From a Wheelchair to Walking Two Hours: CFS & POTS Recovery
Jools Walters went from being an active health coach to becoming dependent on her husband for basic self care. In a fast descent, the Edinburgh woman became mostly bedbound with ME/CFS, POTS and MCAS symptoms. Within days, she’d lost her identity and reason for being.
Most mornings, Jools could only amble from her bed to a nearby chair. Washing her hair was impossible. Her husband had to prepare meals, open her dresser drawers, and help Jools get dressed.
With her “grinding ill health,” Jools lost her job and the ability to care for her family of five. She worried that she’d miss two pivotal and pressing milestones: her daughter’s wedding and her mum’s final days.
For months, it seemed unthinkable that she could travel, stand through a full wedding day, or be by her mum’s bedside. But in a turn of fate, Jools found her recovery remedy and was able to show up for these landmark moments in the way she’d hoped.
“Miraculously I recovered sufficiently to 100% take part in both. I gave a speech and danced the night away at the wedding, getting kicked out in the early hours of the morning!”
This story chronicles how Jools went from watching life go by to waltzing back into it.
WATCH JOOLS’ VIDEO TO LEARN:
How she went from total depletion to dancing at her daughter’s wedding
What helped her overcome ME/CFS, POTS & MCAS symptoms
Why she needed to relinquish a ‘fix-it’ mindset in order to heal
How one brain retraining program made things worse
Why meeting her emotions with self-compassion was essential
From Wellbeing Coach to worried Patient
Before she got mysteriously ill, Jools lived a full and fast-paced life.
A warning sign arrived one summer evening at the Edinburgh Festival. She was at a pub with friends when a wave of nausea hit, and she had to take a taxi home. Over that weekend, an uncommon tiredness settled in.
On Monday she could barely lift her fingers on the keyboard. Over the next six weeks, her energy yo-yoed. She’d rest, feel a bit better, do something simple like unloading the dishwasher and feel “rubbish” again.
Within several months, the previously robust woman was spending mornings in bed, before moving a few steps to a nearby chair. Her symptoms multiplied into pelvic pain, muscle aches, headaches, burning sensations, gut issues, throat tightness and anxiety.
Then came the dramatic heart rate spikes. Using a tracking app, Jools saw that standing up sent her heart rate 40, 50 or 60 beats higher.
Days passed by in her bedroom, looking over Holyrood Park. Her bay window view turned into what Jools calls her “sick bay”—a spot where she sat, watching the world pass by, while feeling everything from resentment to grief.
The Limits of Medicine with Neuroplastic Symptoms
Jools says her doctor took her seriously and ordered tests early. The blood panels, ECGs and other labs came back normal. That was both reassuring and frustrating, because it didn’t explain her suffering.
Doctors prescribed medication for POTS, which brought her resting heart rate down slightly, but didn’t offer much relief.
Out of options in the medical system, Jools searched for answers on-line. She tried a brain training program using self-hypnosis. Being conscientious, she did what was recommended: 12–15 rounds a day. She began to feel worse so she stepped away, realizing the program was fueling her perfectionism.
Jools considered taking a break from recovery programs, but believed there was another way. That’s when she came across my recovery story from ME/CFS using a mind-body approach.
Jools on a hill in Scotland, smiling after walking for hours after her ME/CFS and POTS recovery.
Why Mind-Body Healing Resonated
When Jools first read about Be Your Own Medicine, she wasn’t sure it was for her. She didn’t have “big trauma” and her emotional health seemed okay.
The gentle tone drew her in. She liked the emphasis on evidence-based science and emotional awareness. In the course, we unpack how mind-body symptoms are perpetuated by a brain stuck in danger mode. We use Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), a proven intervention to resolve chronic pain and other neuroplastic symptoms.
Understanding that conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome can be caused by learned neural pathways in the brain opened Jools to new possibilities. She dove into this paradigm, finding the knowledge to be a superpower!
Taking a Vacation from Fixing herself
Jools at her daughter’s wedding, where she gave a speech and danced the night away!
In the first session of Be Your Own Medicine, I invite participants to do something counter-intuitive: take a vacation from fixing themselves.
For Jools, this landed like a permission slip. Instead of trying to wrestle her body into submission, she tiptoed into safety, self-compassion and somatic meditations.
She resonated with the idea that a ‘fix-it’ mentality sends danger signals to the brain, suggesting that something is broken inside. Combined with fear, this keeps the nervous system in flight, fight or freeze.
Jools began to notice how her symptoms shifted with her state of mind. When she felt stressed or anxious, the burning, constriction and “jangly” sensations would ramp up. As she learned to settle her nervous system and honor her emotions, sensations began easing up too.
With a new mindset and toolkit, the Edinburgh woman says she’s learned to live life to the full, even when sensations appear. Leaning into joy was a turning point for her. As she made enjoyment her focus—rather than striving to recover her health—her symptoms faded into the background or took leave entirely!
Watch this story about how Jools reclaimed a life worth living. Now, she’s walking for hours, driving, traveling, cooking, eating what she likes, socializing and everything she desires.
And she did, in fact, dance with joy at her daughter’s wedding.
”Being fully present for my daughter at this major event in her life helped me to reclaim my spirit and energy for life, my 'joie de vivre' and for this I am so very grateful!"
Want to try a somatic meditation like the one Jools used to recover? Sign up for a free meditation here.
Curious to learn more about Jools’s experience in Be Your Own Medicine?