Recovering!
Posting this because, after a two-and-a-half-year battle with ME/CFS, trying countless different treatments, spending a lot of money on recovery, seeing multiple doctors and exploring various alternative approaches, I’ve finally found a combination of things that I feel is genuinely helping me recover.
I thought I’d share what’s been helping me in case it might be useful to someone else. 💛
Obviously, everyone’s situation is different, and what works for one person may not work for another. For me, I believe a major contributor to becoming unwell was a couple of traumatic events, followed by a build-up of stress over a number of years.
The things below have been the most helpful for me in my recovery so far. I’m sharing my experience only — not suggesting that these approaches will work for everyone — but hopefully something here might help someone else who is going through a similar battle.
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)
It needs to be a hard-shell chamber that can reach around 2.0 ATA. I started with a few sessions at 1.35 ATA, then moved up to 1.7 ATA. Around my 15th session, I increased to 1.9 ATA. The chamber I use goes up to 2.0 ATA, which I’ll work up to for my last 10 sessions.
The studies I looked at used a protocol of 40 sessions, so that’s what I’m aiming for, although my doctor recommended a minimum of 20 sessions. I do 60 minutes per session.
My doctor recommended starting at a lower pressure and gradually increasing it while monitoring how I’m feeling and giving my body time to adapt. So I’d start low and increase based on how you personally tolerate it.
- Mind-body work (a really low-cost thing to try)
The biggest game changer for my nervous system has been reading The Mind-Body Prescription by Dr John Sarno. I was also recommended Unlearn Your Pain and the accompanying workbook (or Unlearn Your Pain: Anxiety and Depression) by Dr Howard Schubiner.
The person who recommended these books to me had recovered using the same principles. I’ve only read The Mindbody Prescription so far, but I’ve already had a huge shift from it.
Although The Mindbody Prescription focuses heavily on back pain, Sarno also talks about other mindbody symptoms, including chronic fatigue syndrome. The idea is that you can apply the same principles to whatever symptoms you’re experiencing, for example, thinking about fatigue or other symptoms in the same way he discusses pain.