Louise's Recovery Journey

“I had 8 years of pain, fatigue and neurological and cardiac symptoms which were diagnosed by various doctors (including neurologists and cardiologists) as ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, chronic vestibular migraine and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). At my worst I was in bed for months on end, could not sit up without fainting and could not lift a fork to eat or reach forward to pet the cat. I couldn’t tolerate light, sound, or the movement of other people in the room. At my best and after spells of being primarily bedbound I could leave the house once a week using a wheelchair (but would then suffer the consequences of increased symptoms/payback for days or weeks afterwards).

After my recovery I enjoyed wild swimming, mountain climbing and mountain biking, trained in mindfulness and with SIRPA, began private practice and enjoyed all my hobbies again (as far as I could during a lockdown!)  That was until I had a mountain bike crash in Oct 2021. I broke my back in four places, broke and displaced my collar bone and was then in a back brace for several months. 5 months after I broke it, I had surgery on my collar bone and it was fixed with a plate. I was told I would have chronic back pain forever but have used the same understanding and strategies to prevent and treat this. I am now back to wild swimming and walking, although still building up to a mountain hike. I got back on my bike last week  :)  I also enjoy more sedate hobbies like sitting quietly, painting in the landscape, playing musical instruments and writing.

Join people who have found relief through the SIRPA approach to chronic pain.