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‘It was like a slow death’
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| POSITIVE OUTLOOK: Daniel Sole, pictured with his basset hound Sydney, tried many different therapies in his search for an answer to ME |
After suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome for eight years Daniel Sole feared he would end up in a
wheelchair. Now he has learned to live again, he tells Lucy Richardson
WATCHING Daniel Sole
spring up from his chair,
it's hard to believe that
just two months ago he
was crawling to the bathroom
and couldn't stay awake for more
than three hours at a time.
His complexion used to be grey but
now his eyes sparkle and his has a tan
from all the walking he has been doing
recently with his beloved basset hound
Sydney.
He has just taken part in the Lightning
Process, a three-day training programme.
Participants learn how their
brain and body have become trapped by
damaging unconscious responses which
have blighted their health and stunted
their lives.
Elements of osteopathy, self hypnosis,
life coaching and neuro-linguistic programming
(NLP) are then taught to replace
the bad responses and to kick-start
the recovery process.
Daniel's physical and mental health
problems started about eight years ago
when his employer went bankrupt and
the relationship with his girlfriend
ended. He was diagnosed with depression
but now, looking back, he thinks
that the extreme tiredness he was feeling
was the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Just a year after starting a new job the
wave of exhaustion washed over him
again, but this time he was determined
to stay mentally strong. Doctors carried
out blood tests which revealed nothing
until, to Daniel's relief, a newly qualified
GP diagnosed his symptoms of extreme
tiredness, pain, poor vision and balance
as chronic fatigue syndrome or Myalgic
Encephalomyelitis (ME).
"I was off work for two months and
had been back for only two weeks before
going rapidly downhill again," he says.
"I had to use the lift as I couldn't walk up
the stairs and I had to steady myself on
the wall. I would sweat immensely, I lost
a lot of weight and my skin colour was
grey.
"I heard third-hand that people
thought I was lazy. I lost touch with some
friends and I had to end relationships,
which affected me badly. I had no social
life as I was unreliable: often I couldn't
go out after arrangements had been
made."
Daniel, from Elmtree in Stockton-on-
Tees, returned to his job in clinical governance
at Hartlepool Primary Care
Trust for three years until his health
plummeted again nine months ago.
"I could feel the pains in my legs getting
really bad and I was sweating badly.
I knew it was back," he says. "My employers
were very supportive and I was
signed off for four weeks. The doctor did
more tests but all he could do was cancel
out other things, my liver and kidneys
were working fine."
"I tried to keep myself mentally
strong, but I did allow myself to have a
few tears because inside I was disintegrating.
I could not stay awake for more
than two or three hours at a time. I worried
about how I was going to pay the
mortgage and I considered
moving back in
with my parents.
"Sometimes I had to
crawl to the bathroom
and I had my hair cut
really short so I could
wash it with one hand
and use the other to
support myself.
"I felt guilty that I
couldn't take my dog,
Sydney, out for long
walks but he was a big
reason for me to keep
going. At the back of
my mind I always knew
that I was going to beat it."
Daniel, 35, tried different therapies including
acupuncture, gradual exercise
and even consulted white witches before
seeing a feature on BBC Look North last
year about the Lightning Process, an international
programme which claimed
to help people suffering from ME. When
he signed up for the three-day course in
March, he was at rock bottom.
"It was definitely a last resort. I would
have jumped through fire, I was so desperate.
I knew that I could not go back
to work in the state I was in," he says. "I
was getting worse and knew that I might
lose my job, my house
and my mobility.
There was a strong
chance I could end up
in a wheelchair. My
body was shutting
down, it was like a
slow death."
Taking part on the
Lightning Process in
Darlington with
Daniel was a 39-yearold
woman had also
suffered with ME for
several years and a
lady in her late 60s
who had been house
bound for 12 years.
"At the end of the third day I came
home and did lots of housework, went
shopping and dug the garden," says
Daniel. "Things have gone from better to
brilliant. I am know looking forward to
taking my four-year-old nephew, Joseph,
camping because I could not play with
him before and that was soul-destroying.
"I am going back to work, playing golf,
taking the dog out for lots of walks and
I might even meet a nice girl. I did not
have a real life for eight or nine years,
but I now have so much to look forward
to."
Sarah Marshall taught Daniel's Lighting
Process at her Raincastles clinic on
Duke Street in Darlington. She had ME
for six years before going on the course
and then training as a Lightning Process
practitioner.
"The body and mind powerfully influence
each other. People end up ill for
many different reasons but we look at
what keeps them stuck in an illness .
stress, the adrenaline cycle and the unconscious
responses they are having,"
she says. "If the philosophy of the Lightning
Process makes sense to the person,
they will be more willing to put in the
work.
"They also must be open-minded as it
can challenge their beliefs. We teach people
the tools for them to regain their
health. It is very empowering. I do not believe
that ME is in the mind, however. It
is a very real physical illness."
* Sarah Marshall is on 01325-468587
or log onto www.raincastles.co.uk
12:21pm Friday 9th May 2008
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