What do you think?
Rate this book
Fighting Fatigue: A Practical Guide to Managing the Symptoms of CFS/ME
Chronic fatigue syndrome, or myalgic encephalitis, (CFS/ME) affects approximately 180,000 people in the UK. This title offers expert advice, accompanied by real life stories, on managing different aspects of everyday life that can affect energy and they show how to put this advice into practice.
This practical manual comes from a nationally recognized centre for CFS/ME and is jointly written by health professionals and their patients. They give straightforward and specific expert advice, accompanied by real life stories, on managing different aspects of everyday life that can affect energy and they show how to put this advice into practice. They understand the way fatigue affects concentration and therefore break their guidance into easy-to-follow steps that can be worked through at the reader's own pace. Unlike other available books, this does not cover causes, symptoms or the controversy around whether the condition is 'real'. Looking in detail purely at how to get better, it is for patients who have been diagnosed with CFS/ME and for their carers. It is also highly relevant to health professionals wanting to provide their patients with self-help strategies that are compatible with the current evidence base. Anyone suffering ongoing, abnormal fatigue will likewise find it a must read.
This practical manual comes from a nationally recognized centre for CFS/ME and is jointly written by health professionals and their patients. They give straightforward and specific expert advice, accompanied by real life stories, on managing different aspects of everyday life that can affect energy and they show how to put this advice into practice. They understand the way fatigue affects concentration and therefore break their guidance into easy-to-follow steps that can be worked through at the reader's own pace. Unlike other available books, this does not cover causes, symptoms or the controversy around whether the condition is 'real'. Looking in detail purely at how to get better, it is for patients who have been diagnosed with CFS/ME and for their carers. It is also highly relevant to health professionals wanting to provide their patients with self-help strategies that are compatible with the current evidence base. Anyone suffering ongoing, abnormal fatigue will likewise find it a must read.
- GenresHealthNonfiction
200 pages, Paperback
First published May 31, 2009
46 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Sue Pemberton
1 bookDr Sue Pemberton, PhD, MSc, BHSc, Dip. COT, Therapy Director and Specialist Occupational Therapist
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 5, 2019
De meeste dingen die er in vermeld worden wist ik al, maar het was wel even een fijne opfrisser. Het is namelijk al een paar jaar geleden dat ik in therapie ben geweest. Gezien ik inmiddels in een hele andere situatie zit dan toen (toen school, nu werk) was het fijn dit boek door te lezen en te weten op wat voor dingen ik ook alweer moet letten.
August 5, 2023
*Please be aware this includes outdated content, it's from 2009*
This book was recommended from the NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ME/CFS yet contains practices that are no longer approved by NICE guidelines and therefore NHS. Graded energy therapy where you gradually increase your activity is deemed to be harmful to people with ME. You should not push yourself beyond your limits, envelope theory, ie you should practice pacing your energy. Also contains practices based on CBT and deconditioning model. I therefore am distrustful of the other chapters now. Someone who has found these useful possibly doesn't have ME but other reasons for chronic fatigue. If you look Sue Pemberton up on the ME association she explains this in a 2021 interview with no reference to the above work though that she co wrote includes GET but says in her retirement she may rewrite the book.
This book was recommended from the NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ME/CFS yet contains practices that are no longer approved by NICE guidelines and therefore NHS. Graded energy therapy where you gradually increase your activity is deemed to be harmful to people with ME. You should not push yourself beyond your limits, envelope theory, ie you should practice pacing your energy. Also contains practices based on CBT and deconditioning model. I therefore am distrustful of the other chapters now. Someone who has found these useful possibly doesn't have ME but other reasons for chronic fatigue. If you look Sue Pemberton up on the ME association she explains this in a 2021 interview with no reference to the above work though that she co wrote includes GET but says in her retirement she may rewrite the book.
April 12, 2023
Very useful strategies
November 25, 2023
Brilliant book. It takes you through, step by step, all areas of the illness that is ME/CFS. From pacing to communications.
Whilst one or two phrases may rankle as this book was written prior to the NICE updates on GET and CBT, when you actually read the detail and it takes you through each element, it all makes sense. And is actually things that are still taught today. Very gradual increases to baseline to see if you can do more, and stop and go back if you can’t.
There’s also strategies for still finding joy in life even when limited. Note, that my personal view is that this book is aimed at those who are mild, moderate and borderline severe. Some of the strategies, while very informative, may be a step too far for those who are very severe.
