On the road to recovery Part 4: Toxic Waste
Before I continue with my story, I need to take us back to school and briefly explain a bit of biology. Now, biology was not my best subject at school so please look at the links at the end of this post, pointing to cleverer brains than mine who can explain things more fully (1). The following is a very simplified explanation.
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An Idiot's Guide to How Our Bodies Work:
2 quick definitions:
A Toxin: a substance that causes damage to a person’s body.
A Neurotoxin: a substance that can damage or destroy nerve tissue, disrupting the normal function of the nervous system.
Fact no. 1:
There are countless different types of toxins/neurotoxins in the world around us. In what we eat, drink, put on our bodies, brush up against, or breathe in as part of our everyday life. There are also things inside our body, which are there to help us, but that, in excess, building up over time can prove harmful.
Fact no. 2:
Our bodies have a very cleverly designed, inbuilt drainage system to get rid of any toxins/neurotoxins it needs to clear out. This system has 2 bits to it: The Veins (carrying the small toxins away) and The Lymphatics (carrying the larger toxins away).
Fact no. 3:
Each person with ME/CFS has their own history of things their body has been subjected to, from illness and physical strain to mental and emotional distress. These events can do 2 things.
1) They can flood our system with things like adrenaline and other trauma-fighting chemicals that are designed to help, but in excess, clogs up the system and, over time, can cause our bodies to struggle.
2) They can injure the drainage system itself, causing it to malfunction.
Fact no. 4:
When the drainage system is clogged up or malfunctioning, that’s when the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) symptoms start. The Perrin Treatment simply works to restore the function of this drainage system, the body’s own ability to deal with these toxins.
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OK- science bit over. Well done for sticking with it.
So, while having the treatment there is something else that can help. Much like the advice of a plumber when unclogging a drain, we need to identify what it was that got the system clogged up in the first place, so that it doesn’t keep happening.
There are a number of things that can be done to limit the exposure to external toxins, such as changing the food we eat, the household products we use, and being more mindful about the impact that pollution and technology have on the body. Just check out the list at the end of this post for links to books and websites on this topic.
However, for lasting change, it often comes down to a big lifestyle shift, and this takes courage. It is staggering just how much of an impact our lifestyles have on our bodies. I have long since come to terms with the fact that my truck-driving days are over. This is due to the simple fact that the average work life for a trucker is 50 to 60+ hours a week. The industry isn’t set up to let drivers work what would normally be seen as ‘regular’ or ‘part-time’ hours. But for me, it has to go further back than even my life as a trucker. With the help of my psychotherapist, I have learnt that there are coping mechanisms I developed very early in life, which though they served their purpose at the time and many times since, will need to be dismantled if I am to properly recover long term. These coping mechanisms enabled me to keep doing life the way I was. This has even included the medications I was taking, which, over time, were causing more harm than good.
I am learning a lot: I am learning that dealing with the symptoms of a problem doesn’t solve it. I’m learning that sometimes your body shouldn’t be made to power on through in the name of success or serving others or even just to keep the peace. I’m learning that sometimes you need to choose to say enough is enough, or else your body will find a way of overruling.
For some reason, we tend to think that the mental and the physical are two separate things. We hear the phrase ‘mind over matter’ or see the consistent choice people make, reaching for a stimulant or a medication to quiet the symptoms that are holding them back from their goals in life. We tell ourselves to focus a bit harder, work that bit longer, and we will get what we want. It’s not true, and it's actually dangerous. I have met others whose own stories tell the same thing, of being confronted by the fact that their whole lives would have to change if they wanted to recover in any meaningful way. Rethinking what success looks like and getting back to basics.
One such person is a lady named Catherine Vandome. Her story tells of how she went from being an all-singing, all-dancing, multiple business-running powerhouse, to being knocked for six with ME/CFS at the age of 39. She was in toxic overload and her case was a complicated one, but thankfully, she found the Perrin TechniqueTM. Perrin was such a game-changer for her that she is now able to support others on their journeys, through telling her story and signposting to Perrin and other support modalities that she found helpful (see the resource list at the end of this post for more information).
I was introduced to her book and podcasts through my local Perrin Practitioner, Mark Singleton. He, himself, suffered from ME/CFS for most of his adult life. Before becoming a Perrin Practitioner, Mark trained in the field of Somatics, a field of psychotherapy that knows only too well, the link between the mind and the body. It is the fascinating study of the body as perceived from within, becoming mindful of internal physical sensations and through various bodywork techniques, facilitates movement, addressing things like chronic pain.
I also have had the honour of meeting Lyndsey Simpson, whose own successful battle against cancer led her to discover that our emotional/ psychological framework is very much interlinked with our nervous system, leading to serious health conditions if left to fester for long enough. Her work as a psychotherapist and cancer coach, alongside The Root Cause Institute, has led people to be set free from recurrent paths of sickness through the challenging road of confronting what it is about their lifestyle and psychological journey that is throwing their body into crisis.
These are just a small number of courageous people I know, and there are many more like them, learning to listen to what their bodies are trying to tell them, rather than using them like machines to power on through life. I can attest to the fact that it isn’t easy. I’m only at the start of my journey and know it’s not for the faint-hearted, but the outcomes, even at this stage, have proved themselves worth it.
It’s true that this journey has led me to question what I thought I knew about mainstream healthcare. These findings blow our common understanding of sickness and disease right out of the water, as people are being told that the common pharmaceutical approaches are the only viable options. I want to emphasise I have a lot of respect for my NHS doctor, and others I know like her. She has been a huge support to me for many years, and I know only too well that it’s rare to have a doctor who knows me well and is willing to walk with me as I explore other options when I discussed my medication with her. She celebrated with me when I successfully titrated down off all my medications, with her help, over a number of months. She congratulated me when I was able to reverse the effects of my diabetes through diet alone and treat my previously diagnosed Bipolar 3 (Cyclothymia) with long-term psychotherapy instead of psychiatric drugs. But with the current state of the NHS, as well as the political and pharma. based pressures that influence the rhetoric around health and treatment options, I have learnt to take ownership of the choices I make regarding my own health. Realising that I don’t have to accept the authority of general practice, in its pursuit of symptom-based treatments, if it's not getting to the source of the issue.
I have discovered that our bodies are designed in such a clever way that even in a world where avoiding toxins completely is impossible and life throws all it has at us, we have been equipped with what we need, in creation itself. Realising that, if we learn to listen to our bodies, with the help of those who have gone before, not simply trying to batter ourselves into submission with pharmaceuticals and willpower, we can reshape our lives to be ones where we not only survive serious illness but recover and thrive.
1) Perrin, R. (2021). The Perrin Technique. London: Hammersmith Health
Resources:
Lyndsey Simpson: Cancer Coach Info
Lyndsey Simpson: Psychotherapy
The Inner Compass: Navigating the world of mental health medications
The Alexander Technique: A form of Somatic therapy
Ultra-Processed People by Chris Van Tallenken
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