Recovery Stories: Sarah Moynihan

If I am honest I was driven to do the Lightning Process by desperation.

I had had M.E for around five years following chicken pox and the death of my father. I had had a career as a art teacher at a high school which I found extremely stressful and contributed to the onset of the illness. I was advised to give this up by the M.E specialist.

From the time of my diagnosis I tried various treatments to help me get better: herbal medicine, acupuncture and hypnosis, and while hypnosis helped me improve my condition it didn't last. A year before I went on the "Lightning Process" course I went on the graded exercise programme at Liverpool University. I did everything I was supposed to but I never managed to get completely better. Sometimes I felt I was 90% better and then it dropped to 70%. In fact the more I tried to get physically fitter the more tired I felt afterwards or the next day. My body didn't feel like it was responding normally. I was told by the specialists that M.E was a sleep disorder and that our adrenaline levels were raised due to the disruption of the body clock and that the graded exercise along with other things would work, but in my experience it didn't.

I attended Helen James's Lightning Process seminar in Bury Manchester and after I completed the Lightning Process Course I found I could do my exercise routine that I had been struggling with easily. My strength was the same, but I had loads more stamina. The next day I didn't have any of the usual after effects of exercise.

I could do lots more everyday things without becoming tired. I like to paint and draw and I could concentrate for longer periods. My memory is better. Most importantly I feel normal. Its a hard feeling to describe, but one which I had longed for years. Now, a good nights sleep is the norm. I have dug my vegetable patch that I have wanted to do for years. I am walking my dogs for longer and longer distances and my goal is to do a sponsored walk for the Humane Research Trust in the summer. I am happier and calmer now than I have ever been before. I know that I will not suffer from depression again. I have to tools to choose a different direction.

Sarah Moynihan, Lancashire