My Journey!

This article was first published by VoyageLA on September 30th of 2019.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Darin Ingels.

Darin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?

I am a naturopathic and environmental medicine doctor by training and in 2002, I contracted Lyme disease while living in Connecticut. I happened to get Lyme disease three weeks before I opened my own practice when I was working hard to open my doors and felt fortunate that I caught it early and started treatment immediately. I felt well just after a few days of antibiotics and proceeded to start my practice. However, when I started my business, I did not have any support staff, so was doing everything in the office from seeing patients to answering phones to manning the books. That meant long hours every day and weekends and I neglected to really take good care of myself while I was trying to get my business to grow.

After eight months, I started to relapse and began having symptoms of headaches, joint pain, numbness and tingling in my legs and arms, back pain and fever. I knew that I was relapsing and started treatment again, but it did not work. I switched antibiotics over the course of the next six months and only got worse. I had lost a lot of weight (unintentional), had chronic stomach problems and felt exhausted. I was fortunate to have known of a doctor in New York City who was a Chinese medical doctor and acupuncturist who had treated other Lyme patients I had seen over the years, so I went and met with him. He started me on a regimen of Chinese herbs, acupuncture and reminded me to take better care of myself and within a month, I was 85% improved. This was my reminder to get back to my naturopathic roots and start taking better care of myself, sleeping more, eating better, etc.

It still took me over two years, but I eventually got my life back. I then applied what I did for myself and implemented this approach with my patients and found they were getting better, faster. I have now treated over 6000 Lyme patients and am the author of The Lyme Solution: A 5-Part Plan to Fight the Inflammatory Autoimmune Response and Beat Lyme Disease (Avery, 2018). My personal experience has taught me how to not only take care of myself but how to teach others to live more fulfilling lives and reclaim their health. My mission now is to educate others about the importance of valuing their health and how to overcome these obstacles when a health challenge arises.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?

Never a smooth road. The struggles were many. Having the physical strength to go to work when you feel exhausted. Making time to do self-care and feel okay with doing so. Being ill is taxing on relationships and having to navigate your family / partner / spouse / children when you are sick is difficult. They do not know how to really help you and there is a sense of helplessness. Even with support of family and friends, being chronically ill is an isolating event. It is also financially taxing as many therapies that I did were not covered by insurance and this is typical for most people dealing with Lyme disease. It is a financial and emotional drain.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?

I am a licensed naturopathic doctor and have been practicing for 20 years. I specialize in Lyme disease, autism and other chronic immune disorders. I am known as one of the leading experts in Lyme disease and autism. I am most proud that I have been practicing for 20 years and have been able to work with generations of families and been able to really get to know them at every level. It is such a joy to see how your work has impacted the lives of those you work with in keeping children healthy, helping people overcome their health issues and being a trusted source of information to help work through decisions that impact the whole family. I think part of what sets me apart is my own life journey and having been a patient with a chronic illness, I understand what many other patients go through. It has given me a unique perspective that many doctors never experience.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?

Success is knowing that you have made positive impact in someone’s life. I believe we are here to serve in some way. My job allows me to do that every day. I’ve received letters, emails and notes from patients telling me how much our work together has made such a big difference in their lives. To me, that is real success.

Related Article: Lyme Disease on the Rise

PS: Book an appointment with Darin Ingels, ND today.