Healing from ME, CFS and Fibromyalgia

Therapeutic Coach Alex Howard talks about the importance of finding ways to stay inspired on the recovery path, including listening to stories of people who have reached milestones or made recoveries over various hardships. Having the mindset that improvement or recovery might be possible changes how motivated you might be to make helpful decisions and take positive action.

Alex continues his Ask Me Anything list of questions from participants on Facebook and the Facebook Community Group - this week covering issues around how to afford treatment and deal with HR and benefits from work, building up confidence in stage 3 of recovery, and what can cause relapse after a full recovery was made. Watch the AMA Part 1 at https://youtu.be/bwhVs9jhkSk Watch the AMA Part 2 at https://youtu.be/GKVgdBqEmuk

"Courage isn't the absence of fear, courage is the ability to take action and keep moving forward in spite of the fear." On the eve of announcing the Fatigue Super Conference 2019, Alex shares a moment on the launching pad about taking risks and trying new things - and we hope you'll enjoy what's coming up next for The Optimum Health Clinic. Find out more about the Fatigue Super Conference at fatiguesuperconference dot com

As we turn into the New Year and think about the goals we want to set, Alex gives advice on the kid of achievable goals that can be explored with ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia, and how to take into consideration what stage of recovery you are in to make realistic resolutions.

Alex addresses a common worry amongst patients - especially with the recent Fatigue Super Conference - that when starting a new program or course there can be a feeling of too much overwhelm. Alex offers some tips on how to tackle overwhelm and also shares his vision moving forward with new short filmed sessions with patients

Alex offers some tips on how to approach the holiday season as strategically as you can by communicating your needs, acknowledging your boundaries, pacing your energy and relax and have fun based on your protocols and parameters with where you are. (recorded 2018)

Alex answers questions directly from users on Facebook, discussing the achiever type and the inner critic, how to address anger and resentment with ME CFS, and ways to work with trauma other than EFT.

Solving the individual puzzle of ME CFS and/or Fibromyalgia for each patient is a very complex problem in the personalised medicine approach.  In this video, Alex explains why it would be beneficial to work with a practitioner specialising in interpreting tests and personalising your therapy for your best healing journey.

Alex takes questions from The Optimum Health Clinic community group about recovering from ME, CFS and Fibromyalgia and updates about the work at the clinic. Alex answers a questions about the immune system response in ME CFS, the role of the maladaptive stress response, and gives an update on the research projects at the OHC.

Alex discusses the importance of taking a step back to look at the bigger habits or themes in our life that cause ongoing stress that need to be addressed. So many of the tools for recovery are small daily habits to help calm the nervous system and support the healing process - but larger problems like chemical or mould exposure, stressful relationships, or difficult life circumstances need to take precedence and steps in our attention to help us move forward in a meaningful way.

Being able to understand our own issues, limitations, and challenges helps us find the best techniques to allow us to heal and grow. Having a lighthearted approach to ourselves, our faults and our weaknesses can empower us to have better relationships with ourselves and others. Alex suggests looking into The Enneagram and Spiral Dynamics as tools to help you place where you may be in terms of your values and where you might be able to grow.

In this Facebook Live session, Alex dispels the idea that we have to become perfect before we can heal. There are SOME issues that will need to be resolved, or at least attended to to remove some blocks to recovery, and to get you into a healing state.

James became ill with ME CFS in 2010, so ill he was bed-bound and his father had to carry him to the hospital. With support from his family, James slowly has recovered to 85% over 9 years by listening to his body and pacing carefully, and is now sharing what he has learned about healthy eating with his successful social media brand, Healthy Living James. While James was not a patient with the OHC, he found inspiration from our OHC Live videos and reached out to us to share his story. Find out more about Healthy Living James at https://healthylivingjames.co.uk/ Find out more about The Optimum Health Clinic at https://www.theoptimumhealthclinic.com

Alex talks about the difference between using the tools to feel better and focusing on the state of mind we are in while using them. Having an awareness of where we are emotionally can help us loosen the grip on the effort we are making and we can practice our tools from a better place mentally.

Alex talks to Helen Lynam, previously the Director of Nutrition at The Optimum Health Clinic, about our approach to supplements, why we recommend what we do, how individualised each patient's protocol is, and why we use the suppliers we do.

Motivation is usually stronger when we are moving towards things that we want, versus trying to avoid negative consequences. Finding inspiration to move towards a reward will help you feel a lot clearer about your actions than trying to achieve something simply to avoid pain. Are you waiting for something worse to happen before you will feel motivated to make change, or can you find a positive reason for working towards feeling a little better now?

Paulie from the Netherlands shares her story and recovery journey through ME/CFS. Beginning as a teenager, Paulie suffered from anxiety, IBS and severe fatigue, which fluctuated for a few years before steadily becoming worse. A friend had told her about The Optimum Health Clinic when Paulie could no longer stand unassisted, and she began her healing journey. Now 90% recovered Paulie has a new outlook on life, is able to continue working her career in nutrition science, has better tools to manage expectations, and continues to improve her physical symptoms.

Finding the balance between being sensible about our recovery and being very driven and disciplined with our tools can be a challenge. Navigating the healing journey requires a good awareness of our bodies and our needs in the moment and the ability to organise aspects of our lives that will keep our lifestyle steady during recovery. Sometimes making deep and lasting changes for life may not be as thrilling as the idea of it is - and here Alex offers some guidance on how to navigate the patience and excitement of making real change.

Alex talks to patient Paddy who at the time of this recording was in the late reintegration stage of the recovery process from ME/CFS. Paddy discusses the onset of his symptoms and what helped him most through working with The Optimum Health Clinic

The isolation of chronic illness can change and reset many of our relationships. The people and activities that used to make sense for our life no longer fit the same way. Alex discusses the importance of making a conscious effort to build new relationships that fit the context of our life during and after the intense experience recovery from ME CFS and/or fibromyalgia. (Nov 2018)