No-one knows what really triggers M.E. What we do know is that an awful lot of people suffer with it. And all those people suffer with some or all of the symptoms involving the whole body and its functions.
I think that we MEers are like burnt out car engines which need replacing. The body work is good, but the engine is useless. Repairs can be made but it may never run as smoothly again.
My recipe for coping with ME
- Omega Oils
- Vitamin C
- RnR � Rest and Relaxation
- Stretching
- Harmony
- Fruit and Vegetables
- Medication and Allicin
- Guiltless
- Working and Pacing
- Skincare
If you need to know anymore about any of the points please read below or leave comments on this artcle.
Omega Oils containing oils from fish and seeds is the Numero Uno product that helps M.E. I cannot place enough stress to you, reading this, the essential importance of these oils that I would now place as more important than Vitamin C. But the Omega Oils are not only extremely important for ME sufferers they are also extremely important for everyone. This is because our diet is now sadly deficient in these essential nutrients and these nutrients support most functions of the body. Fish and Seeds were the main ingredients to the diet in years gone by. Now fish is barely eaten in England and seeds � what food products are they in? Either peas which have been frozen and stored or sweet corn from a tin or dried seeds but who eats those? And after the length of time seeds have been stored what nutrient value is left? And yet fresh seeds are the main diet of animals and birds. Have you ever eaten sunflower seeds straight from the sunflower head in September? Delicious.
I had had a year and a half of feeling terrible until the Omega Oils turned it around. It has been the omega oils that have kept me out of bed and the stretches that got me out of bed. I know this because I have tested it twice now and I don�t want to put myself through that again. I stopped taking the Omega Oils and on the third day I was back to square one. I was back in bed and back to not being able to walk far. Back to not thinking straight, back to the foggy brain.
We all know that Vit C supports the immune system and helps fight infection. So ME being an immune dysfunction disease will need Vit C. But did you also know that Vit C helps make collagen and that collagen helps keep the skin and the joints and the muscles flexible. This makes Vit C very important for ME sufferers.
The important part of rest is just that: REST, which means no work, no worries.
Hey ho! Isn�t that simple? No of-course not.
Being on the Go all the time and Stressed got you wound up and ill in the first place. No time to eat properly, sleep properly or play properly. So how do you teach yourself to switch off and REST?
By feeding your brain numbing stuff like TV and soaps.
By lying down so that when sleep comes you can do just that, sleep. By reading simple books and not care whether you understand the words your eyes gloss over and allowing your eyes to close to sleep not caring whether you are dressed or what time of day it is.
By drinking relaxing teas such as Chamomile or Red Bush (Rooibus)
By using relaxing oils such as lavender on your pillow.
Eventually you learn to sleep again.
When you are sleeping during the day and night and then find yourself unable to sleep at night you know you can leave off the sleeping during the day. However I still go and lie down at several times during the day on my back and read. This is the most relaxing thing I know and really helps. I don�t need to sleep during the day unless I have had a particularly busy time the day before but even then I try to rest rather than sleep.
Next item on the agenda of coping with ME is Stretching. Animals stretch all the time. What do we do instead? When we are tired and achey � we SIT DOWN or lie down and our body is fixed in one position for a length of time. No wonder then when we do go to stand we go �OUCH� and can barely straighten up or use our legs to walk.
And the bees knees of stretching is this one: Stand and reach up to the ceiling with both arms. Bend forward and allow your body to dangle towards your feet and allow the weight of your head to pull you towards the floor. Dangle like that for some time and your body will release and allow your hands to touch the floor. It can feel painful but a good pain, a releasing pain. Allow the pull in the back of the legs and in the buttocks. Just relax as you dangle there. When you have had enough (the longer the better) put your hands on your ankles and �walk� your hands up your legs to a standing position. It is very important that you go to stand using your hands in the manner described as this saves any exertion, load and pressure on the lower back.
The nerves from the spine are now freer as they go to the muscles, enabling you to get going for the day.
Previous article on stretching
Ginseng is an excellent, simple way of harmonising the functions of your body and really does work, giving you more energy and your zest for life back again without the stress or load on the adrenals. It supports the adrenals and so is an excellent tonic.
