I'll repeat my story, posted as a comment to Cort's interview with Ashok:
http://aboutmecfs.org/blog/?p=495
Hey all Full disclosure Ashok sent me a set of the DVD gratis, on the understanding that I would blog about it, and as its been six months the recommended time to become fully well I can start to give an honest answer now.
At $190 I think the program is a good investment a valuable tool for managing the stress response that sends many of us into a the territory where we are the most agitated, and our symptoms magnify 100 times and we get really sick. I did the program religiously giving it hours and hours a week last winter. Coincidentally, some unpaid writing opportunities came my way. As ever, I felt myself become over-aroused, excited by the opportunity to write, but stressed at the vast number of things I needed to do to organize my material. I felt myself on the verge of a collapse I was getting way outside my envelope as Dr. Jason says. (Cort Id love to see Dr. Jason and Ashok Gupta have a discussion!) I used the technique, which is no great mystery just asserting a little OCD exercise in to disrupt your panic-stress-illness inducing thought pattern. It was a save, I made my deadline and produced articles I was really proud of.
The DVDs are quite lengthy, detailed, well-produced, soothing, intelligent. Why is this important? There are so many coaching programs out there by chronically ill people that are hard to use, poorly executed, and amateurish. I care about presentation, I care that things have been thought out.
OK the downside: this works very well for the stress response. But it does nothing for post-extertional malaise, which I get if I spend more than 2-3 hours on the computer. My problem is, for several years, I seem to be at the recovery level of his cured patients. Meaning, if I take my supplements, rest, meditate, pace myself, dont multi-task, do yoga, do things I enjoy that is, stay within my envelope I can be relatively well.
Ashok recommends we spend 50% of our waking time in a kind of "down" mode -- doing things relaxing and enjoyable. But this is hard to sustain once one goes back to a full-time stressful job, plus family and home responsibilities.
The Retraining program has allowed me to control the stress response of work/sensory overload a bit. But if I walk too much as I did last weekend on a trip to New York the technique doesnt help. I still needed a few days of reduced activity afterward. And mind -- I'm not someone who ever stopped exercise completely, who ever stopped doing things despite this. I was never "deconditioned" as he seems to assume of people. Still -- a missed meal, too long out of the house/driving/writing/talking on the phone -- the technique doesn't help with this -- only the initial "fear" response of "if I do this I'll get sick." I do without the fear response -- but I can still get sick.
I also have not been able to give up my supplements. He claims that everything cascades from the stress response -but look, Im almost 50 even fully healthy people my age need a lot of the supplements to feel decent.
To me, the ultimate test of Ashok Guptas Amygdala retraining program is can we go back to work full time, in a self-sustaining career? Time will tell in my case. One issue is once youre feeling better, and able/trying to work more you just need to do your work. Professional writers I know, who actually support themselves with their writing, must work 11-14 hours a day. Theres no way around it. Its hard to do that, and spend hours a day doing the technique.
Its the same issue I found when I first got sick, close to 20 years ago. I was canned from my Wall Street job, and thought the solution was self-care and lifestyle management. Unfortunately, a well-paced freelance life didnt afford me enough money to live. So back I went to a full time job, and instantly I got very sick. When my ability to pace my life and meditate, exercise, etc. was gone so went my health.
Id love to be able to say that the Amygdala Retraining was a full cure, but for me it hasnt been. I continue to work with the technique and the advice which is common sense stuff, nothing crazy.
Bottom line I think it would be worth the $190 most of us spend that in supplements in a month, and unlike a series of acupuncture or semester of yoga its something you can use forever.
http://aboutmecfs.org/blog/?p=495
Hey all Full disclosure Ashok sent me a set of the DVD gratis, on the understanding that I would blog about it, and as its been six months the recommended time to become fully well I can start to give an honest answer now.
At $190 I think the program is a good investment a valuable tool for managing the stress response that sends many of us into a the territory where we are the most agitated, and our symptoms magnify 100 times and we get really sick. I did the program religiously giving it hours and hours a week last winter. Coincidentally, some unpaid writing opportunities came my way. As ever, I felt myself become over-aroused, excited by the opportunity to write, but stressed at the vast number of things I needed to do to organize my material. I felt myself on the verge of a collapse I was getting way outside my envelope as Dr. Jason says. (Cort Id love to see Dr. Jason and Ashok Gupta have a discussion!) I used the technique, which is no great mystery just asserting a little OCD exercise in to disrupt your panic-stress-illness inducing thought pattern. It was a save, I made my deadline and produced articles I was really proud of.
The DVDs are quite lengthy, detailed, well-produced, soothing, intelligent. Why is this important? There are so many coaching programs out there by chronically ill people that are hard to use, poorly executed, and amateurish. I care about presentation, I care that things have been thought out.
OK the downside: this works very well for the stress response. But it does nothing for post-extertional malaise, which I get if I spend more than 2-3 hours on the computer. My problem is, for several years, I seem to be at the recovery level of his cured patients. Meaning, if I take my supplements, rest, meditate, pace myself, dont multi-task, do yoga, do things I enjoy that is, stay within my envelope I can be relatively well.
Ashok recommends we spend 50% of our waking time in a kind of "down" mode -- doing things relaxing and enjoyable. But this is hard to sustain once one goes back to a full-time stressful job, plus family and home responsibilities.
The Retraining program has allowed me to control the stress response of work/sensory overload a bit. But if I walk too much as I did last weekend on a trip to New York the technique doesnt help. I still needed a few days of reduced activity afterward. And mind -- I'm not someone who ever stopped exercise completely, who ever stopped doing things despite this. I was never "deconditioned" as he seems to assume of people. Still -- a missed meal, too long out of the house/driving/writing/talking on the phone -- the technique doesn't help with this -- only the initial "fear" response of "if I do this I'll get sick." I do without the fear response -- but I can still get sick.
I also have not been able to give up my supplements. He claims that everything cascades from the stress response -but look, Im almost 50 even fully healthy people my age need a lot of the supplements to feel decent.
To me, the ultimate test of Ashok Guptas Amygdala retraining program is can we go back to work full time, in a self-sustaining career? Time will tell in my case. One issue is once youre feeling better, and able/trying to work more you just need to do your work. Professional writers I know, who actually support themselves with their writing, must work 11-14 hours a day. Theres no way around it. Its hard to do that, and spend hours a day doing the technique.
Its the same issue I found when I first got sick, close to 20 years ago. I was canned from my Wall Street job, and thought the solution was self-care and lifestyle management. Unfortunately, a well-paced freelance life didnt afford me enough money to live. So back I went to a full time job, and instantly I got very sick. When my ability to pace my life and meditate, exercise, etc. was gone so went my health.
Id love to be able to say that the Amygdala Retraining was a full cure, but for me it hasnt been. I continue to work with the technique and the advice which is common sense stuff, nothing crazy.
Bottom line I think it would be worth the $190 most of us spend that in supplements in a month, and unlike a series of acupuncture or semester of yoga its something you can use forever.
