KARIN MISSING
Mrs. K. I. Missing
Helderkruin
23 October l955
To whom it may concern
A brief history of my depression & M. E.
I had suffered depression after the birth of both of my children. My son is 14 & my daughter 11. No medication or counselling, got through it on my own.
I had been an athlete & had given up running when I was pregnant for approx.7 years. I resumed running again in 1988, ran Comrades in 1989 and about mid. 1989 started suffering chronic fatigue. After visiting numerous Drs.,a Homeopath Dr. Brom diagnosed that I was suffering from M.E. Being a sceptic I went to a G.P. Dr. L. Van den Berg & asked him to send me for blood tests.
The results - positive Coxsackie virus, positive Epstein Barr. A course of beriglobin injections followed, very little improvement. I had stopped running & had to battle to drag myself around, would sleep an average 20 hours a day. There followed a fruitless & expensive search for help, from professors at Cape Town university to immunologists to Osteopaths etc. In the meantime I was subjected to more tests, Cytomyalgic tests, positive, another test done at a lab where you lie down & they inject you with some or other substance & then take blood from you hourly, made me feel quite strange. This to determine whether I had depression or M.E. Same as before M.E. M.E. We were then referred to a Dr. Boegman who said that he could help me by infusing a substance, normally used for blocked arteries, through me once a week. This process would take 3 hours @ a time & as he was based in Pretoria & I was not allowed to drive myself, & there were no guarantees, we decided to give this one a miss. In 1993 we were referred to Dr. Harthoorn, a naturepath in Pretoria, who had had a certain amount of success with some M.E. sufferers, I went to him twice weekly for injections & other potions. This treatment lasted for 3 months & there was a definite improvement, not cure. My energy levels improved & I could even start running again. About the same time, while on a trip to Australia, we discovered a product called Green Supreme, a food supplement, which I took religiously & sustained me quite well. I even managed to get into the Transvaal cross country team, twice, on very moderate training, app. 40 Kms. per week. In April this year I felt myself stating to deteriorate again & this time accompanied by deep depression. I tried to fight it on my own but on a trip to my gynaecologist he suggested I go onto Prozac. After weeks I was feeling desperate & my sister referred me to a Psychiatrist. He put me on Rivitol as well. After counselling etc. & a further 3 weeks I was still not improving at all. I was then admitted to Olivedale clinic , the dose of Prozac & Rivitol was doubled. Followed 2 weeks of misery and crying most days, had also by this time become anorexic dropping from 54kg to 44.2 kg.
The Psychiatrist then suggested to us the only other option was ECT (Electro-convulsive therapy). We were not keen, but after much de1iberation, we decided that he knew best and I was transferred to Sunninghill Clinic. Here I underwent 3 shock treatments & after the 3rd one my husband decided that he had made a grave mistake and stopped the treatment. My husband then decided that it was time to try the natural route again. After making some inquiries we were referred to Dr. Nash Petrovic by Avril Kaspersen (Our children had gone to the same school & I had tried to help her daughter, Karina, also an M.E sufferer to come to terms with this condition.) Avril said that they had had marvellous results on Dr. Nash's program. We went to. see him on Monday 20th Oct. 1995 and after consultation were told to come and fetch the program the following afternoon.
Regards, .
Karin Missing
(signed)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24th October 1995
Had a terrible day today, spent most of the day sobbing. Went to. Dr,. Nash at 1pm to. receive his course of medication (It is a great pity that medical Aid doesn't pay !) Took the first course at 2pm and then as prescribed. (Handful of pills). Didn't have a restful sleep, lots of nightmlares and still this terrible headache which I have had since the final ECT.
If I had a loaded gun and the strength, I would have got rid of myself forever, as I was so low.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25th October, 1995.
Still woke up with a headache. But not feeling as depressed, still confused because of memory loss. Went for a walk today and mid morning mass. Very tired, but feeling quite positive, have about 20% more energy than yesterday. Went to watch my son play cricket this afternoon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26th October, 1995.
Been awake since 2am this morning, had a terrible headache in the middle of the night & couldn't get back to sleep.
Went for a walk again today, twice as far as yesterday, at least not depressed . Went to bed later than usual +/- 9.30 and didn't sleep in the day as I usually do.
P.S. The above was typed by myself (+/- 50%)
Haven't slept much and have been going to bed much later than normal.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27th October, 1995.
Smiling for the first time today.
I am very happy
|
