My Journey with Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome

I became unwell in April 2010 following a virus, which at the time was just another virus, I had been picking up bugs and my body was trying to fight them for about a year before, but just as soon as one virus left my body another would appear, my body became weaker and eventually I became so ill I couldn’t even lift my head off my pillow.

After various blood tests, urine samples, BP checks and a full MOT at the doctors which took over 6 months to complete, as the bloods were tested and re-tested, I was diagnosed with post-viral fatigue syndrome. But even though there was a diagnoses it didn’t make me feel any better in fact it was worse as there was no drugs you could take to get rid of it, at best all you are prescribed are pain killers to kill the pain and muscle relaxing drugs to help ease the muscle spasms, your told to pace yourself and learn Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, this is the NHS treatment plan.

At the height of my illness I was suffering from; severe headaches including sensitivity to light, brian fog, poor word retrieval, lack of concentration, my muscles ached constantly even though they were not used, they would spasm and vibrate, I had symptoms like that of IBS stomach cramps and the runs, I also had nerve pain shooting down my back and legs, and severe depression and frustration, even though I was a positive person. It seemed to be everything wrong with me at once but the hardest thing to cope with was the solitary confinement, I didn’t want to go out or even speak to anyone, it was too much of an effort.

My family were a god send, they helped me go to the bathroom, get dressed when I felt well enough to get dressed, they fed me and even helped me to look up how I could help myself. I am a big believer in taking control of your own life, having said that there were times when it was like I was not in control at all, when I couldn’t even read a page of a book, life was very frustrating.

I tried vitamin supplements in a specific order to boost my immune system and help my nervous system and build up good gut bacteria etc... along with pacing myself and learning to understand CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) all these things did not work, and now I know more about Mickel Therapy of course they wouldn’t work, nothing else explained about the hypothalamus gland in the brain which made more sense than anything else did, I did however learn a lot more about myself through the CBT, but pacing is non-effective, it just prepares you for a bad day after a good day, or keep everything to a hum drum existence so you don’t interfere with anything while you feel slightly better! the vitamins were so expensive and proved to have very limited benefits.

While I was researching I came across Mickel Therapy, being a little wary of the claims after trying so many different treatments designed to work but didn’t with me, I left it a wee while before I decided to contact Leisa, I eventually contacted Leisa via email sometimes this was a better way of communicating so you get to say what you want to say, ME/CFS has a way of making it a challenge to communicate effectively and its very exhausting.

Leisa replied to me the very same day with more information about Mickel Therapy and also her own journey, which was very refreshing to hear there could be light at the end of the tunnel, especially if it had worked for her.

I was still a wee bit worried which didn’t help my recovery, I was no longer working so I would have to fund this therapy out of a tiny allowance given to me by the government, I had always worked, all my life this was the first time I had the experience of being on benefits. I contacted my employment support allowance advisor to see if there was any help with the costs of therapy and was told there was not, but thankfully for me she offered me a solution, she asked me to apply for a government loan, which I did and was successful, even though there is not a section which states this money is for treatment, I had to state this money would help me back into the work place, another worry because I didn’t actually know it was going to work, but I took the risk anyhow. The loan was repayable out of your benefits so that I could get the treatment I needed. Although it seemed like hard work at the time I am so glad I found the money to get the treatment I needed.

I started Mickel Therapy with Leisa and in all I only needed 4 sessions of about an hour over the period of a couple of months, I decided to complete the treatment over the phone, the treatment was very easy to follow and it is still to this day part of my everyday life, it made so much sense to me, it was like little light bulbs being switched on throughout the treatment. Leisa has a way of making you feel like your back in control of your own life again, which is very empowering, this alone gave me the energy to keep going with all the elements of the treatment until I just knew it was working, the symptoms became less intense then they disappeared altogether, if I had a setback which I did, it was no big deal, Leisa was always there with the answers.

Leisa explained the answers so well that you could pick up and run with them yourself and became the expert in your own life once again. You know who you are; you also know the answers to why you do what you do, but not always at the time when you need them. This truly is the key to success, I had been ignoring ME for a long time, even though I knew I was not well I carried on, until eventually one day I could no longer carry on, I would put other people’s needs before my own and suffer the consequences!

I would urge anyone reading this to get in touch with Leisa, and start living your life again. I am now back at work full – time, I have travelled, and I am also thinking about moving house, things I would never have dreamt about when I was ill.

Unfortunately this illness is not a priority for the government or the NHS, if it were it would have Mickel Therapy as part of our treatment plans, it really does work better than anything else I had tried, for the small price I had to pay, it is also value for money, it would save the government and the NHS loads of money, as it is money well spent. I am now back to full-time work and leading a very active life again.

With grateful thanks

Jackie

June 2013