Chronic Fatigue: The Whole Truth

Opening Statement

I understand that some of you reading this won't agree with all of the information provided, and will think it's rubbish - thats fine.

Chronic illness is lonely and debilitating, I want to give help to those looking for it.

This is just my story, take it as you like.

And before I really get into it I want to start by saying this: I get you and I see you.

When you read the rest of this article just know that my advice isn't coming from someone who is just talking out of their arse...I've been through it, I understand it and I've come out the other end of it.

How It Started

It was the summer of 2018, I was in the middle of a three-month long road trip through America.

I was travelling in a group of 7 other people and eventually, the inevitable time came when a bug started to make the rounds - I caught it and after a wobbly few days, I recovered...almost.

Long story short, the tiredness I felt during my illness didn't go away and that's how my battle with M.E began - at first I thought it was just a bout of regular post-viral fatigue but for months after my trip abroad I was still feeling the effects, I went to bed every night thinking 'maybe this will be it, maybe I'll wake up feeling ok tomorrow'.

I had moved to London and was in the middle of my first year at drama school when I decided to get myself checked out by a GP...it was a useless and frustrating waste of time.

I mean seriously, when I tell you this guy was useless! He wouldn't even give me a blood test, just told me that I was 'perfectly healthy' and to just 'let nature take its course' (wow thanks Dr Dickhead, 7 years of med school and thats the advice you want to give me)

I won't bore you with the many details of the next year but here is a list of everything that I tried (spoiler alert...none of them worked):

1. Acupuncture
2. Lymphatic Drainage
3. Therapy
4. Yoga
5. Taking Ginseng
6. Taking vitamins
7. Taking supplements
8. Cutting out Gluten
9. Cutting out dairy
10. Drinking more water
11. Juice Plus (Yeah I know...but I was desperate)

The list goes on...

The Breaking Point

By this point my life was a shadow of its former self, I was micromanaging myself in everything that I did: I put my Zumba membership on hold because I just couldn't stomach teaching.

I didn't go for walks, I didn't go out at the weekend, I was sitting out of almost every class that was even slightly physical at school, I was overly sensitive to light and noise, overly emotional, my focus was terrible ( I also have ADD and Aspergers which is a lot worse when I'm tired, so...when I say it was terrible)...even the simple task of reading a book was exhausting.

Some days I would wake up feeling like my body was made out of led, but I didn't want to call in sick because I was worried people would scoff and think I was making it up.

Anyway, you get it!

After my bad experience with the GP I decided to make the leap and go to a private medical practice, the difference in attitude was...astounding!

The doctor actually listened to me, asked me questions, gave me two blood tests right then and there and booked me in for a third (they do three blood tests altogether, each one going more in-depth) after getting the results I was told that at some point I had contracted Glandular Fever and that I now had High Functioning Chronic Fatigue...so the doctor wrote me a note for school and basically just told me what I'm sure everyone else has been told 'eat healthy, stay hydrated, don't drink alcohol, take regular breaks and gradually build up your exercise' - another spoiler, that didnt work either, it just sucked the fun out of everything and made me paranoid.

Finally, a Turning Point

Ok so I finally had a diagnosis, but there was one problem - I still felt like shit.

I kept telling myself that I was fine and would just have to deal with it, but I wasn't fine, I didn't want to deal with it.

I wanted to dance, travel, go on dates, stay out late, go for long walks in the country, I don't even like running but I would have given anything to be able to go for a 10-minute jog.

Then the pandemic happened - I wasn't far from graduation when it started, and like many others, my school was forced to temporarily close which resulted in me leaving London and going back home for about 6 months - when I think about it now, being forced to take time out was a blessing in disguise for me because it gave me the space to think about my situation and how I wanted to live my life going forward...this was when I found 'The BodyMind Programme'.

I was lying on my bed feeling sorry for myself one afternoon, when in a moment of despair I googled 'Chronic Fatigue treatment' for the millionth time, I had come across their website a few times before but having been through the wringer with various 'treatments' in the past I was naturally distrustful, however this time I decided to humour myself and look into it further.

After reading all of their very positive feedback and many recovery stories I began to feel a flicker of hope for me - one of the things they offer is a free phone consultation for anyone with questions, so I bit the bullet and called the number.

Finally, an Answer

The BodyMind Programme (formerly The Lightning Technique) is run by Steve and Kate.

In the 30 minutes that I talked to Steve I found out more information about Chronic Fatigue than I had with any doctor I had ever visited: he explained to me that it isn't actually caused by an illness, but by stress either from a traumatic event or a slow build-up over time.

your brain gets stuck in a chronic stress response which makes you constantly tired, so it's no wonder all of those multi vitamins didn't work, because its totally holistic, and even better...it's treatable!

I knew I'd made a decision pretty much immediately after I'd hung up the phone, and after talking about it with my mum and my best friend (who funnily enough also had M.E for a good 10 years of her life) I decided to enrol on the program.

BodyMind and DNRS

In each session, we went through a number of different exercises that helped to rewire our brains, and after about a week or so of implementing the new tools I had been given, I started to feel the effects

this isn't the case for everyone, sometimes it can take a bit longer, but the bottom line is; if you want to get better - you will.

It started off gradual...first, the daytimes got easier; I was no longer crashing immediately after lunch.

Then I was able to do a bit of dancing before I went to bed (something I had only dreamed of in the earlier days)

I successfully played a video game for a full 30 minutes (I could barely manage 5 before)

Next, I found I was able to go for walks in the evening and listen to music at the same time (these two things together would usually be far too overstimulating)

Now, fast forward to the present day;

I am now living my normal life to the fullest.

I graduated from drama school, bought my first house and moved cross country, signed with my first agent and started going to Zumba again.

My battle with M.E is now a thing of the past, and I'm not the only person who has recovered from chronic illness this way.

Resources

The BodyMind Programme isn't the only thing out there if you're struggling, if you're not UK based then you can find out about Dynamic Neural Retraining System here: DNRS.

Internet dog mum Courtney Budzyn recently had to battle POTS, she went through DNRS and is now fully recovered from it.

I know it sounds insane, but believe me: it works.

I feel the effects and its literally working.

Long story short; what you're going to learn is that basically everybody who has these chronic illnesses, it doesnt really matter what the chronic illness is: your body is stuck in fight or flight mode. This program is designed to bring you out of fight or flight and into rest and digest, this will allow your body to heal itself the way it was meant to.

(DNRS is scientifically backed and also helps Endo, Fibromyalgia, Lyme, PCOS, MCAS, ANS, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression etc)

@mrsbudzyn about DNRS on her Instagram story

So to sum it all up: chronic illness is rubbish to live with, it's an insanely misunderstood and under researched field which can affect an entire life span.

The good news? We now understand that it is totally possible to fully recover from it and claim our lives back.

Keep it classy everyone,

Florence :)

(if anybody has questions, I am more than happy to chat, so pop me a message!)