119: Buenqamino, Lyme & Co.

Uninvisible Pod with Lauren Freedman

Christina Kantzavelos (@buenqamino // @beginwithintoday) is a Lyme warrior, award-winning freelance writer/content creator, chronic illness advocate, and licensed psychotherapist. She was diagnosed with Lyme disease and co-infections in October of 2018. However, she struggled with debilitating symptoms and various autoimmune diseases for years prior. Her treatment has included a mixture of Eastern and Western modalities, nutritional changes, a switch to non-toxic living, clean beauty, DNRS (neural-retraining therapy), as well as a strong focus on self-care — such as journaling, painting, joining CoDA, and being out in nature. From being couch-bound and sensitive to just about everything (scents, food, EMFs), she is now back in the world, hiking again, and tolerating most foods and scents. Although she is still on the road to healing, she has made a conscious decision to choose an attitude and intention of thriving over an obsession with surviving — and hopes to share that with others. She is also the author of our favorite symptom tracker, the Begin Within Today journal, and the proud momma of a service-dog-in-training, Cowboy.

Tune in as Christina shares:

• that throughout her childhood and into her teen years, she experienced migraines, chronic pain, panic attacks, digestive problems, and numerous other unexplained symptoms
• that she lost her brother to cardiomegaly when she was 19
• that when she got checked for cardiomegaly, she was actually diagnosed with POTS
• that it took nearly 2 decades for her to receive her Lyme disease diagnosis
• after grad school, she was diagnosed with Celiac disease — and has been gluten-free ever since
• that her health continued to deteriorate to its lowest point in 2018, when she was first referred to a rheumatologist — who was also an LLMD
• that she doesn’t recall ever being bitten by a tick, but has been bitten by tons of mosquitoes…and reminds us that mosquitoes appear to be able to carry Lyme, as well
• that she was additionally diagnosed with giardia, Lyme co-infections, and had been exposed to mold
• she was also diagnosed with lupus, Sjogren’s, and mixed connective tissue disease — all of which appear to be manifestations of her chronic Lyme disease
• that treatment for Lyme knocks you off your feet — the Herxheimer reaction is truly horrific: “it gets worse before it gets better”
• that her parents had to begin caring for her before she even began treatment
• that she’s additionally been diagnosed with mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS)
• that she now considers herself to be 60-70% better, and has redesigned her lifestyle to support healing from her chronic illnesses as best she can
• that she has always been her own best advocate, in no small part because her parents are immigrants
• that she and her parents worked through trauma together and in some ways, her illness has created that space for emotional healing
• that the people who take care of us are experiencing second-hand trauma
• a discussion of accessibility to healthcare in America
• how the Begin Within Today journal was born of her own experience
• that she has seen over 50+ doctors throughout her chronic illness experience
• the importance of reducing toxins in our everyday lives, from EMFs to diet

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