The IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) defines fibromyalgia as a common rheumatological syndrome characterized by chronic, diffuse musculoskeletal pain and tenderness, along with associated symptoms such as sleep disturbances, fatigue, and affective dysfunction. It is a condition with variability in symptoms and treatment outcomes, requiring an individualized approach to clinical care.

It is a serious Illness and should be treated as such. The Pain is Real and serves an important service as part of a protective survival system. This does not mean you have to have it for the rest of your life, once you understand the important message behind the pain it no longer needs to keep the pain message going and as the danger of damage ceases, so does the pain.

For far too long this has been an illness that was unexplainable and therefore patients were not treated with the respect and dignity they deserved (and the same has applied to cases of Chronic Pain). This article aims to change the understanding and have the medical profession recognise there is hope of recovery through understanding.

Chronic Fatigue & Pain Related Illnesses - The Reasons

Pain Road sign - OldPain2Go

This personal insight is a reflection from Steven Blake MBA, based on his own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It's important to note that he is not a medical professional and is not providing medical advice. If you are dealing with a chronic fatigue or pain-related illness, consider these personal insights as one perspective to aid your understanding and journey towards relief. 

Individuals who grapple with conditions like Fibromyalgia, M.E., or C.F.S. often exhibit a shared attribute, an extraordinary level of always being busy and a high degree of caring actions for others. In Steven's view, this driven personality trait may be at the core of their conditions.

Steven's theory asserts that chronic fatigue and pain should not be misconstrued as laziness or psychological manifestations. Rather, despite the variations in symptoms and the extent of impairment experienced by those affected, there's a common thread in their stories - constantly pushing themselves to their physical or mental limits, or both. They are far from being lazy, which explains their understandable frustration and sensitivity to unwarranted judgments. These shared stories and Steven's experience in addressing various pain-related conditions through therapeutic discussions, led him to uncover the potential origins of these illnesses and sparked his interest in the path to recovery. It's worth noting that many researchers and the National Fibromyalgia Association appear to be aligning with these theories (further details below). It is worth noting that several people who read this page wrote to Steven afterwards and attributed it to their recovery (without having any treatment).

See if this is your story!

You are most likely a highly motivated individual who has consistently pushed yourself to your limits, both mentally and physically, often prioritizing the well-being of others over your own. The onset of your illness is often linked to a triggering event, such as a viral infection, severe illness, vaccination, severe stress, or a traumatic incident. Several weeks after this trigger, rather than experiencing the anticipated recovery, you find yourself burdened by chronic fatigue and pain symptoms. This can persist for years, if not a lifetime, leading to increasing frustration due to the absence of a clear diagnosis, answers, or effective treatments. It's possible that additional health issues may surface as your immune system becomes overwhelmed.

At a certain point, the prolonged suffering can lead to persistent negative thoughts, echoing the belief that recovery may never be within reach. Because you rarely appear visibly unwell, you face the added challenge of convincing others of your condition. Their unsupportive comments increase the pressure on you to work through your illness and that perpetuates a downward spiral. Occasionally, you may have fleeting moments of feeling somewhat better, but you often find yourself caught in a perpetual cycle, with fatigue and pain catching up as you strive to meet with life's demands.

This narrative aligns with the experiences shared by individuals in M.E., C.F.S. and Fibromyalgia forums, where virtually everyone's story follows a similar pattern. The absence of uniform symptoms and differing degrees of debilitation among sufferers is precisely why a cure has proven elusive and why pharmaceutical companies have been hesitant to invest in research. Nonetheless, it's the consistency in the shared experiences rather than identical symptoms that has led me to these conclusions and theory.

My train of thought!

We all have an excellent survival mechanism that is run by the same processing system that controls all your bodily parts and functions. I believe that in order to protect you in a situation of severe overload it shuts you down. Not just a trip switch it actually carefully shuts YOU down in the best way for YOU. This ensures your immobility and even dampens your mental capacity. This is to conserve energy to recover from whatever initial trigger occurred and to stop you from doing further damage (in the same way doctors put people in a coma to recover from head injuries). It stays like that until it is convinced you won’t carry on in the same “driven” way. Unfortunately “driven” is your nature and the more you fight the illness the more it thinks you need to be immobilised, hence why this goes on for years or you never recover!
Pain and Fatigue are natures way to stop you, as is brain fog and blurred vision (so you can’t even watch TV). Your survival mechanism actually could not have done better for you, thanks to its totally unique blend of symptoms designed especially for stopping YOU! Whilst that was a great defence at the time, stopping you from possibly fatal consequences, it is now the protective shield you are pinned under!
It is no coincidence that many of your symptoms will be similar to stress related illnesses such as: bowel problems, fatigue, brain fog, changing vision, autoimmune problems and unwarranted pain. This is because you are now constantly in a stressed state, being in a situation you have no control over.
Pain is a message to us to stop what we are doing and concentrate on getting “fixed”. The greater the perceived damage the greater the pain level to ensure you do all that is necessary. It is my conclusion that your pain will continue whilst it is thought necessary by your instinctual processes. The pain will only go when it feels safe that you will NOT keep pushing yourself to the limit. You cannot fight this illness, it will make it worse!

