I recently got an email from a PVFS sufferer who has been suffering symptoms for about 8 weeks. He was concerned because his doctor had given him no indication of how long PVFS can last.

He had previously led a very sporty lifestyle and wanted to know if his illness was something he was likely to overcome soon... or would it take more time?

His main concern was that he would never be able to play sport again and as a result of this he was feeling very depressed.

This was my reply:

Hi

So sorry to hear that you have PVFS. There's a section about recovery here.


If you have only had this for 8 weeks then, from what I have learned about the condition, I would say that your chances of completely recovering are good.

However, it is very easy to get worse with PVFS, especially if you don't know what you should and shouldn't do (I know this from experience - when I first developed PVFS I was none the wiser and unknowingly made myself a lot worse!).

So I would say, try to make it your priority to:

- rest as much as possible - slow your lifestyle down if need be;
- sleep when you need to sleep;
- pace yourself;
- minimise your stress levels (important);
- eat healthily (a CFS diet is the best), and juice as much as possible (you'd obviously need a juicer for that);
- cut out ALL caffeine including fizzy pop;
- reduce your amount of sugar intake;
- and perhaps most importantly, focus on remaining positive and hopeful, because it's extremely difficult to recover from any chronic illness when you are depressed.

Regarding the last priority, I recommend you perhaps consider writing a gratitude journal (which personally helped me immensely when I myself was depressed when I first developed the condition), and has helped millions world wide. It's easy to do, takes up only a minute of your time each day, and it costs you no money.

Click here to find out more about gratitude journals!

And there is a full section on depression here!

I have also recommended and reviewed some supplements and items for PVFS/CFS that you might find useful, including a good book on CFS diet. You can access that page here!

Lastly, I find that support and friendship from those who know what you are going through is essential, particularly because this illness is not well understood by the community at large, and even much of the medical community. So please feel free to use our forum here!

All the best

Claire
Editor of sleepydust.net