Recovery Stories: Joanna's ME recovery story

 

"Hello all! To those of you who don't know me I'm Joanna, 26, from Kegworth. I'd had ME for 7 years following a very vicious flu attack and numerous bouts of tonsillitis, before I heard of Phil Parker and the Lightning Process and got well.

I first became ill in 1999. My story is much the same as everyone else's - became ill, dismissed by doctors until all tests confirmed I had nothing wrong with me so it must be ME. I read all the books, paced myself and took things easy when I needed to. Every alternative treatment was investigated, tablets taken, tinctures swallowed, body massaged and manipulated, but I still had ME. I managed to get myself well enough to go to Uni, but it took me 5 years to do a 3-year degree, and I didn't get the award I could have done if I was well. Then, after graduation, I crashed totally. I had been about 70% on the ME scale, but fell to 25-35%. The last 18 months have been hell - lots of pain, total exhaustion and no life. Then I read about the Lightning Process on a forum and decided to give it a go. A trip to London would take everything out of me, but I'd tried everything else and if it got me 20% better it would be worth it. You could say that I was cautiously optimistic about the treatment, but very sceptical and in need of convincing!

So on January 3rd 06, Mum and I headed down to London. We stayed in a B B in Crouch End, quite close to the clinic, and my wheelychair was with us too. Little did I realise as we went down the road for tea the night before the first session that it would be the last time I'd use it!

The first session

The first session was 2 hours long and I was really surprised that I managed well with. I found it hard to concentrate on the Neighbours storyline, so concentrating for this length of time was incredible! Phil explained everything in an upbeat, energetic manner (with very down-to-earth language!!) and when he could see that I was starting to flag he asked if I wanted a break. We stopped for some water, but he quickly revived me with going into what to do and how to do it. It was amazing how energised I started to feel as the session wore on.

How you get ME.

He explained the following: When you become ill your body produces adrenaline as part of the stress response cycle. This is normal. One of the natural effects of adrenaline is to suppress your immune system, so if these levels are high enough some of us become more ill, the stress of which increases our adrenaline levels further spiralling you into ME. . This is normal. This adrenaline can then knock your immune system, so some of us become more ill, which increases adrenaline levels spiralling you into ME.

Imagine you're a cave man. You have a cut on your leg. You see a tiger in front of you. Your adrenaline kicks in for a fight or flight response to save you. What it stops doing, at this time, is healing your leg. That can wait because healing at this point in time would be a waste of you valuable resources which are better used to help you escape from the tiger first and heal later.

With ME our adrenaline levels are so all over the place that we can't heal and get over our initial illness.

The Lightning Process is a way of working through a variety of stages to decrease the adrenaline levels and ultimately give you a life you love.

We don't want to feel pain or tiredness, but every few minutes we are thinking, mostly unconsciously, "What hurts?" "Am I tired?". We probably do this over 300-5000 times a day . Each time we run these mental processes we are strengthening and reaffirming neural pathways in our brains.

How the Lightning Process helps

By running the Lightning Process you can create new neural pathways and nerve routes so that adrenaline levels go down, the immune system, muscular-neuro-transmitters, thyroid and blood sugar levels and everything else that is upset in us rectifies itself, thereby ridding you of ME. This works on the theory that ME is basically a self maintaining adrenaline overdrive cycle which in turn causes immune system dysfunction, poor digestion, poor thyroid function, poor control of blood sugar and so on.

These are the things that create all of our symptoms. By getting rid of these you no longer have ME.

We were instructed on how to apply mental principles to aid our recovery from ME. He taught us a process to work through whenever we felt something negative (at least once every 5 minutes to begin with) and he said that everyone who had applied the process correctly and consistently had found a way to recover (without relapse) from M.E.

As he was just talking and teaching us we knew that there was no way he could cure us by doing that, we had to put in the work to get ourselves well."

After the first session

After that first session we returned to the B B. I realised that I needed a drink, so I darted through the traffic to cross the road and bought a bottle of water. I then went up the stairs to our room and then stopped. I just realised what I had done. Without pausing, pain or tiredness! That night we went out for tea and I walked about 500m to a restaurant. Just 1 day before I struggled with 50m!

After the second session

The second session the following day was just 1 hour long. We went through some of my problem areas - like pain, and what to do when .... scenarios. After that session we went shopping to Brent Cross - for 1 1/4 hours! On my feet! It was amazing - my feet were hurting, but I realised that I'd not really used them for years so it wasn't too surprising! We went to visit a friend in London that night and again I walked a good distance. I also climbed the stairs to her 3rd floor flat with no problems. It was feeling like the old Jo was back. On the way home after the third session I started to get a headache. I ran through the process and controlled it and it went. This was really odd - how could a mental approach effect the body like that? I don't pretend to understand all the mechanisms involved, but I know that it has worked for me.