Update

“According to the National Fibromyalgia Association, within the last decade perspective has shifted from thinking about it as a rheumatologic or autoimmune disorder to now primarily involving the central nervous system. Essentially, the brain, based on what it knows about a person’s life, makes a conscious decision to defend the person, and to defend them, it calls upon several body systems, especially nerves, to protect. “It’s more of a nervous system sensitivity issue, a hypersensitivity. It can affect multiple systems.” This appears to agree with my findings.

Pain Explained

This video describes pain in both technical and simplistic terms and far more eloquently than I can, please watch before reading on. The video backs up my theory that pain is there for a protective reason and he also states that the level of pain is deliberately made so intense that “you cannot do anything else”. Professor Moseley goes on to state that long term pain spreads, becomes more intense and you become more sensitive to it. Even if you don’t agree with his concepts I think you should recognise how it applies to your condition, particularly those of you with Fibromyalgia.

Driving Yourself too Hard

The best analogy I can give is that you are usually driving yourself at 100 miles an hour in a fifty zone. But you get there slower than others who drive at 50 miles an hour because you get pulled up by the police at every lay-by for half an hour. You then run at 120 mph trying to play catch-up and get pulled up even longer by the police who may even suspend your licence for a while. Your 100 mph spurts and your idle time in the lay-bys give you an average speed of about 10 mph.

So – you can decide to run at the safe speed or continue to not learn from experience and keep facing the consequences. It really is your choice – 10 mph average with pain and fatigue, or 50 mph of regular comfortable and uninterrupted speed! You are not being asked to slow down, it will be you speeding up from what you can currently do, but agreeing not to go back to a pace that was killing you.

50 mph Teeshirt - OldPain2Go

Recognise Yourself?

If you recognise yourself in the story and in the above description of pain intensifying and spreading then I have good news for you. 

The Good News

The “Protective State” you are in can only continue whilst your brain's opinion is that it is doing the right thing for you. You can get in touch with that part of the mind and reason with it. You cannot however lie to it (it knows your deepest thoughts!). You will only recover when you accept a new way of being and doing. You will have to learn to let go, realise there are many things you cannot control, that other people can do things instead of you, that you can’t run everything, that saying NO is a good thing, that your life has to come first. You cannot try to fool your unconscious mind and nervous system, that you are a changed person if you are not.

To “turn off” the hold of the illness, is a matter of you bargaining with your unconscious that you will listen to your body and take notice of it. However it will not “turn off” if it still thinks it is necessary for your survival. You have to convince it you have changed and if you get excited and overdo things as you start to recover the pain and fatigue will quickly come back on and debilitate you again! In short, no change = no change! These are my own personal views and you can provide your own. I appreciate your positive and helpful feedback towards a better understanding of these debilitating illnesses.

There are currently 1,775 people trained in OldPain2Go and you can contact you local Practitioner for free to discuss if they feel they may be able to help. You can see the Practitioner Map here.

Written and Video Testimonials:

These are individual results of people who took the time to provide us with their feedback and gave permission for us to show them. OldPain2Go® sessions are only available to people diagnosed by a medical professional who has confirmed that pain removal or reduction is a safe option. We do not diagnose, only help you to help yourself with self-healing. Results are only indicative of that individual in that session and are irrespective of the illness or condition the person has.

Lisa Tan-Koh's Feedback

Lisa never had a treatment – she simply read this page and contacted me to let me know of her recovery.

“Giving credit to what Steven Blake said years ago. That completely turned it around for me when I read this to recover from even something as chronic as fibromyalgia. Thank you for that moment so that I can now be restored to help others in need too…. anyone would like to heal from your chronic pains too?”

