From Fatigued to Fantastic by Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D.

Almost ten years ago, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known in the UK as ME.  I've journeyed a long road to get to a place where I can manage my energy levels well, but I've been meaning to read this book for probably five or six years at least.  If you have CFS (or Fibromyalgia, or Lyme disease), or you think you may have it, this is an absolutely excellent resource to skip a lot of the pain, difficulty, expense, and heartache I went through discovering how to live well with something that is debilitating to so many.  I thank God regularly that I can live not just a 'normal life', but better than normal: I can genuinely say that if not for this illness, I would never have been able to do what I have in life.  That's because, until you're faced with the fact that your energy supplies are limited (on a daily basis), you tend to fling them around indiscriminately, knowing that after a rest, or a nap, or a good night's sleep, or a holiday, your energy stores will be replenished, and you can deplete them to your pleasure again.

CFS doesn't work like that.  The best way I can think to describe it is that before you get this illness, you view your energy stores as I've just described - like a great storehouse that depletes on a daily basis, but is always renewed.  After getting CFS, I came to realise that my storehouse was cut in half at one fell stroke, and would very likely in this life never rise to its full height again.  My experience is not everyone's - some are brought down much further than I ever was, and others have risen to higher energy levels than they ever had before.  But one thing among many that I have gained is the knowledge that energy is an extremely valuable, and not very renewable, resource in my life.  It is precious, and should be held and used and poured out with great care.

[Before I go on, I'd like to add that I am very, very cautious about 'encouraging' people that they have, or could have, CFS.  It is a diagnosis of exclusion, because there is no test that can be done to determine it, and I would strongly recommend some very simple steps to be taken for at least six months or a year before seeking to diagnose fatigue or weariness as CFS.  This is not to diminish the illness in any way - it's because I have experienced many, many well-meaning people who are tired or exhausted in their lives and they immediately jump to wondering if they have this illness, instead of doing some incredibly simple things like managing their nutrition well, sleeping 8-9 hours a night, drinking water like a camel, working less, exercising more, and taking basic vitamins.]  

For a 'medical tome', which this book primarily is, it reads very well.  The author has great turns of phrases that help you truly see how the body works - things like "M antibodies are like your body's storm troopers" and "caffeine is a loan shark for energy".  And even some hilarious statements that make you realise that he really does know how you feel (the author, a medical doctor, contracted CFS himself): "Some physicians still like to say that vitamins are excreted in your urine, so all you're doing by taking vitamin supplements is making expensive urine. Using this line of reasoning, these cynics can stop drinking water (it just goes out in their urine). That way, they'll soon stop annoying people who are in the process of getting themselves well."  I actually laughed aloud reading this - I could tell how frustrated he gets with physicians who don't understand - or don't try to understand - this illness, and the many things that can be done to improve it.  He even says, "I apologise for the medical profession's calling you crazy just because we cannot determine the cause of your problem. It is inappropriate and cruel."

The bulk of the book is spent discussing the four key areas that should be addressed for anyone with this kind of illness - sleep, hormones, infection, and nutrition.  I particularly found the sections on sleep and nutrition the most beneficial (and the most encouraging, since I was doing most of what he suggested, and because there are so many herbal/natural remedies as opposed to medical/prescriptive ones).  It reminded me of some basics I've fallen away from - like removing white bread, white rice, and sugar from my diet.  (Or, if you do have these, preparing yourself for the consequences.)  It also helped me understand in a new way why I was doing what I've been doing for so long - why D-Ribose is so effective for rebuilding energy, why margarine is so much worse than butter and what it does to your cell membranes, how extra Vitamin C protects the body from infection, and how much of an impact the lack of sleep can have in gaining extra weight.

It was nice, too, to have a short chapter on why you're not crazy, why most people who get CFS are "mega-type-A overachievers" (yes, me), and how that affects not only your contracting this illness, but prolonging it.  I remember when I first was diagnosed, and I made every effort to change things in my life, and after about 6 months I genuinely felt all my energy come back. I was thrilled - but instead of being wise and continuing on the path, I left it completely and began flinging it around immoderately again. I was the Prodigal Energy User, and it took me a long time to come broken and depleted back to the beginning, with a lot of sorrow for what was lost. 

I don't have any sorrow relating to this illness anymore.  Oh, maybe once in a while, on a bad day, or when I have to say no to something that it seems like 'everyone else' gets to do - but overall, if you asked me what I thought, I'd be thankful for it more than almost anything else in my life the Lord has chosen to give me.  It set me right when it comes to my energy - and that is a very valuable and precious resource.