That said, it goes through every concept gently. You can stop and start where you need to and read as much as you can manage. Every section is broken down into mini sections so that those of us who struggle with cognitive processing can take our time. There is even a section for carers of all levels.
Each section also ends with additional references should you wish to know more and also a case study that is incredibly relevant and relatable.
Whilst one or two phrases may rankle as this book was written prior to the NICE updates on GET and CBT, when you actually read the detail and it takes you through each element, it all makes sense. And is actually things that are still taught today. Very gradual increases to baseline to see if you can do more, and stop and go back if you can’t.
There’s also strategies for still finding joy in life even when limited. Note, that my personal view is that this book is aimed at those who are mild, moderate and borderline severe. Some of the strategies, while very informative, may be a step too far for those who are very severe.
That said, it goes through every concept gently. You can stop and start where you need to and read as much as you can manage. Every section is broken down into mini sections so that those of us who struggle with cognitive processing can take our time. There is even a section for carers of all levels.
Each section also ends with additional references should you wish to know more and also a case study that is incredibly relevant and relatable.
August 28, 2019
This book has really helped me. It describes simply what CFS is and how to start helping yourself. Obviously it's best to have a Doctor but this book is a great in between if you're on a waiting list, like me.
May 29, 2025
I realize some of the information is outdated and no longer in line with NHS NICE guidelines but I feel like if you filter the information to what's relevant and useful to you, it's a great tool, not only for ME patients but for other energy limiting chronic ilnesses. Good tips and strategies.
August 7, 2019
easy to understand text with practical help for sufferers of CFS/ME
September 7, 2019
Very useful.
December 18, 2022
Some useful tips to help with fatigue
August 9, 2022
Having recently been diagnosed with CFS I was eager to find out more information, since the doctor was very vague about it. This book has been a real eye opener and has taught me so much more than I expected. The book is really comprehensive and covers just about everything you'd need to know, and is also really practical. I haven't given it five stars because I have a few niggles.
Some of the advice and information focuses on 'evolution' and cavemen etc and this goes against my personal views. It felt a bit... We believe this in science so you have to as well. I also didn't like how the book seemed to demand that you don't have sleeps in the day and you make yourself exercise, that's to say, the tone felt a bit forceful in places. It's by no means a one size fits all illness.
Also in one of the later chapters it talked about recovery... But CFS is a chronic illness. I don't know how this works. When I first started reading, also, the book was kind of gun to the head, saying something on the lines of 'you are only allowed to read this book if you're diagnosed'. I thought that was a bit inappropriate. At the time I got it I hadn't been diagnosed, but thankfully I stuck with it. That note in the front could have lost me before I began.
All that being said, the book is, overall, really decent. My favourite part of the book personally was probably the inclusion of the life stories at the end of each section. It was so heartening to be able to connect to others when CFS can feel so isolating. I would recommend this if you have CFS, but to take certain advice, some of which seems more opinion than fact, with a pinch of salt.
Some of the advice and information focuses on 'evolution' and cavemen etc and this goes against my personal views. It felt a bit... We believe this in science so you have to as well. I also didn't like how the book seemed to demand that you don't have sleeps in the day and you make yourself exercise, that's to say, the tone felt a bit forceful in places. It's by no means a one size fits all illness.
Also in one of the later chapters it talked about recovery... But CFS is a chronic illness. I don't know how this works. When I first started reading, also, the book was kind of gun to the head, saying something on the lines of 'you are only allowed to read this book if you're diagnosed'. I thought that was a bit inappropriate. At the time I got it I hadn't been diagnosed, but thankfully I stuck with it. That note in the front could have lost me before I began.
All that being said, the book is, overall, really decent. My favourite part of the book personally was probably the inclusion of the life stories at the end of each section. It was so heartening to be able to connect to others when CFS can feel so isolating. I would recommend this if you have CFS, but to take certain advice, some of which seems more opinion than fact, with a pinch of salt.
June 27, 2017
Superb
I have a brain injury following the removal of a brain tumour in 2015, one of many isues I have to live with is cognitive fatigue, this book ties in with what I've learnt from my rehabilitation experts .
Its a clear concise book and I recommended it for both sufferers and carers alike and all medical staff.
I have a brain injury following the removal of a brain tumour in 2015, one of many isues I have to live with is cognitive fatigue, this book ties in with what I've learnt from my rehabilitation experts .
Its a clear concise book and I recommended it for both sufferers and carers alike and all medical staff.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews