Recovery Stories: Kevin Singleton

Hi Helen things just go from strength to strength, now back running and to counteract the fitness back drinking alcohol.

It's hard to pin point when the ME started, I had a couple of chest infections and just felt it was taking longer than normal to recover. Up until the chest infections I was running 3 times a week and going spinning every Wednesday. Although couldn't really describe as more than jogging I could run over our local hills and dales without much problem living in the Pendle area its hard to go anywhere without climbing a hill. The chest infections left me feeling very tired and with no energy. This went on for a couple of months so I went back to the doctors who told me I had developed asthma, he gave me an inhaler and left it at that. The inhalers did not make much difference. (May I point out that I do have a good GP).So I went back to my GP by this time things had got worse, I was aching in my limbs particular the legs and was having to go to bed in the afternoons, I became so tired I had to  have time off work. The sleep I was having was not refreshing, I was then refereed on to see a chest specialist he was amazed at how good my lungs where / are, I have never smoked, worked outside all my working life and have a healthy life style. Further tests had to be carried out, I had ECG's, allergy tests, thyroid tests, blood sample after blood sample was taken, and these all came back showing no signs of illness. In between my wife Carole works for a GP practice different from my own. One of the Doctors asked how I was; she explained that I was feeling worse. He went home and did some research, the following day he came back with a wedge of papers from the internet re CFS / ME. Having read the info it was looking like that I did have ME. So armed with this info I went to see my doctor who sent me to see a consultant who listened to what I had to say, basically they know ME exists but cannot treat it. They referred me to the ME clinic, this was sometime in 2008 and I am still awaiting the appointment.

As you can imagine I was feeling pretty crap all round,  I had developed copping strategies, going to bed 10.30 every night, sleeping for a couple of hours every Sat / Sun. The aching was now moving into my arms as well as my legs I was taking pain killers to get through work. Work has been brilliant from day one. I had been back to the doctors re taking pain killers; he suggested I tried a mild dose of anti depressants. At this point the future looked crap. Then one Friday Carole had taken my youngest daughter to the hairdressers whilst there she had read in a magazine that Austin Healy's wife and Esther Rantzen's daughter had been cured of ME. Carole being Carole ripped the article out of the mag. I immediately Googled the Lightning Process, it was clear that there had been success stories, we both felt it was worth a go.

So I contacted Helen James Lightning process Practitioner, I filled in an on line questionnaire, spoke to Helen and made an appointment to go along to the next clinic. The course lasted three days. To say it was life changing does not give it credit. Without revealing why and how it works, I CAN ONLY SAY IT WORKED FOR ME .After we had finished on the first day I ditched Radio Four, put on some Northern Soul and sang along with Curtis Mayfield; Movin on up, then decided its no good driving and getting angry at folk, so I chilled. Then when I got home did a bit of gardening and had a beer, then ditched all the moaning non happy songs on my ipod.

The next day was the same whacked on Take That greatest hits and sang along as I was going to the meeting, came home went for a walk, by now I was feeling a lot better, still aching a bit but ditched the pain killers and some stomach tablets due to heart burn. Not touched them since.

By Friday felt even better, came home and packed for Majorca a pre planned holiday, the next day we was up at 2:30 did the lightning process and wondered how people can stress so much going on holidays, beware airports full of stress heads. Over the week I managed to climb a mountain, go on a three hour bike ride stop up later than 10.30 and drank a few scoops of beer. On returning home decided that there was nothing to stop me starting running again and so that was it old trainers back on and hitting the highways and byways of Pendle, it gave me such a buzz. I am feeling better all the time, things back to normal possibly better than before.

Life's better for everyone, Carole and Hannah have even got shut of my Mr Grumpy cup, and replaced it with a Burnley football club beaker. What you do realise is that you can soon get trapped in a stress trap and how many people go there. All my previous aches and pains have been replaced with the aches and pains of trying to get reasonably fit again but that a month ago would have been out of the question. Thanks go to Helen and the rest of the people on the training course at times very emotional but in the end worth every tear. Love Life 

Kevin