I have exciting news, the 6th book is out and ready for download on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com for just £1.90, this is the 6th and final book in the Forum Publishing range and not to be missed.

Sorry for the absence

Well where to start! Things have been very chaotic the last couple of months it started with my dad taking ill back in July and he passed away peacefully on the 22^nd July there was all the emotions to deal with and preparing for the funeral then the day itself, which alone was exhausting. 

Motorcycling and CFS

The following was sent to me by one of the forum members ian2008 and it shows that we dont always have to give up what we love, we just have to find a way to manage it.

One of my great pleasures and passions in my life is motorcycling. Prior to getting CFS I would ride my motorcycle (bike) as far and as often as I could. My wife and I would go to many race meetings, go on holiday and ride out to quiet country spots and have a picnic. Many pleasurable hours were spent cleaning and repairing the bike. However, since CFS, my riding and enjoyment has been somewhat curtailed. 

Coping with emotion.

This post sort of follows on from Kooky's post, we must both have been on a similar wavelength today.

People with CFS have to deal with all kinds of emotions in relation to dealing with chronic illness, theirs and their partners/families lives can be turned totally upside down, which in turn puts immense  strain on relationships and mental well being.

Add to this the fact that some degree of emotional lability is not uncommon in CFS and what would normal be small things can upset someone with CFS greatly or make them angry. I think the main base of this is frustration and grief for your former life. Frustrations that you cannot do what you did before and anger as you want to be able to do things. Grief is a strange emotion not just appearing when you lose someone, I find I almost mourn for my old lifestyle, the old Carrie.

Day 9 of quitting smoking, and a difficult time for my family.

Morning friends.

First of all can everyone give Kooky a giant thank you for me, she is doing a sterling job keeping the posts up so that there is plenty for everyone to look at and read, and they're fab. 


My Dad took ill on Thursday and got rushed to hospital from the care home he is in. He was allowed to go back to the home as there is nothing they can do. We don't want him in hospital as he gets very distressed and gives up trying to do anything, the staff don’t have time to care for him as the home does, and it is really not ideal. He has very advanced dementia and is not aware of what is happening around him. 


Sadly he is not expected to pull through he isn’t opening his eyes and is only taking fluids if fed with a syringe into his mouth. We have come to terms with the fact that he isn’t going to get better and that for him, he is better off if he does slip away as he has absolutely no quality of life. I wouldn't wish dementia on my worst enemies; it is a cruel illness that steals the person’s soul.

Okay doom and gloom over now the good news. I am still managing not to smoke, Thursday I had a rocky period where I thought I can't cope I need a cig. But then realised it was I was hungry, and in the past when I was hungry I often smoked, so I got back to my mums and made something tasty to eat and was absolutely fine.

Three years of CFS.

This was sent to me by Ian and I thought it would be great to share his experience of his life with CFS/M.E. If you want to read more about pacing visit our forum

Day 4 of quitting smoking

Morning friends.

Today is my 4th day of stopping smoking and so far everything is going well. This is starting to enter my danger zone, in the past I have become complacent at this point thinking it is easy, then got overwhelmed by sudden cravings, and then being unprepared I have ended up caving in and smoking. This time I am ready for anything life and my body throws at me, I feel I don't need to smoke. I am as strong as I choose to be and I can do anything I set my mind to, (Sshhhhh I know, just let me convince myself LOL.) I'm still using the 25mg patches and the occasional spray of the quickmist, but I think I only used 4 or 5 sprays of it yesterday.

Mrs Mittens banana oat cakes

These are wonderful, this recipe was sent to me by MrsMittens, it is quick and easy and tastes delicious. Also great for someone not so skilled in the kitchen.

Friday the 8th July, Quit day.

Today I am starting on my thousandth attempt at stopping smoking, with help I have received from Roger and the relaxation and hypnosis tracks he pointed me towards, I have renewed enthusiasm and belief that I can do it.

Okay realistically I have absolutely no will power hehehehe, but I can only try, I have to get the defeatist attitude out of my head when and if I have a slip, one cig, doesn’t have to mean another 5 years of smoking, hiccups happen to the strongest of people.

Spoon Theory

Mon mentioned the Spoon Theory in her story, so thought I would direct you to the article that she referred to. It is a very useful tool in explaining CFS to people who do not understand, or ask, how we are feeling. I have heard it talked of many times as helping people grasp what we have to deal with and how our energy reserves work.

