper tent sauna, and it works perfectly!!

4. Water bubbler

5. humidifier

6. Stethescope for ear insulflations

7.  A fan to blow on your face while doing the sauna, both for cooling you and blowing the ozone away from your face so you do not breath it in.

8. If you get an oxygen tank, you will need a pediatric flow regulator

What else?

You need to understand the limits, both high and low, of gamma (measurements of ozone concentration). The lower limit is 20 gamma and the upper limit is 70 gamma. Above the high limit, it can be caustic to the body, and below the lower limit it is considered inactive. So most treatments I do are between 20 and 70 gamma. However, when ozonating water the gamma can be high because the water cannot be over-ozonated as a medium. I use lower gamma for things like ear/vaginal insulflations. There is a learning curve when beginning the ozone treatments. It takes much more effort at the beginning than it does later when you have learned the terms, familiarized yourself with the equipment, and found a comfortable routine. A lot of people say to me, well I’m not technical and I don’t understand this stuff…My advice, LEARN to be. It really is not very technical, it is simply foreign. And no one will care as much about your health as you ever will, so don’t be afraid to learn something new.

Supplementing essential fatty oils is a must while doing ozone because of the drying effects it can have. However it doesn’t have to be extreme at all, just start taking some cod oil or other efa’s. And Dr. Saul Pressman recommends a product called concentrace, to replace any minerals lost during sauna sweating. I admit, I haven’t done this step yet, but plan on it. And of course drink lots of water, always.

As you can see, the cost of buying yourself the equipment is totally worth it when you compare it to trying to pay someone else to do it for you, not that I wouldn’t love to do the IV’s, but this is a great and highly effective alternative. Plus you get to do your treatments when you feel comfortable doing them, in the comfort of your personal space. Freedom and self reliance in treatment of chronic illness create positive feelings of self worth and value for your life, these are very important factors in the healing process, at least in my discoveries.

While there are many resources out there that sell the ozone set up, please let promolife know that Lisa sent you if you do in fact decide to go through them. I get a referal fee which is much needed. Thank you.

Resources:

http://www.promolife.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?

id=411http://www.youtube.com/feed/UCdO9rmQYsM1KswO6GDvb2Lg

http://www.o3center.org/Articles/TheStoryofOzone.html