From Sleepless Nights to Lunches with Family

Allan's Story: Living with Long COVID / ME-CFS

I'm Allan, from Edinburgh in Scotland. I'm 53. The year before I got sick, I had dizziness for months that no doctor could explain. I was living a stressful life. I worked 12 hour nights in a nursing home. My mother had died, and me and my ex girlfriend had split up on the back of that. Looking back, I was ripe for this coming.

Then COVID hit me. "It was just this insane fatigue. I'd never felt anything like this before." I had booked a holiday to Budapest with my dad and had to cancel the day before. Within a week I was incredibly ill and getting worse. I had about 35 symptoms. My whole body felt like it was on fire with pain, and the fever and chills lasted about six weeks.

When it finally lifted, I felt pressure to get back to work. I would rest all day, then try a 10 minute walk to freshen up, and be back in bed for two weeks or a month. It got so bad I ended up pretty much bedbound for the next 16 months. I could not even sit up and speak to someone for five minutes because it was so much effort. On my worst days, "I would say 15 to 20 percent, if you're lucky." All I could do was lie in bed with the telly on in the background and rest between mealtimes.

The doctors ran everything. EEGs, ECGs, an echocardiogram, two hours with a cardiologist who told me to get up and start doing things. Nobody could tell me what was going on. The Facebook forums were no source of calm either. Just scared people wondering the same thing I was.

I tried another recovery community first and spent nine months there, but there was no one on one support. Then I found Miguel's YouTube channel. I watched a video on heart palpitations and thought, this guy knows exactly how I feel. So I joined CFS Recovery in June 2022. On my first calls I could barely speak. I was white as a sheet. "I was really just surviving through the days."

The explanation made total sense. My body had gone into stress overdrive, and it was up to me to react well to the symptoms and slowly start to build my life back. That calmed a lot of my fear down. I could finally ask every question I had and get a really good answer. Then one day it clicked. I had put myself into an adjustment period, but I was handling it well. I was smiling despite how I felt. I came out of the call and said, finally, I've got it, man.

The biggest turning point was moving house. I packed a box, or got rid of a box, every day for six weeks. On moving day I did a massive amount of steps and even drove the car for a bit. And I was fine. It gave me such a boost knowing I can do all this. It's just gone further on from there.

The Science Behind Long COVID / ME-CFS Recovery

In Long COVID and ME/CFS, the nervous system gets stuck in a chronic stress response. Research suggests the issue may be functional rather than structural. Your nervous system may be stuck in protection mode, and even normal activities can feel overwhelming. This is what keeps symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, and pain cycling.

Nervous system retraining uses neuroplasticity, your brain's ability to rewire itself, to help shift out of that stuck state. Instead of managing symptoms, it may address the underlying pattern. That's when real, lasting recovery starts.

Before vs. After: Allan's Recovery

Where Is Allan Now?

Allan is going for lunch with his dad regularly. He's sleeping deeply again, reading a few pages a day, playing gentle computer games, and listening to music for hours just for the pure pleasure of it. In his words, he's feeling "the happiness of being alive." He's consistently doing his brain retraining, responding better to symptoms, and supporting others in the community where he can.

Allan has made remarkable progress through CFS Recovery's recovery system, built on nervous system retraining. His story is one of over 100+ hours of filmed recovery case studies from real people sharing their real experiences. Not scripted. Not staged. Real people, on camera, in their own words.

We've helped people as young as 9 and as old as 86. People who've been dealing with this for 3 months to 50 years. People from bedridden to semi-functional and everywhere in between. Over 3,000 documented client wins across our community.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you recover from Long COVID and ME/CFS?

Yes. Allan is one of thousands of documented recovery wins across CFS Recovery's community. Through nervous system retraining and neuroplasticity protocols, people with Long COVID and ME/CFS have reported meaningful progress. CFS Recovery has helped people from bedridden to semi-functional and everywhere in between.

What is nervous system retraining?

Nervous system retraining uses neuroplasticity principles to help your brain and nervous system shift out of a stuck stress response. In Long COVID and ME/CFS, the nervous system often gets locked in a protective mode after a viral trigger or prolonged stress. Retraining helps it recalibrate so your body can function normally again. It's coaching-based, not medication-based.

How severe was Allan's condition before recovery?

Allan was dealing with Long COVID and ME/CFS at a severe level. He was bedbound for about 18 months, could not sit up and speak for more than a few minutes at a time, and on his worst days could not leave the house. Read the full story above.

Where is Allan now after CFS Recovery?

Allan's recovery wins include regular lunches out with his dad, deep sleep again, moving house one box at a time, and good feelings for the first time in four years. His story is one of over 3,000 documented client wins across CFS Recovery's community.