News

Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy and the Thistle Foundation join together to tackle Chronic Fatigue

Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy and the Thistle Foundation will be providing 10 week Lifestlye Management Programmes for people suffering from chronic fatigue.

Lindsay & Gilmour will be sponsoring two courses this year, which will be free to participants. They are primarily aimed at people with CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or ME). The courses consist of ten 3 hour group-based sessions with trained facilitators. They are designed to help people achieve control over their situation and practice effective self management strategies which can help them return to a fuller and more active life. Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacists and staff will help to provide information on the courses and to refer people to it. An important aspect of the courses is that they can help people suffering from fatigue for a whole variety of causes and a diagnosis of CFS ( ME ) is not a pre-requisite to be able to benefit from them.

Nigel Cumming, Chairman of Lindsay and Gilmour is keen to support this programme and to see it made much more widely available. As an CFS. sufferer himself he knows how hard it is to struggle with the debilitating effects of chronic fatigue and how little support and guidance most patients receive. “It is bad enough effectively loosing part of your life at my age – but for children and teenagers it is a time they never get back. It was only the sheer good luck of a friend putting me in touch with the Thistle Foundation which set me on the road to recovery - this service should be available, to all sufferers ”

For further information visit your local Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy or contact the Thistle Foundation direct (0131) 661 3366 e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Further Information

The Thistle Foundation

Originally a charity providing residential services to physically disabled people, over recent years the Thistle has been developing a wider range of work supporting people with a broad range of disabilities and conditions to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives. They have found that many of the techniques that help disabled people cope with challenging circumstances, can also help people with chronic illnesses and with debilitating levels of fatigue. Since 2001 they have delivered 18 Lifestyle Management Programmes to around 180 people, but they need additional funding and resources to make the programmes more widely available. “It changed my life. I had given up hope until I was referred to it” (course participant) – “The course covers all the things to do with wellbeing. You have to change you lifestyle to fit them in. It makes looking after yourself your job and making that a priority” (participant).

For more information visit www.thistle.org.uk

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS - ME)

The medical profession now tends to talk about CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) but the term ME is probably more familiar to the general public.

There are no examination findings which can confirm the diagnosis of CFS. The predominant symptom of ME/CFS is usually severe fatigue and malaise following mental or physical activity. The illness nearly always results in a severe reduction in a person's ability to cope with all aspects of normal daily living. Currently it is estimated that some 250,000 people in Britain are affected by this illness. Commonly, a previously fit and active person finds their illness triggered by an infection, but not always. Other illnesses can produce similar symptoms so it is important that patients have a thorough health check. Many people suffer post viral fatigue following illness and this is often only classified as “chronic” after six months. However failure to manage activity levels and lifestyle appropriately at an early stage can make symptoms more severe and may delay recovery.

Even after years and in some cases decades of disability, taking simple steps to manage the illness can help patients to return to active and rewarding lives.: pacing yourself and interspersing rest and activity; learning relaxation techniques and how to sleep better; improving stamina and gradually building up to regular exercise.

For more information visit www.meassociation.org.uk

left to right: and Norman Jess Superintendent Pharmacist, Liz MacKenzie, Dispenser( Leith Walk branch), Nigel Cumming, Chairman of Lindsay & Gilmour, with Linsay Graham course facilitator and, Ross Grieve course organizer for The Thistle Foundation