Back again

Hello again

It's been quite a while since my last blog post. I've not been well for a while, picking up one thing after another which has also increased my fatigue so writing a blog post has unfortunately felt like too much effort.

Although I'm not feeling back to normal, I am currently off sick, giving me a chance to write a short post.

I just wanted to let you all know that I have officially been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome by the Tropical and Infectious Diseases clinic - I'm not entirely sure why I was at this clinic for fatigue but never mind, it has led to me being referred to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Therapy Service.

According to the literature I will be invited to attend a CFS group information session run by the CFS Therapy team. The Therapy team consists of health professionals that include a clinical nurse specialist, occupational therapists and clinical psychologists.

The group will be 90 minutes long and aims to provide users with an understanding of the causes of the symptoms, learning how to manage to condition in a more helpful way and how to stop further deterioration. We will be informed about the approaches used by the CFS Therapy service which include pacing, graded activity and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

After this initial group session, it is up to each individual to decide whether or not we feel we need further input from the therapy team. You can then attend on a regular basis for one to one sessions, though unfortunately only a maximum of 12 sessions can taken as long term therapy isn't available within this service.

I'm really hoping this will be the first step towards feeling much better and with the help of my lovely boyfriend James I know we'll make it through to the other side.