Aromatherapy essential oils and finding hobbies, from painting to watching TV, all support harmony.
Recognising what gives you stress and accepting help is humbling but essential for you and for your support workers or loved ones to show their care and love for you. However maintain your individuality and don�t allow carers or loved ones to do everything for you. It is important that you also do things for yourself.
Diet. This word means good food. Eating fat, protein and carbohydrates are important but it is far more important to get most of those from FRUIT and VEGETABLES. Eat them at any time during the day the five or six portions that are recommended. Enzymes in the fruit and vegetables digest and process the food. Your colon will function better speeding up the removal of toxins. Your small intestine will deliver nutrients to the blood more efficiently giving the body the fuel it needs to function. Along with this goes the advice to avoid all stimulants ie alcohol, sugar, caffeine coffee, caffeine teas, coca cola and fizzy drinks as these all drain the adrenals. I have to say that I am pretty good at this now but alcohol is the difficult one as although the effects of alcohol hit me after the first sip, I do like to have the occasional glass of wine or vodka or brandy!!! Also please avoid all foods you are sensitive to.
I truly believe that ME is �just� a tiredness thing. It took a lot of previous illnesses, poor diet and STRESS to make you exhausted and MEish. It is going to take a lot of GOOD HEALTH methods over a long period of time to feel well again, maybe never.
I think that we MEers are like burnt out car engines which need replacing. The body work is good, but the engine is useless. Repairs can be made but it may never run as smoothly again.
I REFUSED all offer of medications from my GP and Consultant. I have spent the last two years testing on myself all manner of nutrients and supplements and I keep my GP informed.
Depending on the amount of battering the body has received which resulted in ME, will influence the rate a person will feel better, which is why some people can recover after 6 months and some after years and some never.
Some people found that anti-biotics helped them feel better. I found that Tea-tree or Neem Oil or Colloidal Silver or Citrocidel always made me feel better. These natural remedies are all antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-fungal. However if you are flushing out the toxins with vegetables and fruit and plenty of good quality water you should need antibiotics less and less.
Some people find that taking samento or products that kill parasites also help. Again the natural remedies already mentioned help with that too including an enzyme found in garlic only when it is freshly crushed. This has been harnessed into a garlic product called Allicin and I have found that it not only gives me the enzymes I need to manufacture my food but also the anti-parasitic product I wanted, as I have been convinced that we do not worm ourselves enough after all we worm our animals! Did you know that animals can get worms from the other animals they eat but also mainly from FLEA bites? The flea has the worm eggs in its blood and infests the animal with the eggs when they bite. As we all know fleas bite humans as well as animals!
I can�t say that I get depressed but I do get tearful and I do get �down� with this illness. I would love my energy back again and do all the things I used to. However when I look at the negative aspects of ME then I will get down. So how does one remain positive about a condition that makes you feel that people think you are lazy and a fraud as well as feeling so wretched? I have noticed that when I am feeling negative about my condition I am also very tired. When I am not so tired I am positive. The ginseng too has helped with positive feelings. So rather than dwell on the negative aspects I tell myself I am tired and indulge myself with my bed and daytime TV or a book.
Guiltless? Feeling Guilty makes one ill and is exhausting
I then realised that I had a mind thing going on. I found that when I had periods of feeling really ill ME wise, I was also feeling very guilty about something.
The feeling of guilt with me is indigenous. It goes with the territory of being me. So I am more aware of my feelings of guilt for no reason, than most people which is why I saw the connection between feeling guilty about something and the ME symptoms gaining momentum.
What was making me feel so guilty? My benefits. They have had an enormous impact on me. When I was granted my benefit I automatically began going very carefully about the place. I was hobbling again, I was finding the stairs difficult again, I was not coping with the energy required to shower, and I was sleeping and resting far more. Was I a fraud? I was terrified of being labelled a benefit fraud. I looked at my condition again. No I was ill. I wasn�t expecting the claim for Disability Living Allowance to make me feel so guilty and even more ill. So how do I combat the guilt and accept the benefits even though I feel well on some days?
