Founder of online 'ME/CFS brain retraining' program says his aim is to make a million bucks

[crussher]

Some of you may be aware of Miguel Bautista who runs an online brain retraining program for ME/CFS called 'recovery jumpstart'. He allegedly charges people 6500 USD for access to his program. He calls people in the program 'thrivers', reduces ME/CFS to being purely a 'hypersensitive nervous system issue' and encourages people to view crashes (unless they are severe) as just 'adjustment periods'.

I have watched his videos on YouTube and from the beginning did not trust his motivations, I only became more suspicious when I learnt of the program's price-tag.

Well a video has just emerged online in which Miguel talks of wanting to make a million dollars by the end of the year (that would only involve '10 sales a month', he says).

Here is the video

https://www.reddit.com/r/mecfs/comments/15hxeio

Before launching his recovery program, he also was paraded around on various other YouTube channels, being interviewed about his own recovery story.

How can someone take advantage of the profoundly sick in this way? No one has called him out and he needs to be.

PS: Someone also posted a review of the program here which is worth reading:

 

[linusbert]

he calls himself out by using the term "brain retraining" a cure for cfs.

 

[Hip]

You might want to post this on the Reddit ME/CFS forum and the Reddit long COVID forum too.

 

[Andryr]

Damn! I had started a thread some time ago dedicated to ME/CFS success stories on YouTube but stopped it as soon as I figured out 99% percent was to some sort of 'brain retraining'.
To be fair, there were also some cases of spontaneous remissions.
And when I first saw this guy Miguel I felt I am about to be fooled. I am happy someone revealed the truth eventually.

 

[hapl808]

The big problem with these grifts is that they can prey only on diseases like ME/CFS. If they promised to cure cancer, they'd get in real trouble with the FDA and FTC and others. So all of them specifically target diseases where the mainstream is wishy washy on whether they even exist - fibromyalgia, chronic lyme, ME/CFS. It's a pretty remarkable scam, and the government spends more time trying to decide whether they should remove NAC from the market because it actually works.

That said, I'm okay with these programs existing as long as the government requires them to put big warnings on them. and maybe restricting price gouging scams. I don't want the government stopping them altogether, as there's a small step from there to stopping all supplements that aren't 'proven safe and effective', stopping forums exchanging info, stopping any exchange of info about vaccines or fluoroquinolones or other medical adverse effects, etc.

But yeah, that's a pretty disgusting human being.

 

[linusbert]

, and the government spends more time trying to decide whether they should remove NAC from the market because it actually works.

this is a western move. germany also tries to get rid of supplements. they even have herbs in the target. its insane.

this is offtopic, but quite interesting. it shows how lobbys attack scientists and science and manipulate politicians and pay "scientists" to get a certain outcome:

Spoiler

we are not talking bias here, this is flat out corruption.
its about cured meats and the use of the carcinogen sodium nitrite. but we have this going on on many different things.

 

[JasonPerth]

its horrible.
His whole story is a lie

He claims a doctor gave him all this advice he teaches everyone in the program.

Well guess what. This video prooves he just recovered from Toby Morrisons CFSHealth (NOT A DOCTOR) stress and trauma program.

They are all in the know. Its like a cult.

I know 2 people who have done recovery stories that have no post viral syndrome and only trauma and burnout fatigue.

Its legit a cult.

 

[JasonPerth]

Some of you may be aware of Miguel Bautista who runs an online brain retraining program for ME/CFS called 'recovery jumpstart'. He allegedly charges people 6500 USD for access to his program. He calls people in the program 'thrivers', reduces ME/CFS to being purely a 'hypersensitive nervous system issue' and encourages people to view crashes (unless they are severe) as just 'adjustment periods'.

I have watched his videos on YouTube and from the beginning did not trust his motivations, I only became more suspicious when I learnt of the program's price-tag.

Well a video has just emerged online in which Miguel talks of wanting to make a million dollars by the end of the year (that would only involve '10 sales a month', he says).

Here is the video

https://www.reddit.com/r/mecfs/comments/15hxeio

Before launching his recovery program, he also was paraded around on various other YouTube channels, being interviewed about his own recovery story.

How can someone take advantage of the profoundly sick in this way? No one has called him out and he needs to be.

