HOW I OVERCAME CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME It was the year 2000. I was living in South Florida and my life was filled with stress. I was married to a man I was not in love with, living in a home we couldn’t afford to pay for, my grandmother had just passed away, I suffered a miscarriage, following which my cat did too and had to be hospitalized. Life was overwhelming for me and I had no idea how I was going to financially or emotionally overcome my difficulties. My husband was of little help. He had a low-paying job and although he tried to console me, I became withdrawn and extremely depressed. In addition, I underwent eye surgery for strabismus and developed a lump in my throat, which the doctors believed was cancerous. The lump was removed and found to be benign. I couldn’t cope with my circumstances and began drinking and driving. Three weeks following my first drinking and driving experience, I had an accident in which my right side-view mirror clipped a woman standing on the sidewalk. I was arrested for reckless driving and driving under the influence and spent the night in jail. I was sentenced to a year of probation and my insurance payments shot through the roof. I was anxious and exhausted. This was the beginning of what I would later come to know as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. One morning in 2001, following these events, I awoke feeling very ill. My throat hurt terribly, my body ached all over, I had a fever and could barely move from the bed to the couch. I assumed I had the flu and that I would recover in a short amount of time. What was unknown to me at the time was that I was to suffer this fate for the next 4 years. Doctors didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was tested for mononucleosis and the test came back positive. I was relieved for a time, thinking that maybe I would be sick for a couple of months, but that ultimately I’d recover completely. This was only the beginning of the nightmare. I didn’t recover in a couple of months. A different doctor then tested me for chronic fatigue
syndrome and fibromyalgia. I had it and it had me! This flu-like feeling was with me all the time along bodily aches and pains, brain fog and severe anxiety. The doctor who tested me told me there was no cure for it, but that I should try to walk short distances if I could and that ultimately reducing stress would help. I couldn’t even get from my bed to the couch without moaning in pain-forget about walking short distances! I tried everything I could to get well. I even attended a treatment program where three times a week the doctor shoved long cotton swabs treated with liquid cocaine up my nose in an attempt to relieve the bodily aches and pains. I called myself and the other women in this treatment program “the walrus women.” Nothing I did helped me. In my weakened state, a few months later, I decided to do a Tony Robbins workshop with my mother. There we learned about alkaline vs. acid conditions in the body and how too much acid can contribute to illnesses of various kinds. I began to change everything about the way I ate. I used a super foods green powder, I ate salads with every meal, I ate tons of leafy greens, I cut out meat and poultry from my diet and ate only fish, I stopped eating any type of flour and sugar, cut out coffee, stopped smoking cigarettes and walked 4 miles a day. I began to research different types of diets and implemented whatever I could that I believed would help. I even changed my bedtime routine, from a late-nighter to getting into bed at 10 and waking up at 6am. Slowly things began to improve, but I realized that if I didn’t make some major life changes, I would remain ill forever. I sold all my valuables and moved with my husband to live with my uncle on Maui, Hawaii, where he found a better job and I found plenty of healthy foods and a new lifestyle. I ate mostly organically and began working with an intuitive health coach to reverse the chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia and stop taking psychotropic drugs for depression and anxiety. I took herbs and supplements and continued to eat an alkaline diet. I remained cigarette and caffeine-free. I knew deep down in my heart that I
would have to leave my husband if I were to fully recover. I decided in 2004 to divorce my husband and leave my uncle’s home on Maui. In the beginning of 2005, I found myself alone on the big island of Hawaii, living in a small shack in the mountains of a wonderfully supportive spiritual community. I spent a year not dating anyone to find out who I was without a man in my life and also to get clear on what I truly wanted in a relationship. I made further changes to my diet and even tried to become a raw foodist. I saw rather quickly that only eating raw food was not grounding enough for me. I went on a type of spiritual retreat, only leaving the grounds twice a week to buy food and cosmetic items. I refrained from conversing with people. I went within to try and find my connection to spirit. I did workshops in self-help and began working with a new coach to uncover what no longer worked for me in my life. I had been living for a year and a half on Hawaii Island. Suddenly, one day after doing a workshop in California, I returned to Hawaii and felt a strong calling to go back to Florida and live at my mother’s spare home. I was fully recovered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by this time and decided to leave the island. A month and a half later, after returning to South Florida, I met the man who is now my husband and true soul mate. We are best friends. I realized that my chronic fatigue had more to do with living an inauthentic life than anything else. I was lying to myself for years, not following what I knew in my heart to be true, remaining in a marriage for all the wrong reasons. It was only when I began to listen to my intuition within and follow it that I began to feel truly well. Of course, diet and exercise played a huge part in my recovery, but I later saw I could eat more acidic foods, drink coffee and even smoke cigarettes in moderation and still remain well. I decided to return to taking psychotropic medication because it helped me struggle less in my life. After meeting my love, I was happy and felt that I was no longer alone. I had a best friend who would remain by my side, one who I was truly and deeply in love with. I would say that it was true love that cured me, love for myself and for
another. I had previously never known a love like the one I found upon my return from Hawaii. I also believe living true to oneself reduces stress, which was the original cause of my illness. I can only recommend to you that you live in accordance with what you believe is right and good. If you are in a loveless relationship, take time away and spend some time on your own. Listen to your intuition, it is your inner guidance and will never lead you astray. Trust yourself and believe in yourself. You are a magnificent being who can accomplish anything you desire. Illness is only an outer manifestation of PAIN a message to Pay Attention INside-you are calling to your own self and being asked to listen deeply. What are you saying to yourself? What would make your heart sing? What do you truly desire for your life? These are all questions I asked myself following many years of being sick. I am now living a life which is pain-free, loving who I am and helping others improve their own lives. This was my dream and my life’s purpose. So if you are hurting inside, are ill, or need guidance, please contact me. I can help you. I have been where you are. I have seen the darkness, gone through it, and now see the light. May you be blessed on your journey to see it too.