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Rating:  -
I am a sophomore in college in a time in my life that is so crucial to where I am going and who I am becoming. I've had Chronic Fatigue for a few years now, but it is only in the past year that it has taken a serious toll on me. I got caught in the catch 22 between being a college student and caring for my body. I often can't do work, go to class, go out,I worry constantly about my future and being able to start a career, and I barely have time to sleep. After being an incredibly social and outgoing person in high school and then coming to college and not having a social life at all made me very depressed and lonely. Being in college and feeling as if you've lost your personality and you cannot perform up to your academic strength because your mind is so foggy and your memory so bad really started to ruin my life.
This is the first book I've ever read on chronic fatigue syndrome and it makes me cry because I have so much hope now. It has really been a motivation to try to heal myself and really try to succeed in the ways I know I can in college. The way that the author writes this book is so simple and easy to follow. I think all her ideas are great and really make sense and I'm starting to follow her eight steps. The getting enough sleep one is a little hard for me, as is treating myself as a patient because of all my work, but I'm really optimistic about this and I'm finally feeling as if I can escape this terrible illness. Like I said, I haven't been following for long, but even this sense of hope I'm feeling is the best I've felt in so long. I really recommend this to anyone who is suffering from CFS.
Rating: -
After 8 years of 'doctor-shopping' and trying way too many things that didn't work, I was a little hesitant to buy yet another book. But I'm not sorry I added it to my next Amazon order!
I recognized an awful lot in the author's story. Which in general is to be expected, but to me the specifics really stood out (could have been my medical record, minus the pregnancy.)
The book is the author's story, mixed in with an 8 step protocol (and a good explanation of why to follow it) with which she made a full recovery. Something to really look forward to!
This are the steps, obviously explained in detail in the book:
1. Understand your version of CFS.
-- Keep a daily short log of activities/rest periods, sleep, symptoms, meds
2. Find a doctor who will work with you.
3. Break the cycle of fatigue
-- Strict rule: Sleep at least 10 hours a night! And apparently after a few months of keeping a log you will notice a pattern, and know what is `too much' - that way you can avoid the `major crash after'.
4. Build a support network
5. Be sick! Be a patient!
-- aka: ignore what others think of you and don't feel guilty for taking care of yourself.
6. Fuel your wellness
-- General health info, with the addition of vitamin/supplement recommendations
7. Maintain an optimal blood pressure.
-- Mine, like the authors, turned out to be constantly low (105/65) -> fixable!
8. Manage your stages of recovery.
I wish there was one extra part explaining a little more about 'finding the pattern' for step 3. (Just an example of hers would be good).
I guess I'll figure it out in a few months, or let someone more awake look at it.
I've been following the steps for only a week now, but I hope to report results in a few months (will be in the comments).
Four stars for now, for a clear and easy-to-read book.
Might change to five - I certainly hope so.
Rating:  -
This book was helpful to me. It help me re-think the ways in which I currently cope with CFS & FM. I always want to know information in how others who have CFS & FM are well now. It was not much money and was a small enough book not to overwhelm me. I suggest it to others who have this disease.
Rating:  -
This book is excellent for helping a person with CFS feel less alone with this confounding disease; Kilcoyne definitely "gets it". The chapter about finding "your own version of CFS" is right on. However, she really did have all the makings of success: a loving advocate in her (employeed) husband so she was able to Be A Patient and a good support network including an open-minded doctor who worked with her. In reality, many of us are financially unable to drop everything and attend to our health in the early days of CFS when healing is optimal, and are frustratingly unable to find a doctor who will work with us rather than write us off. Still, her idea of keeping a Daily Record (and what factors to include ) is a great one which I believe may help me even after 14 years. Bottom line: a bit naive but not without merit.
Rating: -
I have recently been diagnosed with CFS after ten years of struggling. I had previously been diagnosed with post partum depression, orthostatic hypotension, anemia, depression, and Epstein Barr. Nothing the doctors prescribed helped. This book made me cry. I felt like I was reading my own story. It affirmed that I do indeed have CFS and that I am not alone. To have someone who has gone through this write about her story and recovery is so helpful. It has been difficult to explain the disease even to my husband who sees first hand what I am going through. He just couldn't understand the "foggy thinking" and why some days were good and some were so bad. The book has helped us both. I have completely changed my diet and I am keeping a daily record of all my activities. I have realized how much rest I really need. I am finally accepting this disease and have hope that I will recover. After two weeks on the diet (I gave up my four cups of coffee with sugar every morning!) I feel a difference. Not an amazing improvement but a feeling of "health" and hope that I didn't have before. I have low blood pressure and "fainting" spells and the increase in sodium and water has helped that tremendously. I am allowing myself to let things go and take care of myself with proper diet and lots of rest. The book is easy to read, concise, and so helpful. Anyone with CFS should read this and follow the plan! It is working for me and I am ready for a long, slow recovery but a recovery none the less! Even it takes a year or more to get better at least I won't lose another ten years to this cruel disease.
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