Infusio is introducing a new type of cells called ACT into their program from Jan 2018 which will act like a personalised vaccine against the bacteria and viruses already in the body. This will complement their current SVF program and will be given at the 100 day follow up. Information on this can be found: https://www.facebook.com/beyerdaniels/videos/g.1555798324446073/1668624966531537/?type=2&theater&ifg=1 

My time at Infusio:

I arrived in Frankfurt (a one and a half hour flight from Heathrow) on the Sunday before treatment with my dad.  Bogdan, Infusio’s driver, picked us up and took us to our Air Bnb.  We decided to stay in an Air Bnb as it was slightly cheaper than Infusio’s accommodation.  We had a meal on the Sunday night locally and got ready for day 1.

Days 1 – 5 of treatment (20th to 24th March 2017): 

I was picked up at 8am by Bogdan to be taken to the clinic.  Treatment usually finished around 12pm-1pm each day and Bogdan took us back to the apartment.  I was given my own treatment room for the first few days as I settled in. The atmosphere of Infusio is calming and spa like.  Dr.Bijan started by talking to me about my symptoms and then running blood tests and performing a scan on the Global Diagnostics machine.  After this, I started the treatment. Nadine was my nurse, Angie was the clinic manager and Agata was my nutritionist.

I tolerated the treatment fairly well.  Some of the IVs made me feel drunk or a bit nauseated and I was usually very tired by the end of each day afterwards and would need to have a nap after.  But if I was struggling, Dr.Bijan adjusted the plan for me.  I had 2 tough days (day 2 and day 7) where I came home with a migraine and had to sleep it off – on day 7 I threw up after a strong dose of Dioxychlor.  Generally, by the evenings I was well enough to get up and watch TV or go out for dinner in a nearby restaurant. One main side effect I did notice was insomnia which worsened as the two weeks went on to the point that I didn’t sleep for more than 1 or 2 hours in the last 4 days of treatment. I also had a breakout of acne and bladder pain which worsened during the treatment. By the end of the 2 weeks I was feeling like I had been through it, so I was happy to be going home.

Global Diagnostics: This was something I was pretty sceptical about.  It was created by a physicist to scan the body for energy frequencies to detect energy in the cells.  It then uses this reading to detect what problems there are in the body.  I have to say, after my first scan I was amazed.  It picked up all my major issues and ranked them in order of severity.  The two top issues were problems with my thyroid (I have Hashimoto’s) and digestion.  It was freakishly accurate and matched what the blood work said.  Bijan gave me a scan every couple of days to monitor my progress and it was also used as a treatment – to give energy back to the cells which were struggling.  I was given 2 reports to take home showing the scan at the beginning and at the end of the 2 weeks to show what had areas improved.  Here is a picture of me being scanned with the machine:

IVs: there were about 3-5 IVs given each day.  Each day the treatment plan was modified to support what the global diagnostics machine said was needed, to fit in with how I was responding to the IVs and to support the blood tests.

IVs given in the 2 weeks included:

• Selenium – for thyroid support
• Myers cocktail with high dose vitamin C- immune system and energy support to get nutrients directly to the cells
• Calcium EDTA and Magnesium EDTA – chelation for heavy metals
• Glutathione – the master antioxidant
• Dioxychlor – a natural antimicrobial to kill the bugs
• Procaine – anti inflammatory and pain relief
• Immune protocol – for cell regulation and the immune function
• Neuro Aminos – to help with neurological symptoms and nerve repair
• Artesunate – to get the bugs to come out of their hiding places
• Liver support mix – self explanatory !
• Curcumin – anti inflammatory
• Normal ozone – to oxygenate the cells

Thymus Injections:  Everyday I had a thymus injection into the top of my bum (it didn’t hurt much!).  Thymus is a powerful immune modulator – it helps to establish a healthy immune cell ratio.  This is good for people with autoimmune diseases as it helps calm down the attack from the immune system on healthy cells.  It works by boosting the thymus gland (located at the top of our hearts). Infusio’s thymus is specially made for them from pigs.

10 Pass Ozone: This is a process of adding a 3rd ozone molecule to the blood through a machine.  The blood comes out into a bell jar as the ozone is added to it.  By the end of the treatment (it takes 45 minutes) the blood is bright red.  The purpose of this is to oxygenate the cells so that they are stimulated and can fight off the bugs.  I have to say I did not feel great after this.  I had 2 of these treatments.  Here is Nadine doing the Ozone on me:

Lymphatic drainage: This was my favourite treatment.  They have these space pants you get to lie in for 45 minutes which expand in different places with air to help your lymphatic system to drain.  The pants compress to drain out water weight and draw toxins from the body – also good for cellulite! It was more like a massage where you could fall asleep for 45 minutes.  I wish I had one of these at home!

Laser Bed: Every day after treatment I went on the laser bed, building up from 6 minutes to 20 minutes as the 2 weeks progressed.  It was kind of like going on a sunbed.

Reflexology: I had a session to work on emotional issues with a reflexology therapist who came in. She pressed areas of my body and asked me to visualise the pain and try and think about how to handle it better and what I would say to my pain.  She related physical pain to emotional pain, asking me to comment on things that had happened in my life whilst pressing on trigger points on my body. I did enjoy these sessions.  I had 2 of these sessions in total (one in the first week and one in the second).

Food and drink: In the clinic, Infusio provided bone broth every day and green juice. They also gave nettle tea, normal tea and coffee and sparkling and still mineral water.

Supplements: I was taking about 30 pills a day when I came to Infusio.  I brought them all with me to the clinic on day 3 and Infusio went through all of these with me and told me what to stop taking.  I stopped the majority of them.  Infusio’s rule is to do as little as possible in the first 100 days after stem cells.

