On Mon, Feb 25, 2008 at 4:50 AM, zeb caffe <[email protected]> wrote:
> was there anything that you can think of that caused an onset of your > symptoms like a flue bug, getting bitten by anything, an accident(car) etc? I personally suspect that it may have been caused by exposure to an insecticide spray. July 2006 I was fit, healthy, working 12 hour shifts, excercising, decorating, moving house, extremely active. I had, over a couple of weeks, more that normal exposure to a spray containing pyriproxyfen and permethrin. I developed headaches, aches and pains, and became tired very quickly. I didn't connect it at the time but put it down to overwork, moving anf humphing furniture around. August I went on holiday, witin the UK, and that's when I realised it was more than that. Normally I'm extremely active on holiday spending days walking round exploring etc. This time, by the time we got there I was exhausted and the slightest effort left me weak. It was so frustrating. I came home, struggled back to work, determined not to give in to it. However, one day I made it into work, sat down, was the only member of staff in the building (I worked in a residential unit for the homeless) and when the phone rang, I literally couldn't get out of the chair to answer it. When other staff arrived, I had to be helped into a taxi and helped home. And it's been mostly downhill ever since. At the beginning, since I was a Silva Method graduate I was determined I could cure it with that. I also scoured the internet, joined loads of health groups and tried just about every supplement going as there's always someone swearing that x, y or z is what you need to cure it. Some have proved of limited help. D-ribose helps a little and melatonin definitely helps sleep. Nothing else proved to have any effect and I soon realised that, no longer working but being on incapacity benefit, I could spend my monthly income 10 times over on supplements alone. I found the constant disappointment of things not helping also hard to take and that constantly focussing on my illness was taking over my sanity as well as my life. Nowadays I'm much choosier, if someone recommends something, I want to know why, what research has been done, exactly how many people it's helped etc. and then if it sounds interesting I'll discuss it with the one M.E. group I've remained in and then decide whether to try it or not. Of course I've been accused of not wanting to get well by people with no actual knowledge of M.E. but who are convinced their supplement is the new wonder cure-all. On a day to day basis I try not to get frustrated with my limitations but to focus on what I can do. Most of the groups I'm in have to do with art as it's such a positive force and I truly believe I'm lucky in that I've avoided the depression many M.E. sufferers develop. I put this down to the meditation and positive thinking. Despite what I've written above, I am always open to new ideas and suggestions as long as people realise that I'll evaluate them but won't and can't necesarily try them all. I'm also eternally grateful for CS as, although it doesn't help te M.E., since I started it I've avoided all antibiotics completely. Kirsteen
