”Take these to avoid deformity” was the sentenc my doctor used when I was prescribed high dose NSAIDS to treat the symptoms related to a recent diagnosis of Ross River Fever (an Australian mosquitoes borne virus that causes a range of symptoms including polyathritis, fatigue, rash, headache and can last from 3months - many years)
I was first diagnosed in 2006 (I was 19 years old ) and then rediagnosed in 2012 (it is not throught to relapse so drs think I was reinfected) in Sydney I was 1 of 3 people diagnose with the illness in 2006 so it’s quite rare to get it once in Sydney let alone twice.
Unfortunately I was not well assisted by my local medical community, my ruhmatologist told me to “eat vegetables” and when I was fatigued doctors told me to “do less” and one doctor didn’t believe the lab reports and retested me for the virus 5 times, got 4 positive tests and one “equivical” so then told me he couldn’t help me because I wasn’t “sick”.
I spent 10 years bedridden, off and on.
I have always been been trying to force myself to keep as much muscle mass as possible, and re learnt to walk twice.
About 2 years ago I found a really good gp who is so much more helpful than all my other experiences (to the point where I get sad that she wasn’t around in the early days)
I have recently been watching your stuff on YouTube, and it has been really helpful. I decided to start strength training I did strong lifts 5x5 at first then the bridge. I did the workouts and then crashed out all day for the first 2 months. But I kept going because even though I slept all day after each session my lifts were still going up so I kept on the program. After a while I started being able to stay awake all day.
I would just just like to thank you for putting so much free stuff only with links to research it really helped me!
You talk about doctors harming patients through their language and I can totally relate.
Since the PACE study on GET was discredited are there any other studies around that talk about strength training and people with post viral chronic fatigue?
I think my fatige has has almost completely disapaited now I just think “what are you going to do? Not train?”
Thank you so much for your help with effective training
(My current numbers squat 75kg, bench 57.5kg, deadlift 110kg, Press 42.5 kg, I’m 95kg at 1.72m)