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 | | | | I was not disappointed. In my case it took three or four sessions before the symptoms started to lift. But Dr Eaton explained to me that my symptoms were with me because my body was trying to warn me and protect me and that it hadn’t needed to do that while I was on holiday. What was important was for me to understand what it was about my life here in England that needed to be changed in order for me to get back to health. This I was able to do with Dr Eaton’s help.
| | NF 2004 | | | | Read more testimonials |
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New hope at last for ME sufferers?
World Champion athlete Anna Hemmings stood in the shower and felt she hadn’t the strength to lift her hands to her head and wash her hair. Her muscles ached, her head was muzzy and she felt defeated and demoralised.
This was not the aftermath of one of her furiously-paced 32km marathon kayak races which had brought her four world championship gold medals. Anna had barely trained for months, was sleeping 14 hours a night and taking a nap in the afternoons, and she collapsed with weariness if she tried more than a gentle paddle.
She had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), or ME – an illness so debilitating it can keep patients housebound for decades. At 26 it looked set to rob her of a glittering career, her livelihood and even the very core of her identity, and no one could say how long it might go on. But last October a fit and glowing Anna was back on the podium after reclaiming her world crown in Perth, Australia, following a four-year break. “That victory was sweeter and more special than any other in my career” she says.
Now 29, she attributes her health to a controversial new treatment developed by British psychotherapist, Dr John Eaton. The treatment is based on the idea of “Bodymind”, which seeks to explain the link between the brain and physical health. Reverse Therapy Practitioners believe CFS is caused by the Bodymind reacting to emotional stresses by sending the hypothalamus into overdrive. This pea-sized area of the brain in turn overworks the adrenal glands, causing muscles to burn up too much glucose, resulting in fatigue and pain. The therapy is designed to send a message to the hypothalamus that the problems have been dealt with, allowing it to stop sending out distress signals.
Anna became so ill in the spring of 2003 while training in Florida that she had to abandon racing for the season. She then consulted the British Olympic team doctor and tried every alternative treatment. She had acupuncture and reiki, saw a nutritionist and an endocrinologist, took up yoga and swallowed vitamins and other supplements. But nothing worked.
When I met her recently during a break from training on the Thames, she recalled: “One doctor told me all I could do was rest. I asked for how long and he just said ‘Until you get better’. I’d heard of people having this for 10 or 20 years and I thought: ‘No, that’s not happening to me.” “It was very frustrating when people said things like, ‘Why don’t you get your act together?’
Some suggested I was scared of not winning again. But you don’t get to be world champion if you are lazy or not willing to put yourself on the line. It was hurtful to have people doubting my integrity.”
When Anna started the therapy, she was told to keep a symptom diary for two weeks. Then she and Dr Eaton worked out what triggered the symptoms. “Everyone has different triggers but one of the most common is not expressing emotion,” she says. “Though I felt hugely angry and sad about my CFS, I always told friends I was fine. I didn’t cry with anyone though I cried a lot on my own. I also had a lot of ‘must-dos’ in my life, including, ‘I must get ten hours sleep a night’ and ‘I must eat the right things’. “I thought I was in tune with my body but I ignored alarm bells going off all over the place. My body cried out for a bit of balance in my life and when I didn’t listen, it gave me the symptoms.”
Dr Eaton’s treatment was to write messages on cards which she had to read aloud and act on whenever the symptoms appeared. “They said things like: ‘My symptoms are with me now as a reminder to stop isolating myself.’ The next time my friends asked about the illness, I burst into tears and told them how awful it was. It was really liberating.”
Anna gave up all her other treatments. After starting the therapy in September 2004, her symptoms subsided and she was back in training last January. “It has taught me to be happier. I’ve consolidated friendships and brought more emotional balance into my life and can still do my sport at the highest level,” she said.
Dr Eaton employs 32 therapists, treating around 600 people at £80 a session. An audit of 407 cases in May found that 83 per cent reported that symptoms had gone or reduced significantly. More trials are about to begin. Dr Eaton hopes for wider acceptance for the therapy by publishing his results in a medical journal. He says that therapy sounds simple, that does not make it easy. “People are dominated by head intelligence which blocks their sensitivity to their bodies so they keep doing things that are not healthy for them,” he says.
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