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Paul Garner in BMJ

splusholia

Senior Member
Messages
240
https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/01/25/paul-garner-on-his-recovery-from-long-covid/

So I thought, let’s do it: I will either die or recover, I got out of bed and went to Sefton Park to join a military fitness session. It was fabulous, and the exercise pushed the aches and fatigue aside. I slept well and felt better the following day. I was back on track.’

This article makes me pretty sad. I tried all this when I was first diagnosed. I tried to force myself to walk around the block. I had no mental problems and yet my body gave up. He makes it sound like those who don’t recover are just thinking too negatively or not trying hard enough. In reality, he was probably going to get better anyway.
 
Messages
95
I see two phenomena: The first is, that people alsways try any kinds of treatments AND some people improve without doing anything. In their closed mind, the improvement must have come from the treatment they were trying at that time. No matter what nonsense they were trying.

The second is, that people tend to talk b*****t once they are better. Assuming that everyone can be cured the same way as they are, for instance.
 

splusholia

Senior Member
Messages
240
I see two phenomena: The first is, that people alsways try any kinds of treatments AND some people improve without doing anything. In their closed mind, the improvement must have come from the treatment they were trying at that time. No matter what nonsense they were trying.

The second is, that people tend to talk b*****t once they are better. Assuming that everyone can be cured the same way as they are, for instance.

Yeah, I agree. I think I was guilty of this a bit because about four years before I got ill I had a shorter version of post viral fatigue. It was actually pretty severe but I seemed to just snap out of it quite quickly. I was taking vitamin D at the time so I assumed afterwards that vitamin D could cure post viral fatigue. Well, let’s just say that when it hit me again, four years later, vitamin D didn’t make too much of a dent!
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,365
Location
Southern California
I am so sorry to see this blog by Paul Garner! He had initially seemed like an intelligent man in his earlier BMJ blog posts, and one who might have some influence with the medical powers-that-be to start taking ME/CFS seriously. He sounds like he's been brainwashed, drinking the kool-aid of his BSP cohorts (I don't know if that's the right acronym for biosocial theory, can never remember it!)

It would be interesting to see what he would say if he relapsed, and couldn't recover. I know we're not supposed to wish ill on anyone, but the amount of harm he is perpetrating is too hard to contemplate!

Like everyone else here, I pushed myself as hard as I could for as long as I could when I first got ill. And I'm still sick 22 years later, bit it isn't for lack of trying to regain my health!