Absolutely terrible. I wish I had something to say other than that and good luck.

Chronic fatigue / ME / postviral is shit, my sympathy to those who suffer from it.


Great advice in my experience. The formulation that I have seen work is find an activity that is easy enough it can be done 3 days in a row without bad consequences. This is the hardest you should do, regardless if that is walk to the letterbox, or empty the dishwasher or have a shower. Over long periods of time of not overdoing, respecting setbacks by doing less, the small activities can get very gradually more.


Very much my experience, not just gyms but professional exercise therapists, physical therapists, etc all tend to over-prescribe.

(Final thought is more speculative. These diseases are not 'all in your mind' but your mind can make them worse sort of like with chronic pain. Psychological support can help. I have also seen chronic fatigue sufferers find this book https://www.painpsychologycenter.com/the-way-out.html helpful although only a small part of their journey.)

Sorry, the fatigue blows, I can commiserate with you on that score. Three years ago I was having a blast getting into TR and was working my way into a build phase, felt the strongest I'd ever been on the bike and had good health and fitness. Then that first stupid little puffy cough happened one Sunday night, and I wondered if maybe that was covid. Didn't get all that sick, but never got well, then just got worse over time. Now, after nearly three years of this sh*t I've accepted it's my life. Some things that I'd like to do, or thought that some day I would do, are little more than a pipe dream. I'm just glad that my lungs burn less and I cough less than over the first couple years, my pulse no longer more than triples merely from standing up, the problems at the base of my skull didn't devolve into full-on AAI/CCI, and sleeping 11-12 hours in a night isn't even noteworthy unless I do it for more than a week straight.

I used to consider myself a runner who cycled. Ran 8 Marathons all under 3 hours and 2:45:21 was my best. Then I started biathlon/duathlons, swimming is for fish, and did that many years and won several local du’s over the time. Right after my 50th birthday my back started talking to me loudly. When to a doctor that was a triathele at the time and after an X-Ray and MRI found I have laterally bulging discs at S1 and L5. Since then I run here and there especially when traveling unless it’s a place I can rent a bike and spend 99.99% of my time now on the bike. I’ll be 66 in less than 2 months and still MTB, gravel road ride and spend most of my time on the road. It works but I do have my fair share of aches and pains. I’m a over 6.5 year cancer survivor and have been hit 3 times by a car and one time with a serious brain injury and have had many MTB crashes. I will ride until I leave this planet provided I can. Life gets challenging as time passes so not I’m not where you are at yet and I hope I don’t. Be well and enjoy what is really important around you. Family and friends are number one on my list.

Replying in general to anyone going through illness that might be ME/CFS.

Here was my cure: a book called Reverse Therapy by John Eaton. Check it out on amazon, it's more than worth $10 when you have a chance to turn your life around. The book focuses on how ME/CFS is a mental illness or "bodily distress syndrome" usually caused by stress and lifestyle problems. I did a few online therapy sessions with the author and it has put me back on track. I went from finishing an ironman to not exercising for a full year because of CFS. After two years of illness I found this book and about 8 months later I'm 95% back to full health.

Any questions, feel free to DM me.

That’s awful. Sorry to hear that. Really hope there’s a treatment or cure in the near future.