Recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The creator of the self-help program describes the strategies he used to restore his life.

1: Self-Help as a Treatment for CFS
Bruce Campbell used lifestyle change to produce a steady improvement in quality of life and eventually recovery.

2: Pacing Strategies
An account of how to replace living on a roller coaster with gaining control over symptoms and bringing stability to life.

3: My Secret Weapon: Pre-Emptive Rest
Preventing symptoms and bringing predictability to life through daily, scheduled rests. 

4: Controlling Relapses
Techniques for reducing the severity and frequency of relapses.

5: Everyone is Different: The Role of Individual Circumstances in CFS and FM
Every person's experience of illness is unique. Here's an example to show you how to identify the important factors in your situation.

6: Is Recovery a Realistic Goal?
How Bruce answered that question for himself.

7: Rebuilding Life in the Face of Loss
How Bruce moved through denial to acceptance and finally to new meaning and a new life.

8: Gaining Control by Understanding My Envelope
Bruce describes how a developing a detailed understanding his limits enabled him to control his symptoms and eventually expand his limits.

9: My Life as a "CFS Scientist": Using Records to Gain Control
How a few minutes of daily record keeping paid big dividends.

10: Experiments with Exercise
Understanding CFS by reflecting on experiences with exercise.

11: Smoothing the Emotional Roller Coaster
Taming the feelings triggered by CFS.

12: Three Forms of Support
Support comes in many forms.

Permission is granted to re-publish or re-post this material as long as the use is non-commercial (e.g. support group newsletter), the article is used in its entirety and the source is credited as CFIDS/Fibromyalgia Self-Help: www.cfidsselfhelp.org/