I was at the end of my rope; I was spending money like crazy to find a solution to get even a little healthier. I spent years getting nowhere with Western medicine, so I decided to try a different approach and purchased a hyperbaric chamber with the encouragement of my naturopath.
I spent roughly $9,000 for the Solace Oxy Health Hyperbaric Chamber and oxygen concentrator. I was purely holding on to the hope my doctor had given me.
I am 5' 2 and 110 pounds, so I thought a small hyperbaric chamber would be just fine, and honestly, it was all I could afford. I didn't know of any other hyperbaric chamber options back in 2016. I had been shelling out so much money for medical bills.
My doctor and I agreed that since I was so overly sensitive to medications, foods, smells, and treatments, I would only start my home hyperbaric oxygen therapy for 5 minutes at a maximum pressure of 1.3 ATA.
So, that is what I did on my first oxygen therapy session.
It was evening, and my boyfriend helped me get inside my hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber that we put in the guest room. I wore a face mask while inside, as the doctor had said that was best since it covered my nose and mouth. I cleared my ears and was in the session for probably 20 minutes, with pressurizing and depressurizing. Once I got out, I had a slight headache and was quite tired, so I went to bed.
Let me preface: I was not working at this time; I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, SIBO, mold, low blood pressure, adrenal fatigue, and all the other things that go with Lyme disease.
My second oxygen therapy session was the following day. This time, I added one minute at max pressure, and the same thing happened: slight headache, and off to bed after.
When I was inside the hyperbaric chamber the air felt clean and fresh. I didn't really notice anything else that made me uncomfortable. I was very relaxed and could easily fall asleep, so I always set my alarm on my phone.
When I woke up the following day, I touched my face. It was the strangest sensation. My face felt so soft and fresh like I had never experienced.
I kept touching my face throughout the day as it felt so good. I thought to myself, there is something to this; this may work.
I increased my time each day by a minute and was prescribed to work up to 60 minutes five to six days a week. If I needed to break it into two oxygen therapy sessions a day that was an option.
I ended up going in my hyperbaric chamber five days a week because it made me so tired, and I knew I had a hard time detoxing my body. It was after about five hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions that the headaches I got during my treatments subsided. They weren't terrible headaches, but I did notice them. The doctor told me to expect it.
After about a week of starting oxygen therapy, the doctor checked in. I told her how tired I was; she said that was normal for Lyme disease patients. I was having a Jarisch–Herxheimer reaction, and I knew I was. I had felt really cold in my body, a little lightheaded when I got out of the hyperbaric chamber, and a bit like I had the flu.
Those feelings were common every time I started a new treatment. If you are not familiar with a Herxheimer reaction, it is when the microbes die off and release a gas that makes you feel like I described.
For the umpteenth time, she told me the same things she always had: sauna, drybrush, charcoal, NAC, alpha lipoic acid, lemon water, Epson salt baths…detox, detox, detox. Click here for more ways to detoxify your body.
I kept building the amount of time inside the hyperbaric chamber each week. It was around 53 Hbot sessions before I started feeling more energy and my brain felt clearer. I know this may sound like a lot of oxygen therapy sessions, but when you have been super sick for over a decade, a month and a half was fantastic!
I kept a notebook recording the time I spent in the hyperbaric chamber and how I felt for the first nine months. I wanted to see my progressions or setbacks.
I spent a good two years, five days a week, in my hyperbaric chamber. At one point, I could not clear my ears as I had been getting one cold after another and was super upset to keep having to take breaks. My doctor then referred me to an ENT doctor to put tubes in my ears.
Once I got the tubes in, I didn't have to clear my ears. Those tubes stayed in for roughly a year and then fell out. I was told this would happen, and I knew when it did cause I had to start clearing my ears again.
Doctors recommend periodic breaks, but I wasn't told anything about taking breaks from my hyperbaric oxygen therapy at that time.
People always ask me what saved you from Lyme disease or what one treatment worked. If you have chronic Lyme disease, you know there is not one treatment that is going to give you your life back, but if there is one treatment that helped me the most, it is the hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber. I still use it today to keep my body strong and am now working through long covid.
A hyperbaric chamber will always be a part of my life to keep me healthy. I use the hyperbaric chamber alone so I didn't have anyone helping me except my very first two sessions.
It has decreased body and back pain, given me more energy, and better cognitive focus.
Most people think I am much younger than I really am, so it's got to have some anti-aging benefits too!
I can't say enough fantastic things about hyperbaric oxygen therapy for myself and the stories I witness.
The Solace Hyperbaric Chamber only lasted five years, which really disappointed me. I will not encourage anyone to buy a 21-inch hyperbaric chamber. It's just too small, and as I got healthier, I wanted to be able to sit up inside my hyperbaric chamber.
Over the years, I spent a lot of time there, and I needed to be able to do other things, like read or watch a movie, instead of taking a nap all the time as I could only lie down since it was so small. I did upgrade to a larger hyperbaric chamber that I can sit up in which feels SO much better and was worth the investment.
I hope this gives you some insight into what you might expect or experience when you start in a hyperbaric chamber.
If you have more questions, contact me at Healing The Hyperbaric Way. We empower individuals and healthcare facilities to explore this holistic approach and experience the life-changing benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy!