Tanzi's story

Around New Year 2006 I started getting quite ill, I went to bed and then didn’t get up until August.

The doctor initially diagnosed me with glandular fever, but a couple of months later I was told I had ME. I was advised to rest as much as I could and in two or three years, if I was lucky, I would get my energy back.

I thought that wasn’t good enough, being told I “might” get better. I was terrified and it was such a traumatic time not knowing if I would get better or not, especially as I knew someone who had ME for 18 years.

I was literally on the couch all day and sometimes my Mum even had to carry me to the bathroom.

Mum had to leave her job to look after me; it was really hard for her seeing me like that. I was in constant pain and I had migraines. There was not much the doctors could do and the pain relief they gave wasn’t enough.

I had dropped out of University, cancelled the holiday I had planned and had given up my part-time job.

I had tried lots of treatments such as acupuncture, exercise and anti-depressants as well as strong pain relief, but nothing helped relieve the pain.

I resigned myself to years of pain and boredom, until my Mum discovered there was a cure. She contacted a reverse therapist the UK and set up a telephone consultation after finding an internet site that said they had an 80% success rate at curing ME.

The first thing Kathleen said was that I was not unwell, but I was out of alignment and not doing what is important for me.

Being told that alone takes away the fear that you are not going to get better.

Instead I needed to listen to my body and learn to express myself. People with ME often find it hard to say no to things which can be stressful. I believe it’s a lifestyle thing, there is a lot of pressure in society and people do too much.

I was taking too much on; working very hard at university, running a social club, working 20 hours a week and I had family issues to deal with at the time.

So getting ill is a message from your body telling you you’re not living healthily and something needs to change.

Reverse Therapy is different to some treatments as it addresses the cause of the illness rather than the symptoms and is an educational process which makes you listen to your symptoms. When you get a headache it means you may need to slow things down, otherwise the symptoms may progress or worsen.

It helps you deal with different situations so you become better at dealing with difficult problems.

Doctors say to rest, but the first thing I was told by Kathleen was to get up. I was told that I was feeling unwell because I was resting all the time and I was bored.

She explained I needed to do small things at a time; to get a part-time job – and I could!

I just got up in baby steps. I would go to see a friend for an hour. I was a bit scared but it felt great. Luckily my old job let me come back for an hour a few days a week. After just two one hour sessions I was up and walking again.

As soon as I was walking I booked my holiday to Indonesia and walked up a volcano and I felt fine. I was a little weak as I hadn’t used my muscles in so long, but generally I felt okay.

I had always wanted to see Europe, so I decided to go travelling. I’ll go back to university at a later date.

I’ve learned to appreciate every day in my life, it’s been more than 3 years and I still get moments of joy. I look at the sunshine and feel so happy.

I feel like I’m in control of my life now and whatever I want I can achieve because I have all these skills that I have been given.

It has taught me life skills, so the situations I had been avoiding I learned how to address.

I’m so glad I was unwell as my life is much better now. I listen to my body, when I get a headache I’ll sit down and go into my body and think about what I really want if I’m stressed. I’ve learned to express myself better and if I think I’m not going to meet a deadline I’ll speak to my boss and say it’s making me feel ill and I need an extension.