A woman with Lyme disease stings herself with bees 30 times a week to treat her symptoms, after turning her back on expensive drugs that ‘weren’t working’. Brittany Elliott, from Denver, Colorado, gets live bees to sting her on the spine and is planning on enduring 4,500 bee stings over a period of three years in her search for a cure for the bacterial infection.
Brittany, 27, turned to using Bee Venom Therapy (BVT) in September last year after growing tired of spending $1,000 a month on medically-endorsed drugs that Brittany claims ‘did nothing’. She orders the bees to her home online and hopes that by causing inflammation, the bee venom will lead to a consistent anti-inflammatory response by the immune system that can cure her of Lyme disease.
Whilst Brittany insists BVT is ‘saving my life’, the controversial – and dangerous -treatment method is not medically endorsed and even caused the death of a woman from Spain in 2018. Charities including Lyme Disease UK have issued stern warnings urging others not to attempt BVT without consulting a medical professional first.
Marketing officer, Brittany, said: ‘I was on 50 pills a day and did what the doctors wanted me to do for eight months, I spent thousands of dollars on the drugs but they just were not working for me.
‘I saw no positive differences at all so did my own research about other treatments and read about people self-medicating with bee venom. It’s not a legalized treatment but I do have my doctor’s support and there are thousands of other people like me who are doing it.
‘The stings are not that bad pain wise for me now, but there are days where it still really hurts. But compared to the suffering I got from Lyme disease it’s nothing, it’s part of my normal routine now and it is working.
‘I am finally getting my life back and finally feel like me again. The inflammation in my body has reduced massively and I am starting to get my personality back, I feel better now than at any point in the last five years.
‘It has worked wonders for me, I used to be exhausted and depressed before I started BVT, but now I feel like a normal, happy person.’
Brittany developed Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick when she was seven years old, but didn’t show any serious symptoms until the age of 22. She was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease in September 2018 after suffering with symptoms for five years.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria that is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected ticks and the most common symptoms are fever, headache, fatigue, and skin rashes. For Brittany, the disease cause her to suffer with chronic fatigue, depression and inflammation, she said.
Brittany followed the advice of doctors to begin with and tried to treat the disease with medicine, but was quick to look elsewhere for treatment after recording ‘no progress’. She went on to try out self medicating with BVT, after consulting her doctor first, she said, and has been treating herself with bee venom for 12 months.
She started out with one sting a day and over the course of four months worked her way up to 10 bee stings everyday. After noticing ‘amazing’ results within the first year, Brittany intends to continue with 30 weekly stings for another two years in a bid to resolve her complex symptoms completely.
Brittany said: ‘I ice my back first to make it a little bit numb and hold the bees with tweezers towards my spine. I leave the stinger in for at least 20 minutes so the venom can do its work.
‘I take precaution and always make sure I have an EpiPen nearby when I sting in case I go into anaphylactic shock. I know some people don’t agree with it but I think it is saving my life.’
According to Heathline, BVT can cause serious side effects or even death in highly allergic individuals by causing anaphylaxis. Lyme Disease UK meanwhile strongly advises against members of the public self medicating with BVT without consulting a medical professional first.
In 2017 Hollywood actor Gerard Butler revealed he had been injected with bee sting venom to try to help reduce inflammation caused by performing stunts, but ended up in hospital after he was injected with the venom of 23 bees. Moreover, in 2018 a woman from Spain died after developing a severe allergic reaction to BVT.
Brittany goes on to stress that whilst the bees is given by beekeepers do die, they only have ‘two or three’ weeks to live. She claims a queen bee is capable of producing the same amount of bees she uses in three years in just three days.
‘The honey bees I use are at the end of their life span and my treatment has virtually no impact on the ecosystem of a hive’, explains Brittany.
‘I love bees as much as anyone and we have the support of bee keepers to do the treatment . They have made a massive difference to my life.
‘The reason I speak out is because BVT is helping me get my life back, I have made amazing strides.
‘I am the happiest and healthiest I have been in a few years, I have noticed an incredible change since I started with BVT.’
To find out more about Lyme disease UK or to get help and advice, click here.
source https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/03/lyme-disease-sufferer-stings-herself-with-live-bees-30-times-a-week-to-treat-her-symptoms-13216828/
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