ME/CFS: partial recovery with daily walks, then relapsed and mostly bedbound
- Condition
- ME/CFS
- At worst
- Severe (mostly bedbound)
- Ill before improving or writing
- 3 years
- Last post
- Jul 2025
In their words
- Condition: ME/CFS
Been suffering with CFS since the summer of 2022
In context ↗ - At worst: Severe
Mostly bed bound having come back from uni
In context ↗ - Now: Relapsed
Eventually got myself to the point where I could go skateboarding here and there, returned to work for 8 hours a week. ... A year of setbacks and being bed bound.
In context ↗ - Began after: another virus
Got a nasty virus and continued to train and never recovered.
In context ↗
Read from 2 of their posts and comments; links to the one this page draws on
Summary
Nightjar 90599 fell ill in summer 2022 at 19 after a viral infection and kept training until capacity drained and they dropped out of university. Daily walks within their limits brought a slow partial recovery in year two; couch-to-5k and gym work left them feeling close to healthy. A crash they pushed through and another illness left them mostly bed bound since autumn 2024, improving very slowly.
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What they tried
What they credit
Their words about each treatment
- rest · Helped
found out that I need to just rest and cant overexert without consequences
In context ↗ - couch to 5k · Helped
encouraged me to try couch to 5k, surprisingly went very well, and I slowly improved my ability to run over time
In context ↗
Approaches: Pacing · Physiotherapy and rehab
Their path
How ill they were on the ME/CFS severity scale, estimated from what they describe at each point, with time counted from when the illness began. Hover or tap a point. Dates are when they posted. What the levels mean.
Show as a table
| When | What happened | Where they were | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| summer 2022 (August) | viral infection, kept training, capacity slowly drained and dropped out of universityGot a nasty virus and continued to train and never recovered.In context ↗ | Mild | |
| Year 2 (August–September 2023) | daily walks within limits, back to occasional skating and 8 hours a week of workslow improvement of capacity through walks daily and never pushing myself past what I thought I was capable ofIn context ↗ | Mild | Pacing and the energy envelope |
| April–May 2024 | couch to 5k then gym, felt close to a good level of health and planned to return to universityI worked with a "cfs specialist" who encouraged me to try couch to 5k, surprisingly went very wellIn context ↗ | Near normal | Graded rehab and self-made programmes |
| mid-2024, before returning to university | crashed after acting as if no longer ill and pushing through itexperienced a horrible crash that I did not give myself time to recover from, and decided to keep pushing through itIn context ↗ | Moderate | |
| autumn 2024 | back at university but unwell, then ill again and had to come homeWent back to Uni feeling not as great but still able to study, and then got ill again and had to come homeIn context ↗ | Moderate | |
| 2024–2025 (Year 3) | mostly bed bound at home through a year of setbacksA year of setbacks and being bed bound. Mostly bed bound having come back from uniIn context ↗ | Severe | |
| July 2025 (latest posts) | still mostly bed bound, trying to rebuild capacity very slowly and gentlyI am still battling now to improve my capacity very very slowly and very very gently.In context ↗ | Severe | Pacing and the energy envelope |
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Post-exertional malaise
found out that I need to just rest and cant overexert without consequences
In context ↗
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