James learns how to heal from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis after 9 years of illness
James’ spent years trying to heal from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) without success, unable to find a ‘cure’. And after years of hopping from one supposed ME cure to another, the penny finally dropped for him in his 8th year and discovered his own path to heal from ME.
James had become a bit of a serial ME/CFS cure explorer. And whilst many things helped him a little, none were that magic solution that got rid of all his MECFS symptoms. As he said, “When you are that desperate, you are not thinking rationally….everything sounds great when you have ME/CFS” .
But after 8 years of suffering, his life had become even worse and he hit rock-bottom. “I couldn’t see a future for myself”. It was an understandable outlook for a young man whose life was in shambles and who had never experienced what it was like to be an adult and have normal health.
And against all odds, he then changed his approach, his outlook, his whole life and 9 months later he had finally healed from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
What an inspiring young man, who shares his lessons and insights for anyone with ME/CFS or Fibromyalgia.
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Thankyou for showing this video.As a long term sufferer with cfs, I believe that James is a genuine case.I have had cfs for 34 yrs.I am being completely honest. I was 28yrs old when I xontracted glandular fever and was extremely ill and bedridden for several weeks.I felt weak every day after that. I didn’t rest long enough after the EBV and continued to push my body.I then suffered a trauma as well causing insomnia.Insomnia is my biggest problem and I am suffering terribly with it at present.I am frequently bedridden and feel robbed of life. When im not bedridden and have better days, those days are still a struggle where I have no stamina and shaking through my body.Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I became ill and stayed that way .I am blessed to have a good husband who knew me as a vibrant healthy person before cfs.He continues to look after me the best he can.I honestly feel that my illness ruined his life.I have lost hope of recovering.I am suffering and lost the plot as to what to do to heal.I have tried numerous remedies.I belong to an excellent cfs support group which keeps me sane.
Hi diane,
Don’t lose hope on recovery, when you’ve been ill so long it does feel as though your life is over but it can all change like it did for me. Forget remedies, focus on changes that you can consistently make for the rest of your life. You have to make a extreme overhaul of your life to see positive changes (from my experience anyway). What is your diet like? what is your posture like? do you breath through your chest? do you feel wired constantly? do you use gadgets a lot? what time do you go to bed? they’re SO many questions to ask. The bottom line is you have to change everything!
Something that is very important to understand is that recovery isn’t linear either. You have ups and downs, even if you are making many positive changes. The important thing is to stay consistent with good changes regardless of how you feel. Doing the right things is never going to hinder your recovery.
I struggled with long bouts of insomnia and it is hell. From everything i have learned, sleep is THE most important factor when recovering. You need to establish a good bedtime routine as soon as possible. I need you to listen to a Rich Roll podcast with a man called Shawn Stevenson. The podcast is named ‘sleep smart’ and his advise is great when it comes to fixing your sleep.
If you have any questions you can check my youtube channel, my tumblr or my website. Good luck!
Hi James I was so inspired by your story. I have hade cfs I think for as long as 30 years but only recently diagnosed. I kept putting my exhaustion down to lifestyle but after reading more about the condition I realised I have lived with this most of my adult life and that makes me very sad. I am still young enough to start the road to recovery and hearing your story I am more determined than ever. Thank you for sharing
Hi Diana, How are you doing? Have you tried any of the ANS / Gupta / DNRS programs? I have never experienced a adult healthy life either, I am 30 yo, I have had CFS for 10 years. I will now work with a functional doctor who addresses parasites, mold, Lyme, heavy metals, she uses Cellcore supplements which seem very efficient, and I think I will add a brain rewiring program to my healing protocol.
Thanks Dan and James for this – it’s probably the first of the recovery stories that had some really valuable information for me. I’m still looking and hoping for that one thing that will work. I’ve always wanted this – needed this – because if I find that one thing, then all I have to do is that one thing and I’ll never get CFS again. It’s like an insurance. Staying well is equally important to me as getting well – I’m sure most can relate to that. I am totally guilty of ditching something because it hasn’t helped ‘a lot’. Actually I’m about 5 months into ‘no gluten’ and I felt at first that it helped ‘a bit’…now I’m not sure it’s doing anything but hearing this wise young man’s take on keeping on with all the things that help a little bit has really helped me to realise the importance of sticking with things – provided they aren’t costing too much $$ :). And I love his whole philosophy on eating and activities and asking yourself if this is going to help your recovery. Although I am a bit torn with food because although I KNOW that mini-magnum isn’t going to be nutritional for me, will depriving myself of the joy of eating it cause stress that will in turn make my CFS worse…:).
