Hi
@voner
The main one to improve is fatigue (physical & mental), pain wise I can't say the HBOT has definitely affected this as being doing other things related to the improvement there, it does have a holistic improvement on pain in so much as more mobile and being laid for long periods increases my pain so being able to move reduces that but I couldn't say the HBOT directly affects it.
Physical: pre treatment I wasn't able to get around the house without getting out of breath, struggled with meals, getting to bathroom, often ended up laid on floor somewhere in house as couldn't make it to where I needed to go, usually had to have a sit on the stairs, things like lifting fork to mouth were a massive effort. All i could really do was lay in a darkened room, napped a lot, on a better day I might be able to sit up in bed a little and once a week most weeks I'd have saved enough energy for a small food shop at Aldi/co-op/somewhere small, then spend the next couple of days or so putting stuff away as i could/just leave in bags by the door if wasn't frozen. I'd have to sleep after having a shower, eating, any real exertion, I'd often go without food/water for much of the day as didn't have energy to get any. Now I can sit for 90min in Oxygen tank twice a week, drive myself there and back (5 or so min drive), get to massage appointments twice a week inc drive (10-15min drive), I gave up on food shop as do that online now, I've been able to take my friends dogs for a walk to the park occasionally (with stops) for 30mins-an hour (although a lot of that is me sat while they do their thing). Last year I managed a couple of days here and there where I drove approx 30mins-hour, had a day out (mainly in wheelchair) and drove back. I find PEM is not always as extreme, in so much as not so severe for so long, get back to my baseline sooner, I still get out of breath coming upstairs and on days after I've done a bit too much but it's not as constant as it was. I managed to dance at my mum's wedding last year, I've managed to stand for a bit at odd gig here and there over past couple of years (I had stopped going all together, then managed odd one seated), I've had a decline this year down to my by being ill and staying with me much of the time which is quite detrimental to my health but at xmas I felt a lot better and did an hour drive to see my dad, stay for a couple of days with ability to interact whilst there and drive back. I felt so good I thought I might be able to do an hour or two volunteering somewhere each month, would see my friends & family more etc but life had other ideas and I'm no longer as well as that as having to use energy elsewhere.
I can actually function some mornings now. A few months back I managed to go out to the garden to meditate and do some stretches before lunch time. I had hoped to get into some gentle yoga but I wasn't well enough for that, I do manage to do sporadically maybe every month or so, including some mantras when sat up, compared to only managing some meditiation when laid in bed.
Mental: I couldn't listen to music, audiobooks, watch tv, do anything much on smartphone, do any puzzles, ask me a simple question and it overloaded me, found it difficult to comprehend things I didn't understand and if I tried I got so tired I would have to nap, i couldn't even work out an online shop knowing if I could it would save my physical energy of going to the store, unable to read books/articles online, on better days I'd interact online via things like Facebook to help with isolation, I'd always make mistakes like put a pan on with no food in it, stir boiling water with my hand, I needed tick lists to make sure I'd taken my medication, supplements etc. Now I am sat writting this, can watch 40min tv shows on my phone, sometimes two in a row provided I'm careful with what I watch as some are too overloading still and send mw to sleep, can manage some radio shows although others still send me to sleep, listen to music occasionally, better with answering questions but some still push me over, I can do some puzzles ie crossword, puzzler books etc here and there, have a couple of card games on my phone, can have a conversation with my mum for 40mins rather than just mumbling down the phone I'm tired and can't speak or ignoring it all together. I still forget things but not to same extent (no trying to stir boiling water for a while). I've been able to read some articles online.
Misc: I used to be nauseous every morning till at least 11, but that's more sporadic now and not as intense. I still get light-headed on standing, wouldn't say there has been much change to that but my vision doesn't tend do do so black. I have slight tremors in my hands, I don't seem to throw things over my hand so much (this may be more related to dystonia than ME/CFS). No difference in my ability to tolerate flashing lights, they still make me feel ill, don't drive at night due to this. I used to get numbness/pins & needles in arms/hands/feet this has improved but I couldn't say it was definitely down to HBOT in itself. I don't seem to choke on my own saliva as often. I still drink a lot of water (3l a day average), doesn't seem to have affected that. No change to any food intolerances, these have increased but not necessarily linked to HBOT.
I would say I'm a bit better with temperature changes as recent heatwave has not affected me as much as previous extremes in temp, again couldn't be certain that is down to HBOT in itself.
..... brain given up for now will add more at a later date