PS: Someone also posted a review of the program here which is worth reading:

Its even more than 6500us now….
I dont recommend brain retraining because its a waste of time and takes away realism. But theres a website called cfshealing that literally provides the blueprint for free

 

[EtherSpin]

its horrible.
His whole story is a lie

He claims a doctor gave him all this advice he teaches everyone in the program.

Well guess what. This video prooves he just recovered from Toby Morrisons CFSHealth (NOT A DOCTOR) stress and trauma program.

They are all in the know. Its like a cult.

I know 2 people who have done recovery stories that have no post viral syndrome and only trauma and burnout fatigue.

Its legit a cult.

geez imagine how mad Morrison must be right now !
EDIT : I notice Miguel says he had these 'panic attack' episodes with high heart rate but interestingly, high BP also and then after these happening he was apparently deconditioned enough to be in the ME/CFS category ?
Thats one of those doctor narratives that I've never really seen, especially not with men which is not cause of anything about sex, just that as a guy I've had most extensive chats about how things occurred with other guys.... Im yet to meet a man who had fatigue starting and thought to get rid of it via routine rest.
every guy I've spoken to tries to up their exercise output while cutting out optional activities and then later gets gaslit by doctors *insisting* they deconditioned themselves and thats where the fatigue comes from !

 

[JasonPerth]

Im yet to meet a man who had fatigue starting and thought to get rid of it via routine rest.
every guy I've spoken to tries to up their exercise output while cutting out optional activities and then later gets gaslit by doctors *insisting* they deconditioned themselves and thats where the fatigue comes from !

Phil Murray (on youtube) has a recovery story about extreme rest and pacing where he spent months,years in bed and recovered. Your correct though, we all natrually go back to work and sport to test ourselves and realise something is Fcked Up the moment we go over our new small limit we have wherever that baseline sits.
Its the only story of its kind im aware of and one of the only legit ME recovery videos that a brain retraining advocate shows as an interview suprisingly. I believe he recently relapsed.
He goes all out and turns off all devices and stays in bed and does nothing until he is better. So its very strange. Its like a complete rest theory. My personal opinion in that he is extremely lucky his body is allowing him to get better somehow

 

[linusbert]

Phil Murray (on youtube) has a recovery story about extreme rest and pacing where he spent months,years in bed and recovered. Your correct though, we all natrually go back to work and sport to test ourselves and realise something is Fcked Up the moment we go over our new small limit we have wherever that baseline sits.
Its the only story of its kind im aware of and one of the only legit ME recovery videos that a brain retraining advocate shows as an interview suprisingly. I believe he recently relapsed.
He goes all out and turns off all devices and stays in bed and does nothing until he is better. So its very strange. Its like a complete rest theory. My personal opinion in that he is extremely lucky his body is allowing him to get better somehow

spending years in bed without doing anything... idk, i think muscle atrophy will be bad. but for a few weeks might work.
if he did this years and got as good as he was before, i have a hard time believing his story.

 

[hapl808]

He goes all out and turns off all devices and stays in bed and does nothing until he is better. So its very strange. Its like a complete rest theory. My personal opinion in that he is extremely lucky his body is allowing him to get better somehow

Lately I've found even turning off wifi makes my headaches a bit less severe, which makes me feel like a nutjob. But hey, so does everything else about this illness.

At some point I've meant to search the forums or start a thread, but my vague theory is that wifi is probably fine…unless you have a compromised blood brain barrier from infection, TBI, autoimmune disorder, etc. Since there's a good amount of research that there are 'unsafe' levels, one would assume 'safe' levels might vary depending on person, amount of time exposed, etc. The BBB is supposed to be protective, but it seems like there is a lot of research that even minor seeming TBI or infection can cause chronic issues there, so it actually doesn't seem like a huge leap that there could be issues for some.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Its even more than 6500us now….

100% suspect. And are people really this naive?


The richest person I know who actually could heal other people, charged NOTHING.

Because after you've actually healed somebody else, they are so grateful they give you Their Picasso.

Lately I've found even turning off wifi makes my headaches a bit less severe, which makes me feel like a nutjob.

why do you think that? I need to keep this device as far away from my physical body as I possibly can.

