An end to pain and chronic fatigue etc.etc. ??

[ladida]

I have a daughter suffering with chronic pain and have recently been recommended to investigate something called 'The Lightning Process.' It apparently has a very high success rate for numerous conditions and the testimonials are amazing! There must be something in it so I'm currently trying to convince my daughter. Have a look, I know it's not cheap but if it works ...... nothing else so far has!

[onhereagain]

Had a look not very impressed. To be honest as I have just been through a very bad time I think it has more to do with stress/depression and other illnesses I have Diabetes/ underactive Thyroid and on checking Vit D deficiency very low all cause depression and if they are not at optimim levels the Fibro returns. I have done CBT as well and feel thjat only masks anything The best thing is a nice stress busting massage and using a SAD light especially during winter months and light exercise these only help and not cure. I have also noticed since changing the statin lipitor many of the pains have decreased. Do not get me wrong I have fibro and I understand the pain and fatigue but I think we need to look more into what even food intolrence causes issues for me pork and pineapple make me feel worse.

[Hidden]

Hello Bob here

I can understand how this can work although we cover this in mental health and fight or flight is a well known problem as you need to realise what sort of stress you are in.

With regard to chronic pain the condition is an unproductive pain and would be felt at different levels by two patients with the same condition. The body nerve system becomes sensitised to that pain

When we go to Pain Management we are trained to know what type of pain that we are suffering from and coping techniques relaxation and medications are covered.

One other way is to compartmentalize you pain types and use your Relaxation techniques.

This system seems to me it is the same technique used in Mental illness and Pain control courses .

Personally I am not a GP so I look for situations that are tried and tested, This includes something free and things I have to pay for especially when both systems are preaching the same procedures

If you feel this will help, give it a try,as some people will try alternatives just to say they have tried everything

Good Luck

BOB .

[johnsmith]

I have read some of what the lightning process says and the the so called randomised trial. I have had a look at the "lightningprocess.com/resear... web site. What is the lightning process and what does it do? How superior to other treatment regimes in regard to cost and time is it? Who are the people who say it has a high success rate and what do they rate as success? From the web site I have no idea what the the "lightning process" is which makes me highly suspicious of it.

Alexander Technique has among its records in the 1940's successful treatment of ME type conditions. Many musicians whose careers were in danger of being cut short by chronic pain have responded very well to the Alexander Technique.

Mindfulness and Meditation Buddhist techniques with a 2500 year history have a very good success rate with chronic pain and various untreatable medical conditions. No cure but great improvement in quality of life and ability to do things. Mindfulness and Buddhist techniques are being recognised by many in the medical profession as helpful.

ME (chronic fatigue syndrome) is an umbrella term to describe a certain set of symptoms. The cause for these symptoms can be different in various people. Many possible causes for the ME type symptoms are never looked for. Example lyme Desease.

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii.[1] The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the felid (cat) family. This parasite can infect the brain and depending which part of the brain will depend what effects it will have. Ie it may be possible for this parasite to cause ME type symptoms.

Chronic fatigue goes with chronic pain. With chronic pain there is often sleep deprecation which aids chronic fatigue. With chronic pain you are have to mentally work at things which you do not have to bother with when you do not suffer from pain. All this extra mental work leads to brain over load. The brain is designed for a particular level of Wattage output. Having to work some parts of the brain due to the chronic pain can lead to brain having to shut down to keep within its design parameters. Medical practitioners call this depression even if it is not.

There is also the bereavement aspect. You are suffering the loss of not being able to do the things you were once able to do. That has to be worked though and acknowledged.

Hope this helps.

[pinknosedcat]

I have heard of the lightening process, it's been around for for a few years now. Specifically for treating ME and I understand from people that have tried it that it does have some measure of success, but by no means is it always helpful. My biggest problem with this treatment is that no one seems to be able to tell me what it involves. Why is it so Secretive? I would have thought that if it could stand the rigors of peer review etc it would only help, so why doesn't it?! As Bob said, you can get an awful lot of help with pain management that is a heck of a lot more affordable and at least you know what you r getting yourself into. The dander of trying this type of treatment is that if it fails it might just make the situation worse, hard to know really. How old is your daughter and what treatment has she already Tried?

[earthwitch]

There is a really good review that gives quite a lot of detail about experiences of it on the Action for ME website (use their search box to find it). I can't see that there are enough sustained positive results from it to be worth the very high cost of what is just another psychological technique. As its a psychological technique, it relies a lot on participants being receptive to the ideas of changing the way they think about pain and following their techniques to the letter, so if you are having to "convince" your daughter to attend, I would say that makes it highly unlikely she will get the dramatic positive results that are claimed.

What else has your daughter tried? If she hasn't been to either a Pain Clinic or a Pain Management Programme within the NHS, then either or both of those would be better first steps to my mind.

[Ian123 in reply to earthwitch]

Agree with "convince" over before it's started if engaging with mind over matter techniques are expecting positive practical results. Mindfulness when the foggy brain days allow is a gateway into some of this pain management for some sufferers a good first step.