I have been suffering from ME/CFS for about 10 or 11 years now, having previously had Epstein-Barr Virus.

I find that my symptoms are mainly brought on, and subsequently made worse, by over exercising, lifting heavy weights, walking up stairs or any kind of repetitive movements. I get very dizzy and would mainly describe my condition of feeling ‘out of it’, that is to say that although I know I am awake, alive etc, I somehow don’t feel quite there. I get headaches, tightness in the muscles-especially feet and hands-and I get very weary and lethargic. I have a heightened sensitivity to light and noise, as well as getting a funny, metallic taste in the mouth and spots in front of my eyes. I have a great difficultly concentrating on tasks, and looking at a screen makes me feel worse. I also clench my teeth, which gives me even more severe headaches and a painful jaw, though this has much improved in recent months.

Doing the right amount of exercise can greatly improve my condition but this is by no means an exact science, and if I get it wrong, I can feel considerably worse, and feel bad for weeks if not months after. I like to do a lot of swimming but in the last year or so, I have only managed one session before feeling I cannot risk going again.

 After having had one of my best years for a long time, I returned to one of my lowest points after over exercising one too many times. I found I was not recovering as quickly as I had been in the last year. I found Robin on the Perrin website and have been to see him on 5 occasions now, including one double session. I think I have been overexerting myself too much recently, but in spite of this, I would say that I started to feel about 70% better after the first 3 or 4 sessions, and would put myself at about 75%, if I say I was at 0% before coming to see him. Initially, on leaving a session, I tend not to feel any immediate benefit but as the week goes on, I notice myself improving more and more.

 I have no doubt that the work he does in the session contribute to this improvement but some other major things I have got out of all this, are the exercises he has given me to do at home and advice on my diet. I was given a list of treatments to do myself, and these were very thoroughly explained and demonstrated on a number of occasions. As a result of this, I have been able to fully incorporate them into my daily routine, and genuinely do feel that they are having a positive effect. I maintain a weekly diary of everything I eat, and Robin takes the time to go over this and point out things I need to cut out so as not to further aggravate my condition. I have now made a fairly radical change to my diet and know that this can only help me even further in the long run.

 Overall, it appears that my treatment is going well, and I am confident that after the 12 weeks consecutive treatment, I will be able to move onto coming every other week. Ideally, I obviously want to be cured completely but in the short term, I just want to get to a point where I am not constantly aware of my symptoms and hopefully be able to get back to going swimming every other day.

AF, IT consultant, age 37 presenting with Perrin Technique for CFS/ME, Testimonials