Andrea Gunning

And I remember waking up and, again, feeling like I was underwater, but trying to make my way to my kids' rooms, which was down a hallway.

And I ended up passing out, and I had hit my head against something.

She was bleeding so bad, she had to get staples in her head.

Whatever was wrong with her, it was getting worse.

Other strange symptoms kept popping up.

I was picking my skin so bad that I had people at work telling me like, why are you picking your face?

I could hear my stomach gurgling all the time, like making loud noises.

And just, I always had so much nervous energy.

people at work were taking notice.

Here's Vera, one of her coworkers from Child Protective Services.

Over the two years this had been going on, Saskia did all that she could to get well.

She changed her diet, got an exercise routine, tried tons of different medications.

She saw specialists and sought out experimental treatments.

But nothing was helping me.

Saskia's sister, Marisa, was especially worried.

This process of tweaking meds was a familiar one.

One she'd been helping their dad navigate for years.

As time went on, Saskia grew more and more desperate for answers.

Anything that would bring her back to herself.

I thought I was hanging on by a thread, like my sanity.