A lot of people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) feel like they've run a marathon after picking up a few groceries, so now imagine working against ME/CFS, complete with post-exertional malaise, to make it where only the finest athletes even dream of getting - to the Olympic Games.
Somehow, 2 athletes with ME/CFS have set their sights on Olympic Gold this year. Greco-Roman wrestler Ari Taub, from Canada, already has secured his spot. He was diagnosed about 8 years ago. Flatwater canoeist and former Olympian Anna Hemmings still has a few hurdles to clear, but 5 years after her diagnosis she's hoping to lead the British team to victory.
Certainly, not everyone with ME/CFS can hope for this type of recovery. It has to help a lot that Taub and Hemmings were both world-class athletes before they got sick. Still, to think that they were able to get back to that is amazing and encouraging. If they can regain their former abilities, maybe the rest of us can at least make progress. Also, perhaps their presence in Beijing will help bring much-needed attention and awareness to the disease.
- Read more about Ari Taub's long, winding journey to the Olympic Games.
- Find out how Anna Hemmings says she was able to overcome ME/CFS.
Do stories like these give you hope? Do they make you worry that other people will expect this type of miraculous recovery in you? Share your comments here or in About.com's Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome forum (look under Newsletter & Blog Topics.)
Although these stories are wonderful for the athletes involved, they leave readers (who do not know MR/CFS) with a possibly completely erroneous misconception of the condition. It sounds to me like both athletes had a potential post-viral syndrome which resolved with time, unlike most of the “normal” ME/CFS population. I fear their stories being touted as the “ME/CFS poster-stories” because I do not feel they represent the norm. I know a women who caught Parovirus (5th’s disease) from her child and had FMS/ME/CFS for 1.5-2 years. It is now completely resolved. For the majority of us with ME/CFS, we’ve had it for many, many more years. And we’ve found it is long-standing, and chronic. It is a condition to be managed like diabetes or COPD. It is not something most of us recover from and go on to work 60 hour weeks and ski the slopes again. Our lives are inevitably changed and we have little understanding from the government, the medical community, and the public in general. We must also keep in mind that there are many subgroups of ME/CFS being studied. Perhaps this “quick recovery” group is a particular subgroup; but they are not what should or can be expected in general. I fear stories like this will simply put patients with ME/CFS who are struggling terribly at even more disadvantage because the public, families, and others will begin to expect us to just “get over it” like those other folks did.
I agree with Edna. These two athletes are not the norm. Also I have not read anthying about “reverse therapy” to stimulate a gland in the brain thought to cause ME” Anyone know what that is all about?
Edna, you basically took the words right out of my mouth. I have felt this way ever since the story of Michelle Akers, a former member of the Women’s U.S. Soccer Team , having chronic fatigue syndrome came out. And that was almost 10 years ago. I was only 18 at the time and I had been suffering with cfids/fibro for about 3 years then, so I was struggling with the lack of understanding from so many people and this story just made my situation seem not so bad. One of the ways I learned to explain it was that Michelle only had chronic fatigue syndrome, which is a bit more manageable than chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome,which I had, where your immune system attacks everything causing numerous other problems.
Where are the stories of people that have a far worse battle with these diseases?!?
I was an athlete when I got sick. I was a ski racer and mountain bike racer who was used to riding 250 miles per week when it all happened to me. The first two months (the initial illness) I was completely slammed and would have turn right around after each time that I tried to go out and ride my bike.
During the third month, I slowly started to improve until I finally had a good ride at the end of the month; it was the first time I had felt strong on my bike in 3 months. It was the last time I ever felt good from bicycling again. I started to go downhill again and everything got worse, even though I kept trying to mountain bike and I could only do a small amount compared to what I had been able to do previously.
It’s no coincidence that this is also when I started having strange “occurrences” with my heart in which it felt like my heart stopped, and my vision became a soda size straw tube. The finding that ME/CFS patients have diastolic cardiomyopathy shouldn’t be a surprise. In fact, the low sed rate (ESR) correlated nicely with other illnesses, such as anemia, dilated cardiomyopathy, giant cell arteritis, etc. that cause fatigue and have low sed rates.