I also pushed exercise when I was ill but still able to push. I thought it would help, I also was not willing to give up my slim figure. In fact, a few weeks before my CFS turned very serious, I had hired an elliptical machine – I remember really clearly getting up on that machine – exhausted but determined to push through it – I never got my second wind, each and every minute was horrible. 3 weeks later I crashed and was bedridden for the next 8 months. I had a six month hire contract for that machine – it sat there unused for months 🙂
All his advice was really so wonderful.
Well done James – you truly are an inspiration 🙂
Thank you for your postive comment Jane.
Indeed, it is about adding your strategies. If you think about it, it wasn’t one thing that tipped you into this dysfunction, chances are it was a combination of factors – and so it is on the way out!
Remember, that even thought we want to add our strategies to really create momentum, we don’t have to do things perfectly – it’s OK to deviate here and then, what matters is the overall everyday support to our body and nervous system.
James sure is inspirational to have made his journey given his age and personal challenges – just awesome! 🙂
Hi Jane, thanks for the comment!
The most important things to stick to do not require much money which is good 🙂
I told myself the same thing when it came to the last remaining pleasures in my life, but in the end, they all had to go. Everything! you can find alternatives. for example frozen bananas in a food processor/blender makes surprisingly very nice icecream.
We’re all guilty of pushing ourselves. I believe it comes from no one around us taking us seriously, therefore we stop listening to our body. Rest rest rest!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me on tumblr, youtube or my website!
Thanks !
When was this recording made because he said last sept having started in 2014 which would be 18 months, but you said 9 months so I’m wondering if you recorded this a year ago or if you got the time span wrong?
Really useful recording.
Hi Sulamaye – yes it was recorded some time ago, I am only catching up now with all these wonderful interviews! 🙂
I really enjoyed listening to this, as James’ went through many of the same challenges I faced during my journey, at a similar age. There are so many similarities. Felt really moved, in a very positive way.
It sounds like he lives near me – I don’t suppose you still have his details and would be willing to share with me by E-mail? I’d love to get in touch with him and share our recovery experience 🙂
That’s great to hear Adam – you can contact James via his youtube page here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM-sTCzs4dmwGkyfeFdWVPg
Thanks Dan, much appreciated.
I’d love to share my recovery story on your website at some point when you’d like to do some more 🙂
Sounds great Adam, once you have fully recovered and are ready to share you story, just email me. 🙂
Give me a message adam on my youtube channel and i will talk with you there
James, thank you for sharing your story. I have to admit, I had tears in my eyes as you began because it almost felt like I was hearing my story come out of your mouth. I too, was 14 or 15 when I started getting ill with headaches, and fatigue. I too thought I was just “lazy”. I felt also that I was an 80 year old stuck in a young persons body. And those stairs, those bloody stairs!! I felt completely wiped out every time I had to go upstairs, like I would collapse.I had anxiety attacks, depression, didn’t want to live anymore etc, all the while watching my friends and peers with vibrant energy and stamina. I am now 23, and still in the recovery process. I have come a long way, graduated from college in December (it took me a long time and was quite difficult with the illness, but I made it), have a new full time job now. As things are settling down, I’m now able to focus inward on my recovery more, so I can make that final push to full recovery. As it happens, I clicked on this link at a good time, as I have been feeling pretty discouraged about my continued pain and symptoms, and feeling less hopeful about recovery:(. But I know we have days like this sometimes, it will pass, and I’m not going to give up. Your emphasis on the multilateral approach confirms what I’ve heard before (from Dan’s program and book especially). And hearing that you’ve done it and succeeded is all the more inspiring. I hope that one day I’ll be doing bench presses and push-ups, like you. It was neat to hear another young person’s story with a similar timeline and an excellent outcome. Again, thank you and good luck on your continued journey.
Hi mary, i’m glad you can relate! being able to relate to somebodies story was what gave me the faith to keep going. It’s all about consistency with good big changes to your daily life that win the battle. Visualise how you want to feel 6-9-12 months from now and make the big changes to ensure it happens. Check out my youtube channel and leave me a comment if you have any more questions 🙂 thanks !
Thank-you James. I can relate to you in many ways, although I have only had cfs for almost one year, now. I found what you said about the human body having millions of years of wisdom to be quite profound and wise.
I too can see now that I’ve been looking for a singular cure. I’m going to take on board your advice on looking at your weekly habits/ schedule and changing one thing at a time and keep adding to the pile.
I too have thought that I’m lazy, or am making this illness up. It’s so good for me to hear that you’ve felt this way too. Cfs is so hard to explain, I’ve felt like a living puddle of exhaustion, that I’ve got poison running through my veins, also nausea, ear aches, headaches, joint aches & the list goes on. I’ve had such a gutfull of it & people think that I’m a lot more well than I actually am because I don’t say anything about my symptoms anymore.
Thanks for your story and insight, hopefully it can help me too on this CVS journey. Kelly Sc.
