# ME/CFIDS: Is Recovery a Realistic Goal? One man's story...



## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Is Recovery a Realistic Goal? 02-08-2006 From: "Recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome -- One Person's Story" by Bruce Campbell Source: http://www.recoveryfromcfs.org/ Chapter 4: Is Recovery a Realistic Goal? I struggled for several years with the question of whether I should aim for recovery. Even though I knew that recovery was unusual for CFS patients, I had trouble letting go of the hope that my old life would return. But aiming for recovery created problems, too. With recovery as my goal, I lived on an emotional roller coaster, buoyed by signs of progress but devastated by the inevitable setbacks. What was the alternative to hoping for recovery: resigning myself to a lifetime of suffering? Wrestling with these questions helped me to understand the distinction between those things I could control and those things I couldn't. It was clear that my actions and attitudes had an effect on my symptoms. If I did too much one day, I suffered increased symptoms the next. If I responded to stress with worry, that too would make my symptoms worse. I didn't remember having such an effect on my symptoms in previous illnesses. When I had cancer, my recovery depended on the stage of the illness and the skill of the doctors. But with CFS, my choices and habits were important. My attitudes and actions affected my symptoms. But affecting symptoms is not the same as creating recovery. Reading an article by Dean Anderson, a recovered CFS patient, provided both insight and inspiration as I was struggling with this issue. In an article in the CFIDS Chronicle, he described his successful eight-year struggle with CFS. Dean had followed a path much like the one I had adopted, turning away from medical treatments and instead focused on figuring out what he could do to make himself better through changing his attitudes and behaviors. He wrote that after trying various approaches, he had come to believe that the key to his recovery was a certain kind of acceptance. He described it not as resignation, but rather "an acceptance of the reality of the illness and of the need to lead a different kind of life, perhaps for the rest of my life." Read the complete article at http://www.immunesupport.com/library/bulle...cle.cfm?ID=7003


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## 23770 (Nov 26, 2005)

Thanks a lot for sharing this link. I don't know if you had me in mind but it was nice to hear the comprehensive experiences of a man with CFS and his techniques for living with it. A lot of what he preached I had, naturally, already come to a realization of on my own like I assume most people do but it does help reinforce the notion of a mind/body connection. I wouldn't recommend his narrow-minded "self-help only" philosophy because even though the medical community has little to offer, it is still nevertheless a resource to exploit. Numerous blood tests helped exclude other serious illnesses and proved that "its not all in my head" but that I actually had a medical condition. For instance, the blood tests showed that I had been infected with the human parvovirus and coxackie virus. What helped me the most though were anti-biotics prescribed for my pneumonia and for my bacterial overgrowth. Where would I be if I had neglected professional help in this regard? I would still be infected and less functional than I already am. His big message to us is to accept the position that we're in and magically we'll make a full recovery. As proof he offers us his own experiences. A point to consider is that his experiences are indeed unique like he proclaims. He claims that he's doing as well as others his age but really that doesn't say much being that all his peers are retired and winding down. While his professional life is dwindling down, mine and thousand others haven't even begun and the world has little sympathy for people with illnesses it doesn't understand. Where does that leave us? Acceptance comes a lot easier for someone in his position. Now, aside from our demographic, add in the factor that many people with CFS also suffer from additional autoimmune diseases for which they might require medication which furthur upsets their condition. While I still believe there is a large place for acceptance, I feel that its pretty much barely not even worth mentioning since as humans it comes naturally to adapt to new surroundings. On the pro-active side, I'll still go down fighting for the best possible life by continually researching new and better ways to make headway on my chronic illness instead of idlely waiting for it to cure itself because, frankly, I can't afford it any other way. The world won't let me.


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