Click here to learn about the Spoon Theory. I would strongly recommend that people trying to understand how people cope with CFS have a read.

Happy reading and remember, don't use too many spoons today!

Mon's Story of her experience of CFS

My story is:
I’m told I had my first IBS attack aged 5. Every time I found myself in any stressful situation I would end up ill with some sort of abdominal bug. I had gastric enteritis through my exams and had to sit them with a bucket next to me.

I had glandular fever aged 21. It took about 6 months to be free enough of symptoms to go back to work. I worked, got married, had 3 kids, moved area, twice..... and then started to pick up viral bug after viral bug. Alongside I was experiencing some major stressful events and put much of my ill health down to that. I started having investigations in my mid 30's. Finally was diagnosed in 1999 aged 38. I had to stop working.

The initial time was really bad... for about 18 months I suppose. I had panic attacks and emotional breakdowns. Sensitivity to noise and light. (I still can't do energy saving light bulbs.) Sensitivity to foods. Sleeping for 15 hours at a time and still needing naps.

I think the worst of it is the name. People hear ME and think it’s all in the head. It may well be, but not in the psychiatric sense. It could well be viral damage that damages the limbic system of the brain or is causing a general inflammation of the brain.... but they really don't know.
I am certainly not depressed....

They put me on anti depressants... which was a disaster. (GP also suggested I have my kids fostered out!!!! Which I did NOT do.) I spent the next 18 months trying to get off the things using talking therapies and homeopathy.

I was also diagnosed with IBS so homeopathy was used and also a good look at healthy diet.
I saw a German locum doctor who told me that in Germany they give sufferers strong doses of vitamins and minerals and gave me Forceval... which I still take and is very good. (Although within 15 minutes of taking it I feel nauseous so I now take it at night)

My GP encouraged graded exercise.... which was a disaster. Gentle exercise, as in moving all my limbs, is really good but pushing the body to do more than it is able to do, causes my energy packs in my cells to crash and I ended up yoyo-ing between relatively good health and no health at all.

My GP talked about pacing.... listening to my body. If I felt low I was to try and walk round my very small garden. If I felt worse I was to rest more, if I felt better I was to do more activity. To a point this was good advice, although at times I couldn't walk as far as the garden, let alone round it. At better times slowly walking by the sea or along a river is really good.

I was told to keep my mind active (when awake enough to concentrate) and to keep a diary of my feelings, emotions and my nightmares. (My sleep is very disturbed.) This really helped.
I was to write what I felt.... and then pretend a friend was telling me this... and reply as I would to that friend. I realised I was still trying to fit too much in to my good patches.

Home pressures took me back into very part time work, which I really enjoyed and managed for a couple of years, but eventually had to stop again. I started off volunteering in primary schools, and then worked in a corner shop, which was fun. My mind told me I was ready to re start my career. I managed to complete a return to nursing course, but found I couldn’t maintain the role. I also had 3 teenagers to support, both financially and emotionally. Forcing myself to do it meant my body shut down and stopped me doing anything.

My GP tried giving anti depressants again... the old type which have an effect on sleep. I tried it but soon got side effects again so stopped.

Research and internet forums... and the friends of ME support groups have been invaluable. GPs know very little and most of the treatment available through them actually make me worse, so it became really important for me to find out the truth about what was happening to me.

Research can become obsession though and my head can become so confused it becomes counter -productive. Computer glare can cause headaches and brain fog prevents me taking in information effectively and remembering anything I read. Little and often is better than detailed study for me.

There is a lot of confusing and often contradicting research going on. It’s clear that some sufferers out there are using A LOT of money on alternative therapies and are no better. Many out there have found their way to good health though with simple self care and good self management. The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Forum helps me to keep things in perspective. Others have tried therapies and have first- hand knowledge of the possible pit falls, but also have a good insight into the reality of what the real benefits are.

I moved area and was sent to an ME/CFS clinic.... which was a disaster. The clinic started during the morning, which is my worst ME/CFS time. I ended up an emotional wreck. I'm sure these clinics are good when they fit in with the sufferers' pacing routine.

