• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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Treatment #10 Of all the things we have to deal with internally fighting this hideous disease, to me, the things that we fight externally are sometimes more debilitating. This week I came face to face with one of the biggest enemies to recovery, the ignorance and insensitivity of other...
Victoria
4 min read
Views
1K
Comments
9
User Blogs
Its late on a refreshingly cool Saturday afternoon &Im taking a break from clearing out the trash. The trash is about dozens (no, hundreds) of internet articles Id printed on my office printer. You see, years ago, I used my lunch time & after work (I had more energy back in those days) trawling...
Victoria
2 min read
Views
680
Comments
3
User Blogs
Drug healing Faith healing. Placebo healing. Fasting (healing) Diet healing. Magic healing. Surgical healing. No method (healing) We have illness, we have drugs, or supplements, or diet, or surgery, or faith, or rest, or go to church, or all of the above. We are healed. Now tell me 100%...
Carrigon
1 min read
Views
436
Comments
1
User Blogs
To see the world through broken glass and shattered dreams..... Having CFIDS/ME reminds me of the children's fairytale, The Little Mermaid. The little mermaid was told she could be human if only she would give up her voice and every single day of her life on land would be spent in severe...
Victoria
7 min read
Views
818
Comments
5
User Blogs
With the heavy paperwork of social service application forms, photocopying of medical reports, bank statements, rental property lease & other formal documentation, I was beginning to think of opening a Filling out Forms Consultancy Company.:cheeky grin: With the is & ts dotted a dozen times in...
Carrigon
4 min read
Views
509
Comments
3
User Blogs
People always ask me to describe a flare. And since I'm in one today, I'm going to describe it. Woke up like I had no sleep, so the fatigue is on. Fatigue so bad that I cannot walk across this apartment, can't do anything but sit or lay down. Fatigue in the limbs, trouble moving arms, they...
Carrigon
3 min read
Views
556
Comments
3
User Blogs
Mini rant of mine. Just something that drives me crazy. When someone, like one of my idiot relatives makes a comment to me when they have a very rare case of being mildly sick with something like a forty eight hour bug or a regular cold, just something where in a few days or week tops they are...
For the most part, at some point in this journey of illness, we have all seen a therapist. I have seen psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers. Been there. I have seen folks who have CFS or Fibro and are therapists. Those who are ill need to talk about it. We need to vent, let it...
Treatment #9 "Depression is melancholy minus its charms." Susan Sontag This past weekend was rough. After having 8 treatments of Ampligen over the past 4 weeks go so smoothly, I wasn't prepared for the surprise dark cloud that rolled over my horizon beginning Friday evening. Some would...
In all the 21 years of being ill, I have never really had a job. I became ill at 18. I was never able to finish college. I have a 2 year degree, but unlike many, that isn't good enough for this type A personality female that I am. Six years ago, by accident, I started making jewelry and...
Everything crossed and thinking of you. Enjoy your bread and butter pudding. Is it with or with out Custard or Creme Anglais as the French call it or is it with cream or on it's own? Now there is a question to ponder. Take care Joy :smiley-hug:
I think it's important to blog about this in so many ways. I was always a workaholic. I was a straight A student and had a 4.0 in college. Anything I ever had to do, I'd give it a hundred and ten percent. Not being able to work is horrible. I would love to find something I can do for money...
Victoria
5 min read
Views
824
Comments
5
User Blogs
Its been a busy week since I stopped full time work on 12<SUP>th</SUP> Feb. Not just physically, but mentally as well. Perhaps the mental changes that are needed to improve health, for me, are just as important as the physical. My mind had been clouded with anger, resentment & exhaustion for...
Cort
6 min read
Views
472
Comments
1
User Blogs
The inability of the second UK XMRV study this time from a friendly research group headed by Dr. Groom to find any XMRV in a very large sample of patients was rough news for sure. The ME Action Group in the UK took a rather resigned tone in their response while Dr. Vernon highlighted a few...
Carrigon
3 min read
Views
886
Comments
7
User Blogs
So sick today and full of brain fog. The neighbors are doing me in. I finally went over to the office and filed a complaint. It's bad enough that they keep me awake, but when I try to make up for some of the sleep in the morning, they start in again. I told the office people, I just want to...
Treatment # 8 Today is my first month's anniversary with Ampligen, and my body celebrated by manifesting all the signs that it was working - feeling like I had the flu. I say that only half in jest, because my Doctor confirmed last night that, after seeing patients on this drug for the past...
LaurelB
7 min read
Views
1K
Comments
10
User Blogs
This is a post from my blog from a few months back that I'm just getting around to posting here. :) What I Miss Most Note: This is a journal entry from a couple years ago. I was a bit hesitant to post it here, as it was written in what was a moment of grief for me. I pretty much bare my...
Lisa
3 min read
Views
602
Comments
3
User Blogs
I dont seem to be the only one noticing a very early spring around here. My springtime nemesis, the red alder tree, has begun a very early pollination cycle. Every spring, usually around late March to early April, each mature Alder tree begins to ripen their hundreds of pollinating...
Cort
3 min read
Views
514
Comments
2
User Blogs
As expected Dr. Vernon delivered a rather comprehensive overview of the latest XMRV study in the Retrovirology journal. Dr. Vernon spent some time making clear who just who did this study; it was basically the best of UK retroviral researchers (one 'world-renowned') plus top ME/CFS UK...
Cort
4 min read
Views
798
Comments
5
User Blogs
UK researchers are not winning the hearts and minds of CFS patients thats for sure. Just a couple of uplifting weeks after Dr. Mikovits displayed so much enthusiasm and confidence in XMRV the other shoe has dropped. An Imperial College researcher said another negative study was coming and here...
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