In reply to UKC Articles:
Great article, thanks for writing Charley, glad you find climbing benefits you! Can't believe I missed this article when it came out!
I fell desperately ill aged 33 with "post viral fatigue" syndrome / CFS / M.E., in 1998, though I've now been well for about 10 years, it was a very bad time and I could not work at all, nor go out, socialise, even watch TV or read books. As I tried to climb , years into "recovery", I found the mental stress on top of the physical triggered relapses, so climbing had to wait a while for me.
I very quickly spoke to Matt Birch, the V14 boulderer with M.E. at the time, as he's good friends with my sister & bro-in law. As soon as he heard when as happening to me he was on the phone offering advice & help - really good of him. He explained he could boulder hard but would then be "fogged" and wrecked for days......
Re. the Lightning Process, it's a difficult one, as it certainly seems to help some sufferers yet others remain very unwell, eg. a friend of mine, who has since died, had severe ME for 20 years and threw everything at it - she certainly wanted recovery more than anyone I ever knew, and to the end always believed she would recover - yet she paid a lot of £££ for the LP and tried so hard to make it work; watching her slip away as its benefits failed her was heartbreaking; yet the therapist was almost shouting at her to "Do the process!" - ie. patient blaming for failure of therapy. I'm glad it helps some people but I would like to see more evidence, eg. proper clinical trials.
I believe that in the US, where more biological research is taking place, they have identified at least nine different subgroups (or "phenotypes"?) of CFS/ME. So research & studies on people umbrella'd under the "CFS" blanket are unlikely to "prove" any treatment - which is why, sadly, the emphasis on treatment seems to be addressing how to cope with behavioural change etc - which the more "touchy" hardcore of M.E. sufferers believe to be a message that people think it's "all in their minds" or a mental condition; they're not, & it isn't.
I am on the books of Action for ME (Bristol based charity) as a recovery story; I've been on the local radio several times, and during my recovery I worked voluntarily as a telephone support worker, helping over 300 sufferers with support & advice, so I'm no punter on this subject. As a newly- successful runner, orienteer, and budding Alpinist (so hard that one! It is the only thing that can bring back my CFS/ME symptoms), I believe that some people will not get better through no fault of their own, but because they have a subgroup with a worse outcome. I think I got "lucky", as I "merely" had a severe acute onset post viral fatigue syndrome. It seemed to be (with good self management and a decade's patience) a "self correcting" kind of illness. It took ages, but I got there; and relapses are just part of the "journey".
I tried a whole raft of treatments & remedies, & some helped, they're here if anyone's interested, along with my story.
http://www.murrayphil.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/remedy.html
http://www.murrayphil.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pvfs.htm
Phil