Gupta Programme - SESSION 1: PART 2 | ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, MCS & EHS |
Ashok Gupta describes his recovery from chronic fatigue syndrome and the therapies he developed based on his theory that the amygdala maintains the illness. He explains overlap with fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivities, recommends medical testing first, and offers a six-month money-back guarantee.
Chapters
For six to nine months I struggled on. I felt aching and exhausted all over until the real blow came. I was very much behind in my coursework. When I realized there was no way I was going to catch up. My tutors were sympathetic and agreed that I could do my third year again. I should have been pleased, but in fact there was a huge feeling of failure which I kept hidden inside. It was a personal blow as I was always someone who was good at his studies. I had always been a hard working person, energetic, wanting to do well, and this illness was the antithesis of all those values. It was a bitter pill to swallow. Now you may or may not be able to relate to these experiences. That doesn't matter at all because each person with CFS has their own interesting story to tell. Because I was quite a driven person, even though I felt absolutely awful, I decided to conduct my own research into the condition. It was a very slow process, but I found the whole area fascinating given the lack of any answers from the medical profession. After years of research, I found some interesting answers in some groundbreaking research into brain neurology, especially related to unconscious reactions in a brain structure called the amygdala. I then began researching some complementary therapies which I thought would help my condition, given my hypothesis. Now, my own process of getting 100% better was rather ad hoc, given that I was just experimenting with different therapies and seeing what would happen eventually, when the jigsaw pieces finally fitted together, I began to improve rapidly and Now I am 100% symptom free and I have been for many years. This has made a massive difference to my life, as you can imagine, to go from extreme fear that I felt that my life was over, that I would be struggling through life with cfs, to then feeling like I could have my life back. That was an incredible journey. I could spend hours telling you all about it, but I'm sure you want to get on with learning how to get better yourself. Since I got better, I have been working with people at my clinic in central London, refining my therapies to the point at which they are working for the vast majority of people the vast majority of the time. This has taken years of understanding and trying to understand why certain things work for certain people and not for other people, as well as keeping up to date with all the latest developments in the CFS world. I want to give you the hope right now that you really can get better from cfs. I have done it. Many other people have done it. You can do it too. I believe that I understand what you are going through. I can imagine the loneliness and the despair that comes with this condition, not knowing who to turn to, not being understood by those around you. I've been there, but there is definitely a powerful light at the end of the tunnel, and the tunnel may be shorter than you realise. The worksheets and DVDs will fully explain CFS to you without too much medical jargon. Once you understand the causes of cfs, then that in itself will help in relieving some of the fear and uncertainty around the condition, leaving you ready to move forward and get better. There are two generally accepted criteria for deciding whether you have CFS or not, and these criteria are used by researchers. The first one is the US criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and the second is the Oxford criteria. I won't go through them now, but they are in the accompanying notes for this session if you wish to look at them. Even if you think you qualify as someone experiencing cfs, I would advise seeing your doctor before you use this program if you haven't done already. It is important you take all the recommended tests to rule out any other cause for your condition before starting this program. This is because the symptoms of CFS can be occasionally caused by another disease. Remember that officially the symptoms need to be occurring for at least six months before it can be called cfs. At the same time, it is useful to catch the condition early. Unfortunately, at this stage CFS tends to be a default diagnosis when all other options have been ruled out, so it can be difficult to ever truly get a yes or no from your doctor. Furthermore, there may be traditional or complementary therapists who offer a different diagnosis which they put forward as a cause of the condition. I would suggest caution here as there is a big difference between the original cause of a condition and a secondary symptom which can show up. These secondary symptoms may need to be alleviated as well, but may not necessarily be the cause of your condition in the first place. As an example, many nutritionists may say that you have Candida, but that doesn't mean that that is the cause of the condition. It may simply be yet another aggravating symptom caused by cfs. In terms of fibromyalgia, there are many crossovers with CFS with the emphasis on joint and muscle pain. Now, I can't categorically say that it is not a different condition. However, all I can say is that my therapies have proved just as effective for people with fibromyalgia as for cfs. So I Believe exactly the same processes are occurring in the brain. In my experience of working with patients, I have found that the vast majority seem to fit my explanation of cfs. If I was to estimate a percentage, I would say around 80 to 90% of people fit into this category. Now, there could be a chance that you don't fit my version of cfs. And to cover for this, I offer you a guarantee on this program Anyway. If for any reason this recovery program does not make you feel any better within six months, then simply post back all the pack that you received to the return address on the back of the package. Also include a letter with all your payment information and you will receive a full refund. That's how sure I am that this will help you towards a full recovery. Now, I believe that CFS is caused by a number of different initial triggers, and this may result in different symptoms for each patient. But I believe that the underlying process is the same in each person. Once again, I believe all the action is in the amygdala. Therefore, there is a very high chance that you fit the explanation in this program. And I would encourage you to go forward in that mindset so that you really go for it and give it 100%. Before we get into the exact process of how to recover from cfs, I want to make sure that you have the right way of approaching this whole process so that other things don't distract you from really giving it 100%. Now, this is a question sure, you get asked all the time. Is CFS in the mind or is it in the body? Frankly, the problem is in the question itself, as it is not either or. In fact, I believe that the vast majority of illnesses have both a physical and a mental or emotional component. As an example, it is observed that cancer recovery rates can be improved by increasing the level of emotional care and group support that someone receives. Another example is the placebo effect, where people can make themselves feel better just by taking a sugar pill just because they have a strong belief it will make them feel better. It is the traditional medical profession that has made this split between the physical and the mental or emotional. But even now that is beginning to change. I believe that CFS is a real physical condition with real physical symptoms. Let me state that again for those people who have been unsure on where I stand on this. I believe it is a real physical condition with real physical symptoms in the body. Together with that, I believe there is an underlying process going on in the brain, in the unconscious, and it is this process which is keeping the symptoms going. This centres on a brain structure which which we mentioned earlier called the amygdala. This process is out of your control, therefore it is difficult to know whether this qualifies as a psychological process or not. Therefore, I would say that CFS is a real physical illness in the body with an underlying process occurring in the unconscious brain. I hope that helps.