I was given Melatonin to try and sort out my now awful sleep pattern. This seemed to work for a short time, but I quickly began yo yo-ing between bouts of IBS pain or food poisoning type symptoms and flu type symptoms again.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2009, which is more pain based symptoms (rheumatics) after having a couple of car crashes (I wasn't driving). I was also found to have cervical spondylosis. This new diagnosis created a time when GP tried insisting on anti depressants again. They do like to give them out !!! He is still looking for an anti depressant I can tolerate with no side effects. I think I’ll be waiting a long time.

A friend and fellow suffer went on the Lightening Process. £550 for a weekend. It’s not a cure. It’s a retraining. These things are based around Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) among other things. My friend IS doing well and has managed to take an 8 hour a week job. She IS doing much better. I can't afford it though and it another morning start. I FEAR paying out all that and ending up like I did at the ME clinic.

I don't have much faith in doctors now. Not that they wouldn't help if they knew how. They just don't know... science hasn't caught up enough yet to how to treat this condition.

2010 has been one bout of infection after another.....

Benefits don't recognise this condition so ...as I'm married... they pay my pension stamp and that’s it. I can't work though. I get the lowest rate of DLA and I can have a disabled parking blue badge....which is worth a mint on its own.

My husband is becoming exhausted doing lots of hours to make ends meet and keeping up with the things I can’t do at home... and the constant fear is whether he too is could ‘catch’ ME/CFS. Talk of a viral link compounds this fear.

My car is freedom to me. It is a mobility aid, but I have to be careful not to drive when exhausted. Brain fog can easily get me lost (in my local neighbourhood). I organise everything to avoid mornings completely as I know I can't function well then and will get ill if I try.

So now I have accepted that I CAN'T function at the same speed or pace as other people.
I CAN'T just accept medications because I WILL get side effects. BUT I CAN live a normal life at my own pace and speed now I know what they are. I no longer feel guilty that others don't understand or accept my limitations. I've learned to self care and to be honest.... no I can't always help other healthy people out. I know I'm not working but there is good reason for that.
My children have been absolutely fantastic about it all. They provide the best medicine. Meals out and lots of laughter....

My husband (now) is wonderful and very supportive. We both follow 12 step programs which help us both to accept powerlessness over what is happening to us and around us. It’s also helped us to develop a spiritual side to our lives which again helps us to let go of the fear and the guilt.

I began a new therapy in 2011 through a trusted homeopath. I have to travel to get there so I need someone to drive me. The day leaves me exhausted. The therapy used an EIS scan on the first appointment, which for the first time has given me concrete evidence that my body is out of balance. The results are compared to normal body responses showing clearly that my brain is under functioning while other body organs are over active or out of balance. I have homeopathic drops, a diet which avoids dairy, meat and wheat as well as other basic foods and encourages consumption of alkaline vegetables and fish. I don’t cut out foods, I replace them with things I can have. I also have acupuncture and use bio-resonance.

I am finding this useful treatment although as yet, I am nowhere near symptom free, but I am waking up earlier and the quality of my sleep is much better. I’m slowly trusting that I can survive all day now without sleeping. Having my mornings is a new pleasure and I am filling that time (on good days) with using wii fit yoga and balance exercises. I have to remember Spoon Theory though and not go mad and do too much on better days. I can still overwhelm the energy packs in my cells and experience pain and exhaustion. Since starting this treatment though this has not meant a month of crash symptoms. It seems to mean instead a couple of resting days. It’s easy to spend these days fearing the start of a big crash or feeling that the new treatment isn’t working and I’m kidding myself that I have made any recovery at all.

This is when the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Forum comes into its own. I can get some virtual hugs, but also lots of humour which makes me laugh. It also allows me to remember from those who are newly diagnosed or struggling more than me, that I am actually not as bad as I have been in the past. I can bounce ideas of what’s happening to me and get back sense and perspective from people who know and understand. It helps me to start to put one foot in front of the other again and to realise the bad days do pass and better days are waiting beyond them.

Thank you all for being there x

Mon (iddm)

Forum Publishing You Tube video:- Broken Cats and Cowboy hats

Broken cats and cowboy hats

Hi folks.....

Recently your favourite support forum has taken a new venture onboard, "Forum Publishing", the reason being that we have an author in our midst... Most of you will already know him from his posts on "Pacing" "Meditation" and his section on the forum’s "Mind/Body Interaction" board, along with his more light-hearted posts and his silly sense of humour... Yes, you are correct! It’s Roger...

