Chronic fatigue - graded exercise therapy

Graded exercise therapy (or GET) has a mixed response with the chronic fatigue world as it seems to suggest that a chronic fatigue sufferer could get better if they just tried a bit harder and do some exercise (although activity seems to be a better description of it). However, chronic fatigue is a complex illness and it is not as simple as that. For me, the illness seems to be going through a process and I need different therapies at different times as the illness evolves. This will be different for everybody and it may be the case that the illness gets stuck at a particular level and that is that - although 80% of people regain some form of life.

So then, I am not content with achieving a basic form of living - I want to regain some of my old magic. If I want to get from a position where I am existing to a position where I am living then increasing my activity level over time seems to what I need to do. Now, I have tried this many times over the years to no avail, because it made me too ill. However, over the past year I have noticed a very slow improvement. This has not been a straight forward process and it still hurts, but the seeds are there. Graded Exercise Therapy cannot take the credit for this as the timescales are too long, but the idea that I can do more stems from the approach taken by GET and sometimes a good idea is all we need to keep us looking forward.