I spent five years trying to “exercise the illness away” (by taking on a ski and mountain bike coaching job to force myself) even though it was really the last thing my body seemed to want and I could only do a fraction of what I had been able to do previously. Exercise does not help! (Disclaimer: strengthening is still important for us though; since it’s the only part of our muscle metabolism that’s working correctly, we do need to keep what we’ve got. In fact, this helps explain why some athletes can appear to be more functional despite having the full plethora of symptoms such as pain, sleep dysfunction, and cognitive dysfunction; their previously overdeveloped anaerobic system protects some, very limited anaerobic related function despite the overall illness. We still have an abnormal reaction to even “sedentary” activity as everyone with this illness experiences.)
Basically, having been an athlete sometimes helps us “pass” better but athletes can and often are just as ill. The few athletes who do continue in their sport basically are already at the level where there is support and usually have to end up giving up everything outside the most minimal needed to continue in that sport. I have also noticed that most who do continue are rarely endurance athletes. If anything, it’s also likely that athletes actually do more damage to their hearts by continuing to exercise after getting ill (like myself.)
This is very encouraging. I was a professional sportsman, and was out injured for a few years. I was always adamant i would return and it was my sole priority.
During the time I was out (a long time, multiple operations and set backs) I got ill. Very ill. I have been trying, and failing, to make a comeback for 2 years. It is no longer the injuries, although I make out it is, but the illness stopping me. In fact it had even stopped me from working and sometimes i wonder if life is worth living.
I have found the right doctor and working very hard. This article has given me hope- maybe one day?
I question the illness of the two athletes who have returned to Olympic Activity. I have suffered for 14 years now. I also used to be a fitness freak and used exercise as a tool for relieving stress and feeling good. I had never really been sick until I started a Masters Degree at age 26 and I started having breathing problems. It was hyperventilation syndrome. My body randomly would just collapse and would be barely able to breathe. After seeing a Doctor I suffered a severe allergic reaction to two anti-depressant. Well my body just seemed to be shutting down on an hourly basis. I couldn’t explain it and in the end I was virtually bed bound. All tests came back negative and I have received nothing but ignorance, abuse and bullying from the medical profession. I seemed to go into denial about my M.E. and did get back to work but that is basically all I could do and then collapse at the end of the day. I have had periods where for some reason my body has recovered to a certain level and have felt more energised but for the last few years I have been really ill. I am just so exhausted all the time which doesnt help my mood and like you Tom I even took an overdose the other day as I just feel I am trapped in a broken body. My Spirit is broken and after 14 years feel like I will never recover. I watch people exercise and get very jealous and resentful. I just feel like this illness has totally devastated my whole life. My parents are very supportive but if you have not experienced this cruel illness with all its negativity and ignorance you don’t understand. I am lying in bed now having just had to endure a birthday lunch and am so exhausted with breathing difficulties. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. Anyway for anyone who suffers with this illness I know what you are going through and am sad that we live in such isolation. I sometimes think what did I do to deserve this but I just think some things just can’t be explained.
Hi Edward, There is help out there I would strongly recommend that you look at reverse therapy. This worked for me. I had ME for 3 years that I knew about but it was probably more like 10 years. There are many very supportive therapists who can help you get over this. If I can help you any more I would be very happy to have a chat about what you have been through.
http://www.reverse-therapy.com/
I raced in my first triathlon at 40 years old and was hooked. I then started to do a few races the next year but came down with mono. It’s been down hill on and off for the last 4 years. At first they thought it was EBV but I didn’t test positive for it. Eventually after extensive bloodwork it’s been concluded that it must be CFS. I still do triathlons and usually win or place in the top 5 for my age group. Unfortunately I have to deal with flair ups. It is especially frustrating when I get training hard and feeling really good that it is then when I usually come down with the muscle and joint aches along with the terrible sore throat and total lack of energy. Then I’m forced to take time off, just when I’m training at my peak. I’m curious if anyone knows of any homeopathic methods to elevate the symptoms?