Recently, Roger has rewritten the second edition of his novel, "Broken Cats & Cowboy Hats", which was originally published in paperback in 2000 and which received a very good review on Amazon as well as an excellent Press review – Roger will be happy to send anyone a copy of the press review on request.

The re-written book has recently been republished in Kindle format by "Forum Publishing", and with Agapanthus’ tremendous help in seeking out typos etc, it is now available to download at the very low cost of £1.71p inc VAT, of which the forum will receive 50p, the hope being that enough copies will be sold to provide the forum with much needed funds.

Kindle books are e-books that can be read via free apps on Kindle Reader, iPhone, Mac, iPad, Blackberry, Android and PC – most people will use the free PC app, which provides a great reading experience and, when closed, will re-open on the last page you read.

For those who like to indulge in a captivating, hard and violent "Crime/thriller” with a message, I highly recommend this book, and for anyone who’s intrigued, here is a short blurb -

"While he’s still a baby, Mark Doughty’s family is torn apart by domestic violence. With his abusive father in police custody and his mother institutionalised, Mark is abandoned to an indifferent care system. Only one concerned social worker, Jackie Shannon, attempts to connect with him during a bleak childhood, but her attentions aren’t enough to prevent him from gradually hardening into a man whose only means of communication is through violence and intimidation. Doughty’s frustration with his dead-end life finally culminates in a brutal and unprovoked murder. His arresting officer, DI Jack Hogg, is pleased to see Doughty put away for life. But his worst fears are realised when Mark escapes from custody, obsessed with exacting retribution on the people he feels are responsible for his incarceration."

This will not be the only book published by Forum Publishing, as in the next two or three weeks, another of Roger’s books, "The Naked Emperor", will be released – this one is much lighter than “Broken Cats & Cowboy Hats” reflecting Roger’s silly sense of humour. Details will be sent to all following its release. And hopefully, others will follow that.

So folks, can you help the forum become more financially stable by buying the book? Then, if you like it as much as I do, can you give it a good review on Amazon, tell your friends and family, and link this book to all your favourite social networking sites, such as Twitter or Facebook? If we can set a big enough ball rolling, it will be of tremendous help in keeping your favourite "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Support Forum" up and running.

Broken Cats & Cowboy Hats

THANK YOU.

~HUGZ~

Angeleyes40 xx

Forum Publishing

Hi folks....

Forum Publishing is proud to announce the release of Roger's new book, "The Naked Emperor" and again, with Agapanthus’ tremendous help in seeking out typos etc, it is now available to download at the very low cost of £2.13p inc VAT, of which the forum will receive 50% of any proceeds from the book. I hope that enough copies will be sold to provide the forum with much needed funds.

Whilst "Broken Cats & Cowboy Hats" was a hard hitting novel with a message, "The Naked Emperor" is more lighthearted, guaranteed to bring a smile or three along the way...

This book has the full package, as not only does this book deliver humour, there are also a few touching and thought
provoking moments...

Intrigued?

Well here is a short blurb about the book....

"Tired of aggressive, ungrateful customers, hapless motor-cycle repair shop owner, Simon Jones, decides that enough is enough. Encouraged by a newfound ‘gift’, he decides that it’s time to seek a new and better life.

His savvy wife, Hazel, isn’t impressed by his ‘gift’, but agrees that a week’s holiday in Cornwall with the kids, Becky and Ben, and their delinquent golden retriever, Orpheus, would be a good idea, a chance to consider their future.

During the holiday, an incident in a gift shop sparks an entrepreneurial idea, and they return home full of plans to set up a new business.

Initially, the business goes very well but an unanticipated disaster strikes, leading to near bankruptcy.

Desperate for money, Simon has a short spell working in a factory warehouse followed by a longer one as an unsuccessful insurance salesman.

One day he returns home from work, broke and full of despair, to be met by someone from the past, someone who, with the help of the naked emperor syndrome, eventually leads Simon and Hazel to a new life of fame and fortune."

This book is highly recommended as not only has it just been released, there are fantastic reviews on Amazon

Well, what are you waiting for?


For anyone who hasn’t got a reader, this is the answer – click Here to view the free kindle PC app post.

Okay, okay... I hear you telling me to get on with it, now the moment you have all been waiting for, the link to Roger's new book...

The Naked Emperor