Last December I tried to return something to Asda. I got part way and ended up sitting on the floor. I had walked 50 yards and was that exhausted and in pain that I just collapsed."

 

A month on

"I have now just returned from a week's holiday to Tenerife where I swam for ages in the sea, walked miles everyday, climbed up nettings, slid down fireman's poles and crossed rope bridges on an assault course and had a fantastic, wheelchair free, health-full time. I even drove in Tenerife, in a left hand drive car, on the left side of the road! I did it fine and was really proud of myself!

It has really helped my sleep too and it is now deeper and I feel refreshed in the mornings. Also if I am anxious about something I stop it before the worry is really there. Then I use the process to find my way out of a negative thought process and change it to a positive outlook and plan. I have always been terrified of flying, but I enjoyed the flights to and from my holiday - I didn't even mind take off, landing and turbulence which used to scare me silly!

The Process has only been used to treat ME very recently. At first Phil just used it to help people with self-esteem issues, lack of confidence etc, then he found that he could help people with physical problems, like recurrent neck/back problems. He also helped people with asthma. Then He decided to try it out on a colleague who'd had m.e for some years. And much to both of their surprise it worked. They tried a couple of other people they knew with ME and got the same positive outcome. He has only treated less than 500 people so far, but there is a wonderful success rate for those who have learnt and use the process. He has also used it with pop stars, sports people, businessmen, even a guy who turned over millions each day on the stock market! It helps with everything really. I now have strategies I can use for all those job interviews I'm going to go for!!

Is it true?

For anyone you reading this who think "well, she couldn't have had ME in the first place" (you'd be amazing how many people have said this to me), well I had it confirmed by my GP (who's just astounded by my recovery!), 2 hospital specialists and Raymond Perrin who used me in his PhD research and I was a perfect specimen of ME on the scans.

Is it in the mind?

And for any of you thinking that I'm saying ME is all in the mind - I'm not. It is all in the brain. The huge majority of us have had masses of tests which all came back saying that we were 'normal' and 'healthy' when it was obvious that we weren't. Maybe it is that our brains are sending the wrong messages around, hormone levels are haywire and that we are stuck in a vicious cycle we are not even aware of.

If you can walk over white-hot coals and the skin on your feet doesn't burn, maybe we can use the power of the mind to overcome our illness. I know that I have."

Joanna Feb 2006

 

Her mum Jean adds:

"When Joanna told me about the Lightning Process I was at first sceptical, and then cautiously optimistic. Like many people Jo was reluctant to try this as she felt it was effectively saying that ME is a psychological illness.

However when she heard of the success of the Lightning Process through fellow sufferers she was prepared to give it a go.

Having a daughter with ME for 6 1/2 years I have been though the whole range of theories about the condition. It has long been my belief that it is a physical illness but with a psychological component - as are many conditions. For some of the time while Jo was at University she was able to manage her symptoms to such an extent that she was able to study and complete her degree - although that resulting award was not at he level that the pre-ME Jo would have achieved. After finishing her studies Jo's health declined rapidly and for the last 18 months she has been virtually housebound.

We knew through reading the website that this was a process which would involve a change in behaviour to bring about a change in her symptoms.

When she had her first session with Phil I was pleased that I was allowed to be present as it would have been hard to Jo to remember it all and she could not have fully explained it to me.

Phil explained the theory behind the process, discussed previous successes and then demonstrated it using Jo and two other girls who also had ME. He stressed that this was not a treatment but rather a way of recognising, managing, diminishing and then eradicating the symptoms of the condition. The whole process would only be successful if the girls were prepared to work hard at it and use it as often as necessary - perhaps hundreds of times a day if required.

The process appeared to me to be a logical one. Within hours I could see an improvement in Jo's symptom control. I could also see that it was hard for her and she had to concentrate a great deal.

After months of being unable to walk more than 50 yards or so she felt able to walk around part of a shopping centre and the next day she walked up to a second floor flat and then approximately 500 yards to a restaurant.

I am not saying that this was easy for her. She had to apply the process frequently and one occasions she was unable to complete it and so she had to stop and start again. It is also obvious too that after months of not using her legs and feet very much she is bound to feel muscle pain and tiredness but she is able to cope with this.

We, as a family, are all so pleased with the results of the Lightning Process and it is great to see the old Jo returning to us. I know she will continue to apply the process as she has seen the vast improvement it has made and I know she is talking about it to fellow sufferers."

Jean Hayes