I started visiting this site early/mid-2013 as someone diagnosed with CFS/ ME 2 years prior to this. Typical symptoms were PEF, swollen, glands, depression, agonising muscle pain, cognitive impairment. I had seen a long suffering, colleague cured of her CFS/ME by LP and in my web searches of the condition I became aware of the site and the negativity towards LP . I engaged in a fair amount of discussion around LP, and received a lot of abuse. The views expressed on this site very nearly put me off risking the £650 for the course. But in January this year I took the plunge and attended an LP course and I have been transformed. I attend a gym four times a week, play golf and have just returned from a walking holiday in Scotland, activities beyond me pre-LP.
Now, did I and my colleague have ME/CFS? If we did then LP helped us and can help others. If we were both misdiagnosed, then there will be others, similarly misdiagnosed, who can also be helped by LP. Either way I have a duty to visitors to this site to give a view opposed to the general consensus of this forum that LP is psychobabble hogwash, taught by charlatans and promoted but the prince of darkness himself, Phil Parker. This way at least they have an opportunity to see an alternative viewpoint, based on my experience. If members of this forum find this unpalatable that really is too bad.
To answer Snowdrops questions in order: I am very aware of how ill some of the members of this forum are - the colleague to which I refer spent most of her weekends in bed summoning what tiny amount of strength she could muster to try to sit at her desk for three hours a day, four days a week for 5-6 years. I won't bang on about her symptoms any further but she was dreadfully ill, and it was very very sad to watch - her pain, frustration, sadness and hopelessness was a terrible experience for her, her husband and kids and everyone who knew her. So don't you dare assume I don't know what this illness consists of - I've helped nurse this woman for six years and journeyed with her for every step I could and I now count her as one of my closest friends. And I also experienced with my own disbelieving eyes her appearance when she came back to work the day after LP. Bright eyes, colour in her face instead of grey and a spring in her step. And she's doing a marathon next month. Now I really don't care whether you think I've made up any of the stuff I've just written - your minds are closed already - but I'm an experimental physicist by training to PhD level so not particularly open to voodoo etc - again I say this to ensure that anyone new to the site and reading this understands that this isn't some weed smoking, tree hugging, slack brained half wit describing his latest acid trip but a rational, critical thinker with probably a much higher level of academic and professional achievement than most who post here
I am aware of the guidelines
I'm very familiar with the illness people on this forum experience, see above
There are many illnesses LP is inappropriate for - cancer, heart disease, a broken arm, etc etc