Elaine Wilkins’ Story
In 2000 I returned from a long haul trip with my company with a virus that left me feeling wiped out. I thought this prolonged fatigue was jet lag but after a month I was still weak and exhausted, I found my concentration was really badly affected. This was only stage 1 of a horrible journey. I suffered for 6 years from severe M.E/CFS. with acute insomnia, muscle pain and a head that felt as though it was full of hot cotton wool. My speech and memory deteriorated so much that I was convinced I had a brain tumour. I had endless tests. I still kept dragging myself to work whenever I could but when I returned home I was like an empty shell and could barely move for days. I lied to people who tried to contact me telling them I had been busy. I was ashamed of an illness that didn’t seem to exist as far as GP’s were concerned. M.E. was finally diagnosed 18 months later. I lost my business, had to sell my home and was reduced to claiming incapacity benefit and descended into a chronic depression. I battled fruitlessly with doctors, I spent money I didn’t have on things that didn’t work and there were times when I felt like I would rather die than carry on. I would cry at the thought of what I had lost, not just for the material things; but for the person I had been. My spark was gone and my energy a distant memory; my life had become small, quiet and lonely. I am now completely well, It took me years to discover the path to regain my health. Kelly and I met in 2002 when my symptoms were in remission and she joined the direct sales business I was still attempting to run. She came to my house and noticed a book on my bookcase about Chronic Fatigue and asked who in the house was a sufferer. I really felt like an angel walked into my house that day. I still had a way to go before I had made sufficient changes in my life and got in place the right healthcare to really get my life back. I learned so much about the process and that, apart from some specific nutritional support; the secret to health lies within, so it is possible to achieve optimum wellbeing and create a healthy, holistic balanced and joyful life. My experience of M.E. seemed like a curse, I know now that it was a gift.
Kelly Oldershaw’s Story
Happy 18th Birthday you have M.E. That was my life, a year of not knowing why I couldn’t get out of bed, being carried to the bathroom by my mum & dad, lifeless, powerless, my whole body feeling like I had run a marathon yet I had been in bed, how was that possible? I had friends to see, a social life to lead, fun memories to make. Yet is was all out of reach, My life was on hold, my teenage years lost forever. Spending day after day feeling trapped in my own body, constant headaches, sore throats, dizziness, sleeping endlessly, then laying awake, the list of symptoms was endless, and there was no end in sight. After being completely let down by the GP’s lack of knowledge & understanding of my illness, I came across a support group and went along full of hope. As I walked through the door, I discovered sufferers with walking sticks & wheelchairs, 15 years of living that life. My heart sank & I remember the sheer panic I felt at the thought of this being my life. I walked out of there with a promise. A promise to myself & my family that I would do everything it took to beat this & get my life back. From that moment on, I spent my time and the little energy I had on finding ways to get myself well. This took years of seeing GP’s, NHS Doctors, Endocrinologists, Alternative therapists; I would see the light at the end of the tunnel, only for it to go out and for me to be back where I started. At the time when I was at my worst I thought, why me? Yes I lost my teenage years, some of my friends and I have never been in love, but I know this was part of my journey and along the way I found the strength and passion to want to help others to get their life back, as I have, without having to take 7 years to do it! Some people out there don’t even think they can recover, but we are living proof that it can be beaten and you can get your life back one step at a time.
