A Success Story
By James Thomas
Editor's Note: This article is reprinted, with permission, from the Winter 2002 issue of ME Essential, the magazine of the ME Association of England. We post it because of the strong parallels between his approach and the one we advocate: creating stability by first finding the limits imposed by illness, then living consistently within them by pacing (balancing activity and rest).
In the winter of 1996, I was just beginning the final year of a PhD when I became ill with what felt like an extreme flu without a head-cold. A visit to my GP resulted in my being given some painkillers, told I had a virus and being sent to bed for a few days. Sure enough the virus passed and I felt fine again, but within a couple of weeks the symptoms had returned - albeit mildly. I went back to the doctor who prescribed the same again with the same results except that when the virus returned again it was more intense.
After several months of this, I asked to be referred somewhere (not knowing what was wrong with me). This resulted in a battery of blood tests being undertaken and, as they all turned up negative (for anaemia, diabetes and so on). I was referred to the local hospital around 11 months after I first became ill.
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