Living with Post-Vaccine Health Problems: Finding Support When You’ve Been Dismissed
For some Australians, the COVID-19 vaccine brought unexpected health challenges — fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, and chronic pain that mirror conditions like CFS, fibromyalgia, POTS, and Long COVID. Too often, these symptoms are dismissed as “just anxiety,” leaving people isolated and unsupported. At Heal & Thrive, we recognise post-vaccine syndromes as real, and we offer practical, compassionate strategies to manage symptoms, calm the nervous system, and rebuild quality of life.
Pain Reprocessing Therapy: How to Retrain Your Brain and Reduce Chronic Pain
hronic pain isn’t always caused by ongoing injury—it can be a learned response in the brain. Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is an evidence-based method that helps retrain your nervous system to feel safe again. Backed by research from Boulder, Colorado, and outlined in Alan Gordon’s book The Way Out, PRT teaches practical tools like somatic tracking, cognitive reframing, and graded exposure to break the cycle of fear and pain. This gentle approach empowers people with conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and long COVID to move with confidence and reclaim their lives.
Pacing for Chronic Illness: Why It’s More Than Just “Doing Less”
Pacing isn’t about doing less—it’s about doing life differently. If you're navigating CFS/ME, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, Long COVID, or POTS, you've likely been told to "pace yourself"—but that advice often leaves more questions than answers. Pacing isn’t a cure. It’s a toolkit designed to prevent flare-ups and PEM, keeping you gently engaged in life rather than sidelined by symptoms. This post breaks pacing down into clear, practical components—from understanding your triggers and capacity, to using a traffic-light system, balancing proactive rest, planning your day sustainably, setting activity-rest ratios, budgeting your energy like spoon theory, and ensuring high-quality recovery.
Understanding Stress and Its Impact
What if your chronic fatigue, pain, or post-viral exhaustion isn’t a mystery illness, but the body’s way of protecting you after too much stress for too long? Drawing from Robert Sapolsky’s research and the Huberman Lab podcast, this article explains the science of stress, allostatic load, and how it links to invisible illnesses like CFS and fibromyalgia—and what you can do about it.
Understanding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Comprehensive Guide
Living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be overwhelming, especially when answers are hard to find. This comprehensive guide explores what CFS is, how it’s diagnosed, and why symptoms can persist — even after medical tests come back clear. We unpack the science behind fatigue, post-exertional malaise, and nervous system dysregulation, and outline the roles of different health professionals involved in care. If you're looking for clarity, support, and a holistic approach, this resource is designed to help — whether you're just starting your journey or searching for a CFS specialist in Melbourne who understands the bigger picture.
When Doctors Say “There’s Nothing More We Can Do”
Have you been told “there’s nothing more we can do”?
If you're living with chronic fatigue, long COVID, fibromyalgia, or post-viral illness, hearing those words can feel like a dead end. But it often means there’s nothing more medically to be done – not that recovery isn't possible. In this blog, I explore what comes next, and how working with a chronic fatigue specialist in Melbourne can help you rebuild your life, your energy, and your hope.