Clare-Louise Brumley is a picture of fitness and health — a good thing, considering she’s Australia’s cross-country skiing champion.
But seven years ago it was a different story for the young occupational therapist. Clare-Louise, 26, was constantly tired, her body ached and her throat was always sore. She was so unwell she stopped training to try to find out what was wrong and regain her health.
When she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), Clare-Louise feared it was the end of her skiing career.
“I wanted to feel fit and ski fast, yet I was tired,” she says. “My throat hurt, my glands were swollen and my limbs ached.
“There was nothing wrong with me from a Western-medicine perspective as such, yet I felt awful and wondered if I’d ever feel normal again, let alone have the resilience to ski at an elite level.”
Instead of accepting what could be a long recovery, Clare-Louise began to help herself back to health by studying integrative and nutritional medicine at the Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. She credits what she learnt as saving her skiing career and giving her back the active life she loves.
“The key to my recovery was to trust my body’s natural healing capacity,” she says. “When your body has what it needs, it repairs itself.
“Good nutrition, adequate rest, minimal stress and identifying what’s most important in life are cornerstones. I followed a simple diet of fresh vegies and fruit, wholegrains, fish, nuts and legumes. I cut out refined grains, sugar, coffee and alcohol.
“I still ate chocolate, but I chose a more nutritious seven-cocoa variety, took nutritional and herbal supplements and learnt to meditate.”
It was two years before Clare-Louise began to feel normal again. “The funny thing is, because of CFS I’m healthier now than I probably ever would have been,” she says.
“I used to ignore the messages that my body gave me. But now I listen and know what my body needs.”
What is CFS?
CFS is a serious, debilitating illness that can last for years. Also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), the latest research suggests that its symptoms might be caused in part by an overactive immune system.
Symptoms include overwhelming physical and mental exhaustion, disturbance of balance, headaches, impaired memory and concentration, intense flu-like feelings, muscle pain, sensitivity to food, chemicals and medication and sleep disturbance. Severe cases can cause partial paralysis.
For more information, visit the the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association: www.aima.net.au
Picture posed by model.
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