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My Story

You are visiting Barbara Feick Gregory's Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Site   

I had it back in 2002. I wasn't diagnosed officially, but I didn't sleep for about 2 years. Was exhausted and mainly laid in bed at night in a kind of daydream state and checked the clock periodically and was very tired in the morning. One tax season I had to prop myself up at the computer; I was too tired to sit up without support. I had a low body temperature and was freezing all the time. When I went to bed at night, I wore a T-shirt under the flannel pajamas, fuzzy socks that I tucked the pajama legs into, I wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket, and then I crawled into bed. If I exercised... on Monday I could do 10 pushups; by Friday I could only do 2 if any.

I watched a special on TV about it with my husband. Even though he watched the show that explained that it was a real illness and all the symptoms matched mine, he did not believe it was a real illness. "If you are tired, go to bed, sleep, and then get up. Drink a cup of coffee! Hell, I'm tired!"

I tried eating right, exercising, resting, and I read alot to try to figure out what to do. This website was a result of the research I did on it. I had to do something. Reading and studying feels like doing.

I'm cured. I got treatment from a local Sandusky chiropractor David Bodi. I remember my first appointment. He took my temperature by mouth. He looked at the thermometer and decided something was wrong with the reading. So he put a new slip on it and did again. Still wasn't right. So he put a new slip on it again and gave it to me and told me to take my temperature. It was 96.- something degrees. He treated me for a massive yeast overgrowth and worked to balance my body by using large amounts of homeopathic remedies for several months. I saw him frequently. I highly recommend him. If you were to read and study about the remedies he used, the research behind them is flawed according to my niece the doctor... so they won't work... except they did. With the current websites about acid/alkaline balance and using baking soda to alkalize the body, I think that was a major part of my cure.

Being cured doesn't put things back to normal. I am still working on getting back into good physical condition. In August, 2007. I had a severe bout of cystitis and got treated with an antibiotic which killed off my intestinal bacteria and the fatigue was back. I took probiotics and saw an alternative M.D. It is October 2008. There was no recurrence of the chronic fatigue.

How did I get sick in the first place? I believe in my case it was from being a sugar junkie for most of my life. Sugar depresses the immune system and upsets the body chemistry allowing yeast to grow. The good bacteria can't keep the yeast in check. I was tired alot long before I got full-blown CFS. I used sugar to boost my energy.

There were emotional factors, too. I am now divorced, sold our house, moved to Columbus, Ohio to be close to my daughters and found a new job and a new life. More than anything, moving was part of the cure.

Right after I became better, I tried putting together a support group. I don't recommend support groups if you want to get well. Many people who have CFS will be sick for a long time because they are victims and are unwilling to look outside the mainstream to get well. There are many doctors who have gotten CFS and had to look outside allopathic medicine to get well. This is one illness that the standard drug therapy does not help and may make things worse.

Update: October 2008 - I am still studying health. I am probably healthier than 80% of the people I graduated high school with.... I have decided from all my studies that you must address the emotional factors if you want to get well. The suppressed anger, fear, hate, etc. etc. The cure for you probably will not come from visiting your MD. It will come from you deciding that you are going to do what it takes to get well and you will do it yourself. Follow the diet recommended by the Weston Price Foundation, learn EFT (emotional freedom technique), and alkaline your body. As tired as you are you must make the lifestyle changes to get out of whatever emotional setting landed you in this state of hyper-fatigue.

I welcome any questions you may have. Just drop me an email.

                                                                            Barbara Feick Gregory