Hi Kelly
Glad you were inspired – yes so many of us have the same experience with the symptoms and it still seems difficult to be taken seriously.
Indeed it is a multi-lateral approach that is key for recovery, you hear that time and time again.
Hope cfsunravelled.com and ansrewire.com support you with your recovery efforts.
Hi Dan and James. Thanks for this inspiring conversation. I learnt a lot from it and am grateful to you both.
The hours of sleep we get (nine hours is recommended), or lack of them, has been one of the major causes of my CFS.
Since 1999, I’ve had six relapses, all of them in the six-week period from the end of April to the start of June; a time when, in the northern hemisphere, we grow more active after winter and the nights grow shorter as we approach the summer solstice, June 21st.
At the moment, (June 2017) it gets dark here around 9.30pm and light again about 4.30am. That’s seven hours or less compared with nine hours in winter.
So I close my curtains at 8 o’clock and wind down gently during the next 90 minutes in order to be asleep by 9.30pm. No stimulation, as you said. I then hope I’ll sleep through till 6am. It’s difficult but it’s working! Sleep is SO important.
Thanks. Colin
Thank you Dan for bringing this interview to us. And thank you James, for all your wisdom. I hear multilateral, do it all as well as you can and keep it up. Oh and the body knows, very wise!
Thanks for your comment Chris
Great advice form a young man having to deal with this crazy condition. I totally agree that you have to go 360 degrees on your life and change everything for the better – and the more basic you go the more impact. Like change your diet before considering supplements. Do detoxing routines (I had great help from infra red sauna). Get fresh air and if possible a bit of moderate movement – like a walk. Do things for your mental sanity – I started to bathe in the winter time every morning – nothing like a dip in ice cold water to get you in the zone of things. Try water fasting – it’s hard work but I had some help from it.
Thanks for your comment – indeed, doing things for your mental sanity is key!
Hi Dan and James
Just wanted to thank you both for another inspirational story. I decided to watch this following watching Dan’s recent post on acceptance of the condition being key to recovery. I have realised that I have been in denial in the hope that somehow I could lead a normal life. I am currently off work and having to re examine my priorities in relation to my health and general life balance. It is very emotional to hear someone else’s account of their experience whilst giving sound support and advice. Many thanks for reinforcing hope when it is most needed.
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I wanted to say a big thank you to James and Dan for this video. I have listened to a few recovery stories have found James to beinspirational as it resonates personally to everything I have been and am still going through. I have had CFS/ME for 8 and a half years and have been off sick from work for over 2 years now. James recovery efforts and all of the strategies he used including lack of stimulation, change of attitude, diet, listening to his body, emotional and psychological improvements are all of the things I know will help me and that I need to do. I don’t find it easy to be consistent and I find that stress and other factors including looking after a young child have a significant impact on my recovery, as well as learning to manage my own mind. I know I need to turn things around and I found James to be very helpful. I totally resonate with James as well in that he said felt lazy and his family didn’t understand as I am in the same boat and my family do not talk to me very much or offer any support at all. They do not understand the illness and don’t seem to care and I have found this to be extremely hurtful, lonely and isolating. I am however lucky to have a very supportive and understanding husband and am learning slowly that it only matters what I think, although at times it is very difficult to get out of victim and into being my own coach and best friend. The ANS programme has started to help me see things in a different light and I am slowly coming round to the idea that if other people can recover then so can I and I agree with the multi lateral approach. Thank you James for sharing and for all of your comments, which will touched me and after a big blip has given me some motivation to keep going. x
Thanks for your lovely comment Kim.
Remember that stress is a double-sided equation – whilst certainly, the stimulus or stressor is a part of it, perhaps the even bigger part is how we respond, the meaning we give to the stimulus. In that is tremendous power, because you cannot always control the ‘stressors’ that come your way, but you can control how you think about them and the meaning you give them.
Love this interview.It’s like a tapestry of rich threads with clues everywhere. Looking at our own unique map will surely guide us back to health and happiness. Thank you James.
The comment on stimulation resonates. I haven’t heard this one as much, but this is one I have noticed I react to. Some of it is difficult to eliminate due to work, etc., but I need to look at where I can reduce this.
The key Carrie, is to retrain the brain to respond normally to these kinds of stimulus.
What an amazing boy turned man. I think what he has done is utterly amazing – at such a young age to have to go through that, and without the support of parents – teenage years are enough of a challenge in themselves, without that!! I hope you can truly see what a strong, thoughtful, intelligent and resilient person you are James. Any parent should be bursting with pride at what you’ve achieved…I hope your life brings you all the happiness and health you deserve.
Thanks James and Dan, it’s wonderful how you both think through every aspect of what needs to be done. I’ll remember the gratitude mindset that you mentioned.