I can "feel it" very clearly, in certain areas of the body. the electromagnet frequencies in these devices, can be felt by me, for instance, in areas suffering from peripheral neuropathy; or my elbows and heels, which experienced bursitis. Which might not be the wifi part.

 

[EtherSpin]

Phil Murray (on youtube) has a recovery story about extreme rest and pacing where he spent months,years in bed and recovered. Your correct though, we all natrually go back to work and sport to test ourselves and realise something is Fcked Up the moment we go over our new small limit we have wherever that baseline sits.

Fog strikes again! I now realise how badly I worded that.
I don't have much experience with people who say they've recovered, I've seen it very briefly just once with someone who did Lightning Program and quickly got arrogant about it then was shortly back at square one
With regards to guys implementing rest, I only mean in the beginning when they start to get sick and don't yet realise whats happening, I mean that I've never seen someone actually fulfill the common stereotype Doctors have that people have a minor problem, get demotivated, don't use their muscles, decondition and then claim its ME/CFS
I'm sure thousands of sensible folks (including loads of men who draw esteem from perceived stoicism so often) try resting routinely once they know the condition they are dealing with.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I mean that I've never seen someone actually fulfill the common stereotype Doctors have that people have a minor problem, get demotivated, don't use their muscles, decondition and then claim its ME/CFS

agree: mostly nobody does that.

You need more attention? come up with the disease that receives no attention.


It's ridiculous. most of our problem is trying to keep functioning when it's not possible to do so. So we do it anyway, don't we?

I just had to lift my husband, with paramedics arriving.

well, his nurse was lifting, also.

Today I hope my hip stays in inside its socket. Because my ligaments are so weak, it feels like barely held together.

 

[Mouse girl]

100% suspect. And are people really this naive?

to be fair, when people are desperate to get better or heal or not be disabled, they will do or try just about anything. you shouldn't judge them. those who take advantage of vulnerable people are the ones to judge and put down, not people who are in horrible situations and suffering terribly. I'm sure you didn't mean to be cruel, but i don't want others to feel further shamed who have been taken advantage of. it is the criminals and lowest of the low who are to be shamed, not the people they exploit.

 

[Viala]

Someone who has spare $6500 for a novel training usually have a lot of money in the first place so it's just another thing worth a try. I suppose such people are the main target here. To be honest if we had a spare million bucks chances are we would also want to try it. Some of these people will not have ME/CFS and it may actually work for them and that's all this guy needs.

 

[hapl808]

Someone who has spare $6500 for a novel training usually have a lot of money in the first place so it's just another thing worth a try.

My guess is very few of them have a spare $6500, but desperate people do desperate things. How much money have we all spent on various ME/CFS specialists who don't take insurance, expensive medications, etc. Or way more on moving homes trying to escape real or phantom mold issues, changing climates, etc. If I truly thought $6500 would cure me, of course I'd try to beg borrow or steal the money.

to be fair, when people are desperate to get better or heal or not be disabled, they will do or try just about anything. you shouldn't judge them. those who take advantage of vulnerable people are the ones to judge and put down, not people who are in horrible situations and suffering terribly

Yep. Plenty of vultures out there. Or is it buzzards? I get them mixed up.

 

[Viala]

My guess is very few of them have a spare $6500, but desperate people do desperate things.

There's plenty of wealthy people who can afford this. For top 1% earners, owners or people coming from wealthy families that kind of money is nothing.

 

[hapl808]

There's plenty of wealthy people who can afford this. For top 1% earners, owners or people coming from wealthy families that kind of money is nothing.

Possibly, just not my personal experience of how it plays out. Those top 1% also tend to have access to limitless high priced specialists, lawyers, fixers, etc. My experience is they are less likely to be taken in by a small-time conman. Not always, of course. There are some people with lots of money and terrible decisions - although they usually run out of money pretty fast.

But if I had endless money to spend on every world class ME/CFS specialist or private neurologist or whatever, I don't think I'd be spending $6500 for someone with no track record selling basically DNRS. Usually those types prey on people with limited information or resources - in other words, those not able to easily afford it. Like timeshares or MLM or psychics or things like that. The people I know who have spent thousands on psychics often have limited money. They're paying psychics because they think that will give them financial success. The people I know who have unlimited money aren't paying psychics, they're buying more real estate.