“Your premise of why my pain stayed made my world turn around from depression and struggle to getting on the road to recovery during those three years in bed, it took another six months telling my body that it was safe again and that there was no need for it to stay anymore. Before I fully recovered in early 2018. Grateful field gift always. And now I got my life pain-free back.”

Lisa Tan-Koh

Check out my friend…Steven Blake……he is awesome. Please all of you….read this….and pass it on to someone you know with M.E……This man changed my life……. Steven is one of the most genuine caring people I have met. His main aim was to help me get better. He has helped me become more focused and healthier. I was ill for over 20 years and Steven helped me on the road to recovery. Words are not enough. He is one of the worlds lovely people.

Lynda Somers  - treatment in 2011 Still doing well in 2023

Jackie pain-free after an OldPain2Go Session

Jackie following one session in 2016

Jackie pain-free after an OldPain2Go Top up

Jackie following a quick chat in 2018

I went to see Steven with horrific fibromyalgia pain, chronic fatigue syndrome and anxiety/panic attacks. As Steven has said previously I didn’t 100% believe that what he was going to do was going to work but I desperately wanted to be pain and anxiety free. I actually went to see him initially as the panic attacks almost had me house bound and when he said he wanted to free me of the pain first, I felt almost deflated. Yet I cannot thank him enough. I wish you had a video of Andy [her husband] and I’s reaction as I couldn’t believe after all those years it had gone. This man really does know what he’s doing and needless to say my other problems moved along with my pain. I’m not saying I don’t get pain anymore, as I do, but I listen to it and do as I’m told. The old crippling pain has gone and I’m one happy bunny For this I once again thank you xxx.

Emma Bastow

I just had an amazing session with Steven. I was suffering pain all over with Fibromyalgia, and in 20 minutes I was almost pain free. I cannot thank him enough for making me understand why I was getting the pain. Thanks Steven, you are a star.

Lynn Weston

I had fibromyalgia – all my life I’ve suffered, and spent an hour with Steven, OMG, I am amazed. I walked in, in agony, and walked out completely pain free. It’s been a week now and I’m still pain free and don’t expect that to change. I would strongly recommend him.

Yvonne Arnold

OldPain2Go gets Karen pain-free after 30 years in pain

Karen realises she is pain-free after 30 years of Fibromyalgia.

Andy loses all his pain with an OldPain2Go session

Whilst Andy did not have Fibromyalgia he had broken virtually every bone in his body in 2 road traffic accidents. When 17 his ankle had shattered and caused a physical deformity and he was in regular high levels of physical pain. He left completely pain free and the last time we were in contact, continued to be so. He still is still puzzled that it could have worked, even though years later he is still free of that old pain!

The results you achieved for my wife Tracey Brown were nothing short of miraculous. She left the session pain free for the first time in 10 years and she is still pain free and walking unaided despite a degenerative spine condition.

Grahame J Brown

Want to Share?

If you wish to share this information please feel free to copy and paste the URL https://oldpain2go.com/meandfm. Please do not extract text as I want to avoid misunderstanding and protect those with these illnesses from insensitive material that may appear out of context.

“Whether you think you can, or think you cannot, you will always be proved right”. – Henry Ford
Thanks for taking the time to read this, Steven

I'm Steven Blake, and completed my training as a therapist in 2011. Since then I have dedicated my life to helping as many people as possible out of physical and emotional pain.

I understand pain from my own personal experience of living with chronic pain for 50 years and being free of it since 2011. I injured my back at the age of 8, was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis at age 38 and by 58 was barely able to straighten up after bending. Then I developed a technique for getting myself out of pain, and since then have helped several thousand people get free of Chronic Pain, as well as training others how to do so. There are currently 1,775 people trained in OldPain2Go®, some like me, with no medical training, and others such as doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists and at least 3 neurologists. I give presentations to audiences in the UK and overseas as well as being the guest on many recorded interviews. In August 2024 we attended as an invited exhibitor at the International  Association for the Study of Pain's 50th Anniversary World Conference, sharing our knowledge with other pain professionals around the world.

Steven's Associations & Memberships

OldPain2Go® were exhibitors at the 2024 World Congress on Pain organised by the International Association for the Study of Pain. An event that had an attendance of around 3,500 of the world's top pain professionals. Many of whom came to see us to discuss this revolutionary approach to removing pain rather than managing it. We look forward to the collaborations that follow the interest shown.

Contact

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OldPain2Go/
Email: meandfm@OldPain2Go.com

>