Thyroid: My thyroid levels were taken by blood test and my medication was adjusted.

Some pictures from my first week (note that Infusio has now moved clinics in Frankfurt, so it no longer looks like this):

The weekend (25th – 26th March 2017):

On the Friday, my best friend came out to visit me in Frankfurt (my dad had gone home on Wednesday).  Thankfully, I didn’t feel too bad after Friday’s treatment so we could go out in the evening. We went to a sky bar in Frankfurt called Lounge 22 (I had a mocktail) and then to a lovely restaurant called Zarges which I would highly recommend.

On Saturday we went for brunch at Rocco Forte Villa Kennedy which was lovely and then did some shopping in the town – there is great shopping in Frankfurt.

On Sunday, my mum came out.  We went for a rooftop brunch at Fleming’s club as it was a lovely sunny day and then we walked around the botanical gardens for the rest of the day.

Week 2 – days 6-10 (27th to 31st March 2017):

In the first 4 days of week 2 I had more IVs, laser bed, thymus, one more lymphatic drainage session and one more reflexology session.

Procaine: Bijan gave me procaine injections down my back (about 18 injections in total each session) for 3 days.  This was to stop the tremors in my hands.  These injections were not the most pleasant but just made me twitch a bit in my back.  I had side effects from these – my arms were numb for about 3 weeks after and I had difficulty moving my hands. However, they did work – no tremors since.

EPO: Bijan said that if the stem cells did not improve my red blood cell count he would give me EPO injections to increase my red blood cells.

Gut repair: I started a gut repair in week 2.  This consisted of taking tablets for 3 days of Myrrhinil Intest (4 tablets 3 times a day).  Then I started taking psyllium husk and Innoval Microbiotic for 2 weeks after.  This helped my gut tremendously – I had limited digestive issues for about 3 months after.

Nutritionist: I had a consultation with Agata, Infusio’s nutriionist, in week 2.  She was broadly happy with my organic paleo diet.  She told me to watch out for histamine issues as these can worsen after stems, so Infusio often recommends a low histamine diet, but if you can tolerate histamine it is ok to eat.  She also told me to try and limit meat consumption to twice a week, so I replaced this with fish and cut down on red meat.  As I have SIBO, I needed to avoid grains and legumes.  It is worth noting that Infusio now recommends a vegan diet for the 2 weeks of treatment – this is not something I could do due to my intolerance to grains. Agata reminded me that tea is a medicine, so if drinking the same herbal teas, you should have a break every 6 weeks.  I got around this by making sure I mixed up my herbal teas.  I was told caffeine was ok in small doses and I could have the occasional treat of dark chocolate and a glass of alcohol on a very special occasion during the 100 days.

Final consultation before the procedure: I had a long consultation with Bijan on the day before my procedure to go through all the questions I had about getting through the next 3 months.  I learned what to avoid during the 100 days and what to expect.  Phil recommends to avoid anything that may cause inflammation (such as deep tissue massage) and avoid disrupting the immune system – this could be by taking medications and supplements, by using strong hair dyes or by soaking in a chlorine swimming pool.   Infusio gives out a handy sheet which has a list of medications which are the worst offenders to avoid during the 100 days.  However, they point out that if one of these is really necessary, it is better to seek treatment than to suffer – you have to choose what is the lesser of the two evils.  Bijan told me the stem cells are more resilient than we think, so to not worry too much if something happened.

Stem cell day!

On Friday, 31st March I got my stem cells (or Stromal Vascular Fraction).  Bogdan picked me up at 8am and took me to the clinic.  I was super nervous and hadn’t slept a wink for 2 days so I was feeling extremely fragile.  Phil happened to be in Germany, so he helped Bijan do my procedure. I was given an IV sedative/anti anxiety before the procedure so I felt very calm.  I changed into a dressing gown and kept my underwear on.  I lay face down on the table and the bottom of my back (love handle area) was injected with a numbing agent before the procedure started. Two incisions were made on my lower back. I was awake for the procedure and could talk to Phil and Bijan as they were doing it.  It did not hurt at all, but it was a strange poking sensation and I could hear clicking noises as the long needles dug around in my back, looking for fat.  I could also see a reflection of the big long needles going into my back, but I could only feel the vibrations of the movement.  It lasted about 20 minutes in total.  They covered my back with a big pad afterwards and I relaxed in a chair and watched Phil make my stem cells.

Phil did this quite quickly – it probably took less than an hour in total.  Enzymes were added to the fat and it was placed in an oven where it “cooked” so that the cells multiplied.  Phil then spent time concentrating the fat down, so that at the end he was left with one bright red test tube of cells.  The cells were then activated with a laser light before being given back to me through an IV in the arm.  I was also given an IV of mannitol to open the blood brain barrier at the same time, so the cells reached my brain.

My cell count was estimated to be between 300-400 million.

The numbing agent wore off after about 2 hours. After that, I had to be careful not to make any sudden movement as my back felt quite bruised, however, it was nothing too painful.  I went home and packed my bags to leave the next day.  I kept the pad on my back for 2 days and then changed to smaller bandages.  After about 4/5 days I took these off as the incisions had scabbed over.  My back felt a bit sensitive for 2-3 weeks after and I felt some twinges for about 2/3 months after, but it was nothing terrible.

These pictures show the cells in the oven, the cells in the IV and me very happy with Dr.Bijan and my cells.

Overall, the two weeks were a very good experience.  Bijan is the most caring doctor I have ever had and he was so helpful with absolutely everything.  The whole Infusio team was lovely.  And it was nice to be properly looked after by someone after searching for help for so long.  I felt safe and trusted the process. Thank you Infusio!