Megan’s Story: Moving Past Opiates To Triumph Over Behçet’s Syndrome

Meet Megan Dooley Fisher — a single mother and medical patient living in California who, like many others, has struggled to effectively implement plant-based medicine into her life. Megan battles with a chronic illness called Behçet’s Syndrome, an extremely rare and debilitating autoimmune disease that causes the vascular system (i.e., blood vessels) throughout the body to become inflamed. Due to the wide variety of substances Megan’s used to manage the disease, it is extremely important for her to know exactly what she is putting into her body. But a lack of precise information made it difficult to turn to plant-based medicine for help.

Possible symptoms of Behçet’s Syndrome include painful sores throughout the entire digestive tract, mouth and skin. In addition, the inflammation associated with Behçet’s can cause frequent chronic joint pain, fevers, headaches, blurry vision and more. When Megan was first diagnosed in 2001, there was not yet a treatment plan specifically formulated for Behçet’s so many of her treatments came with a lot of guesswork. She was prescribed an array of pharmaceuticals including steroids, opiates and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). In addition, she underwent several rounds of chemotherapy in an attempt to mitigate symptoms of the disease. Even after all of this, Megan was still not happy with her quality of life and struggled to do the things she wanted due to her various symptoms. Most concerning, she was fearful she would eventually become fully dependent on opiods due to their addictive qualities. 

These concerns around opioids and their side effects led Megan to experiment with plant-based medicine in order to find relief. Like so many, when Megan first began consuming plant medicine she had no idea where to begin and many of the products she was consuming were a shot in the dark. Already frustrated with all the guesswork required by her prescribed pharmaceuticals, Megan was fed up with not knowing exactly how her medications would affect her. She realized she would benefit greatly from a product that allowed her to accurately control the dose size and quality of the products she was consuming. 

Shortly afterward, she discovered Gofire on Instagram and immediately reached out to get involved. Not only did Megan decide to start using Gofire’s medication management platform to manage her own symptoms, she also became an ambassador for Gofire in hopes of providing other patients with the relief she had found. 

Gofire’s precision dosing technology allows Megan to manage her acute pain and mitigate the breakthrough pain she was used to experiencing on a daily basis. With the Gofire Inhaler, Megan can ensure she is getting the exact dosage she needs to properly manage her symptoms every time. In addition, she uses the Gofire App to view validated third-party lab tests of the products she consumes. Now, for the first time, there is no guesswork involved in the outcome of her medication regimen. On top of it all, plant medicine has allowed Megan to entirely eliminate pharmaceuticals from her daily routine.

“I would never have imagined being completely opiate free prior to beginning my use of plant medicine but it’s been the most amazing part of this experience. There are myriad ways to incorporate plant medicine into our lives and it’s gratifying when we can share that gift,” said Megan. 

Not only has plant-based medicine allowed Megan to enjoy a better quality of life, she is also now able to give her daughter, Frankie, the time and energy she needs without chronic pain interfering. Now that’s a win-win.

As researchers continue to validate plant-based medicine as a viable treatment option, Megan’s story makes it clear that  the industry must continue to push for clarity and control. That way, Megan and patients like her have somewhere to turn when it seems all hope is lost.