Mike's inspiring Full Recovery from Long Covid & chronic fatigue

Mike shares his inspiring 15 month full recovery journey from Long Covid and chronic fatigue, which began New Year's Eve 2020. TIMESTAMPS below:

Overview:
For over a year, Mike didn’t have the capacity to do more than sit at the park bench right behind his house. He had multiple debilitating symptoms, many crashes, and didn’t have the energy to socialize. Mike talks about the things he tried, and what helped him (and the things that didn’t). He’s now running 10 miles every day in the park. Here is his powerful and inspiring story.

Here is a form to get in touch with Mike (he doesn’t have a website or social media): https://forms.gle/HpU6CFM9VpRTSv8DA

Friendly disclaimer: Nothing is medical advice, nor meant to contradict what you have discovered to be true.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:29 Introduction and how Mike and I connected
1:03 Purpose for sharing recovery story
2:10 How journey with chronic illness / Long Covid began
2:40 Thinking what he could have, and getting tests
2:59 How he pushed through
3:17 Dealing with a significant personal loss
4:46 Previous health issues he experienced prior to Long Covid?
6:08 How he self-medicated before Covid
6:24 Journey into a supportive modality
7:27 Key symptoms when health fully crashed post Covid & being mostly housebound
8:32 How he got through the day with Long Covid
9:29 How this affected friends and family
10:47 What medical answers he got? Any treatment that helped?
11:05 Mike shares more of his formers symptoms
11:32 What his NHS doctor told him about Long Covid that stuck
12:38 Pacing advice he got
13:35 What was disconcerting about the medical experience with Long Covid
14:24 Did he find diet, supplements, or alternative treatments helpful? What things he did try.
16:10 After trying everything in the NHS for 11 months, in November 2021 he sees an out-of-pocket specialist. This was his experience.
18:24 Liz shares personal reflections on pacing and Mike talks more about his experience with it
20:10 Mike’s experience with therapy to help support him with loss and chronic illness. What happens when former coping mechanisms aren’t an option.
21:51 The unexpected thing that supported Mike (I talk about how I somewhat relate)
23:04 Mike talks about canceling on friends. We loop back to talk about what therapy specifically helped him with.
26:08 Mike’s rock bottom Christmas 2021 (I relate)
28:05 When did Mike discover the paradigm that would ultimately help him?
29:30 What made Mike pull the trigger on it.
30:29 What he realized was helpful to keep his spirits up and the belief recovery was possible
31:02 The main thing that mattered to Mike
33:10 Mike talks about his experience with the Lightning Process
39:48 Mike talks about the sympathetic and parasympathic nervous system
41:41 How Mike linked his previous health issues with the nervous system
43:42 Our internal pharmacy
45:33 We reflect on why some people don’t have positive experiences, and how it was important for him to interpret and apply things the way he did.
51:35 Brain retraining, but also seeing a therapist? How does That work? Mike explains how things worked for him.
54:27 We talk about our internal pharmacy and popular pharmaceutical drugs. (not medical advice)
55:06 Mike talks about placebo studies for chronic pain.
57:18 Power of expectations in health outcomes? We both share our different perspectives.
58:48 I get tearful and tell Mike about my heart condition that I was born with, and what a cardiologist told me when I was 12 that was so key (don't ask me about my heart, please)
1:02:20 Why it’s not just luck (but if you tried everything it's not your fault)
1:02:36 We talk about lifestyle changes / habits.
1:04:33 Liz talks about realization she had and Mike shares his perspective.
1:05:47 Mike talks about a setback he had and what got him through
1:06:59 Celebrating his birthday with friends
1:07:50 Mike’s life now
1:09:41 Mike’s final words of wisdom
1:11:54 Mike’s happy update from February 2023, and how to get in touch with him for a free chat.

*New Programs Guide:*
Lindsay Vine, host of the Post-Viral Podcast, and I just published a 180 page independent guide, containing an in-depth analysis of 25 Lifestyle & Nervous System Regulation programs. You can get your copy here:
https://healwithliz.com/programs-guide

Programs reviewed include: Three Week Fatigue Rescue, Lifestyle Pacing, The Gupta Program, The Lightning Process, DNRS, Re-Origin, Primal Trust, ANS Rewire, and over 15 more. We do not recommend a single program over others, but provide detailed information to help you choose what’s best for you, based on interviews with dozens of people who did these programs.