If I don�t take the Omega Oils, if I don�t rest, if I live a normal life as others do I will be so ill I will feel as if my body is shutting down and about to expire.
If I take the Omega Oils and if I do a �normal� day, I will feel ill the next day and will sleep and rest for 24 to 36 hours to recuperate. But I will not feel like death. During that time I have had periods where I can�t walk or even sit on the edge of the bed and I know I daren�t stand or I will faint. However the standing stretch really helps here and if I can�t stand then I can do the stretch sitting in bed by just allowing the upper body to fall forward over the legs.
I know I am capable of doing anything anyone else can do and this makes me feel so guilty about the benefit. If I had to I could run, but not run a mile but then, without training, neither could most people. I can lift heavy objects. I can do a day�s work. But and this is an enormous but, I cannot sustain it. I would be so ill for days afterwards if I did. That is why I can justify taking the benefit because unfortunately I am ill with ME, I have just learnt to live with it and I have to tell myself this whenever guilt gets me down.
My work is massage and exercise. I have tried working as a voluntary worker with massage but it leaves me too exhausted for days afterwards. I have put myself through an exercise routine and that left me on my back for days. I need paced work throughout the day on a daily basis, not doing work for one day and then ill for 3. So I must work out what work I can do while pacing myself. At this precise moment in my life I am supporting my sister with the care of our Mother-in-law and today I am still in my pyjamas while I write this having just popped into Mum-in-law�s bedroom to change her nappy and give her a cup of tea. If I could work like this in an office say and lie down when needed then Yes Mr Government Official, Mr Tribunal GP, I could go back to work, just so long as the work doesn�t present me with any spur of the moment decisions or time constraints or repetition or effort that needs sustaining.
I do not use any manufactured products on my skin, nor on any area of my body. Never. Not even sun products. I have good skin (so I am told) and no blemishes or many wrinkles, which I put down to Olive Oil.
Sometime ago I had problem skin, breaking out in little spots and rashes and sores. It wasn�t too terrible but it annoyed me. I even had brown patches on my face which I put down to age. One patch on my forehead looked like the map of the world.
Because every product I tried from Somerfield�s own brands to Clarins, Chanel and Dermalogica caused my skin (and my scalp) to drive me mad with itching I decided to experiment with products that I made myself out of food.
One of my problems with skincare products was that they would eventually make their way to my eyes even if I didn�t put the creams anywhere near my eyes, and my eyes would water and feel so sore. I was unaware of the problem and was driving to work one morning when my eyes started to run and sting like mad to the point that I couldn�t see and I had to stop the car. It was so terrible that I had to make the changes to what moisturisers I used or not use anything or not drive. Olive Oil came out tops in everything. I used olive oil, lemon juice and honey as a mask for my face and what a difference to my skin! Yoghurt too was a great exfoliator as the bacteria in the yoghurt breaks down the bacteria and dead skin cells.
Now I shower or bathe in Olive Oil mixed with essential oils of my choice. My moisturiser for face and body is Olive Oil and Aloe Vera with essential oils. My suncream is Olive Oil. Seed oils have a natural sun screen but it only lasts for about 10 minutes. Do not use essential oils in the sun.
My hair products are by a company called Faith in Nature as they do not contain any products that are unnatural or that I am allergic to.
Most people�s skin problems are caused by the products themselves. Brown patches on the skin can be caused by ingredients in the skincare products reacting with the sun. They can be helped by taking Omega Oils and using face scrubs and lemon juice. My brown patches have almost disappeared.
My young nephew came up to me one day and asked me what he could do with his arms as he had white marks that didn�t tan in the sun. He lives in Spain and so it was getting to be fairly embarrassing for him. His friends at school would tease him about the white marks on his arm and he would keep his arms covered. I bought him a rough scourer sponge. Very rough I have to say. I told him to apply Olive Oil and rub it in with the sponge. He had to be very gentle at first with the sponge until he got used to the feel of it. The white marks have gone and his arm tans all over. Please note that this skin condition was not the one which is caused by the pigmentation of the skin.