Customer Reviews

Recovery from CFS: 50 Personal Stories

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Our 20 year old daughter has had chronic fatigue syndrome for over four years and we have tried treatment programs on offer by medical practitioners and a number of alternative therapists without any real success to date. A couple of months ago, I came across Alexandra Barton's book and found it to be very well written, easy to read and full of fresh ideas in terms of what other people have done to get on top of CFS. In addition, after reading the book I had a number of questions relating to our daughter that I emailed through to the author, and she very kindly got back to me with some more helpful information that we plan to use. Thank you Alexandra for putting this wonderful resource together and for being so committed to helping other people with CFS. Graeme Knight, Perth, Western Australia

I highly recommend this book for anyone suffering with CFS/ME or has a loved who is. I related with nearly all the stories in the book -even felt some could just as well been written by me. It is filled with all kinds of practical help but, more importantly, it is filled with hope. The causes of this illness and the path to recovery can be quite varied. The reader will, however, find many common threads among the 50 stories in this book. On the really difficult days when hope and energy would ebb and frustration and despair flow, I could curl up in my bed, open this book and feel the rejuvenating power of relating to others who had successfully navigated out of the clutches of what can sometimes seem to be an implacable and elusive affliction. I have made some very tangible progress towards my health in the last 6 months and consider reading this book to be a key turning point. I have complete confidence that I will soon be able to contribute my own story to what I hope will be another addition to this wonderful book.

Alexandra Barton, who has herself recovered from ME, realised just how important it is for people living with ME to realise that there is a way out. Too often people with ME are told there is no cure, so to be able to read not just 1 recovery story, but 50, and all in each individual's own words, provides hope and inspiration to those who desperately need it.

Well done Alexandra for providing an invaluable book, which not only contains the recovery stories themselves, but also includes a number of resources for ME sufferers to choose from to help them in their own recovery from ME.

I read this book during a particularly brutal relapse. It not only immediately lifted my spirits but gave me great insight into treatments and strategies for recovery. I saw myself in many of the stories in the book and seeing that they got better gave me even more of a boost. I now return to the book whenever I need a pick-up or tip. In short, this book is a MUST for those with the syndrome and maybe more importantly for those who love them.

While I love the premise of this book, publishing stories of people who recovered from CFS and how they did it, please be aware that this book was published in the UK where they use the very lax Oxford definition of CFS. This means that some of the patients in this book, while diagnosed by their UK GPs with CFS, really suffered from fatigue due to other causes such as vitamin deficiency or depression rather than true CFS as defined by the CDC (Fukuda definition) or the stringent Candian definition. As long as you realize this you can weed out the true CFS recovery stories from the fatigue stories. Also some of the recovery methods used by the patients are very controversial. That said I did enjoy reading the book and it made me realize how very important having a good definition of the illness is crutial to research into this devastating illness.

This book is incredible in it's use to encourage those suffering with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Though each person's story is different, they all uplift and inspire a person affected with this illness that there is HOPE!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!!!

There are some very inspiring stories in this book. As someone who is learning about ME, it has given me a lot of hope and confidence that if the right steps are taken, recovery is possible. I congratulate Alexandra for her efforts in putting this book together and for her own recovery. After a first read, I did not see how I could benefit from this book. However, I picked and chose stories that had relevance to my own case, and have found a lot of useful suggestions. Each person has given a list of websites, books and contacts that might be helpful. This way, a reader can come to their own conclusion. I really appreciate all the advice given, especially to never push oneself to exhaustion. I found that to be more important than anything else.
A truly valuable guide to anyone who has ME. And, a lot of hope for recovery.

I don't write books reviews, most of the times because other reviewers has previously said in other words or in a different way what I think of the books.
But in this case I felt really moved to do it, first of all because if, you know or if you suffer for such condition...then this book is a candle in the dark.
I won't bore you with my own story, but I have been trough terrible times, caused by this Syndrome and by the doctors/professionals indifference or apathy.
I'm MUCH better now thanks to following my survival instincts and my own inner healing process (herbs, changing resting and eating habits, etc) and although I just discover this book recently, much of the things I have done on my own are mentioned trough the different chapters in the book.

This is a fantastic book if you are related in any way with CFS either trough a relative of someone who suffers, a professional in the health area that may be exposed to persons with CFS/ME or if yourself are a person who suffers from this cause, if that's the case I can't recommend this book highly enough.

As a final words, let me said that if someone has to explain what it's like or how it feels to live with the condition, just read the chapter "The Elephant and M.E" it's fantastic from start to finish!

Muchas Gracias, Carlos!

I wrote one of the success stories in this book, but receive no profits from its sale, nor was I paid to write my chapter.

Recovery From CFS is an amazing collection of stories that offers readers Hope with a capital H. I highly recommend the book for anyone who suffers from CFS/ME (now known as CFIDS in the US) and all those who love him/her.

There is no magic bullet cure to overcome CFIDS, and everyone who has had it knows what it is to refer to those "Dark Days, when there seemed to be no hope at all. This book includes a multitude of individual strategies to heal and recover -- and truly become "better than new", because of the hardwon lessons learned along the way.

It would be so wonderful if more people knew about this life-changing book. Anybody know Oprah??

Five-star, all the way...

My recovery story appears in this book, but I am not the author and I don't make any money from it.

If you buy one book about CFS, make sure you buy this one, as it will be the most useful book in helping you to recover. Too many patients believe that it is impossible to recover from CFS, and that all to often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This book shows that people can and do recover, and if you read their stories it will give you not only hope but also advice as to what worked for different people to help them in their recovery.

The stories are written by the recovered patients in their own words, presumably with some minor editing, and they are well written and easy to read.