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recent research shows that there may be oxidative damage to the red blood cells in patients with CFS, and other researchers are finding similar patterns. This in turn opens up new avenues for treatment, in particular, that of reversing oxidative damage through the use of antioxidants.

I came across a few researchers who had remarkable success with nutrient IV therapy. I was intrigued. I was desperate. Many of the researchers stated their patient's hypersensitivity to drugs, and how current treatment for CFS only worsened their condition. I could relate. My background is in biological sciences, and as I read about redox reactions and electron transfers in the interplay of vitamins C, B, E and calcium and magnesium with the damaged cells, I grew excited. It made sense. For once people were treating what appeared to be the core problem rather than trying to suppress symptoms. But where could I go to get this kind of treatment?

The specialist I saw frowned and backed away from me when I told her of the treatment, claiming it wasn't her area of expertise. My primary care doctor's response was there were a lot of crazy doctors out there doing unconventional things. I was dismissed. But I needed unconventional. Conventional didn't work. And since the medical field had given up on me, I decided to treat myself.

I intensified my review of the studies done, reading up on potential complications of nutrient IV therapy. I decided to start with the most basic, easily tolerated, of the antioxidants, vitamin C. One can get anything these days with the ease of the internet, and before long I had a small pharmacy set up in my bathroom. I mixed up the solution, loaded the syringe, and swabbed my hand with alcohol to prep it for the IV. I held the IV with trepidation, as I had never run an IV line before. Images of phlebitis or uncontrolled bleeding sprung to mind. The solution was hypotonic, which meant that it would lower my blood pressure. What if I passed out? No one was around, and I certainly hadn't told anyone what I was about to do. I looked down at the IV, and almost put it away. But hey, if a druggie can do it, then so can I. And I was tired of being sick. I was tired of being judged for being sick.

I slipped a rubber band on my wrist, with scissors nearby to cut it off. The veins bulged nicely on the back of my hand. I inserted the IV, aligned it with the vein, and had it properly placed faster than the lab tech that normally takes my blood at the clinic, albiet a bit

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