Virgun Bidtnes

I got sick with ME about 25 years ago. I was disabled already due to fatigue and body aches before being diagnosed with ME.

I’m not entirely sure when I took the LP course, but it’s over ten years ago. It was my dad who told me about the LP course. My third cousin had told him about it.

I remember that of all the participants at the course, it was only me and another woman who weren’t feeling well.

It’s good to think positive and test your limits a bit. But the method they are using in the course is so incredibly wrong. People with ME must be the worst group for this course.

In the evening after the first day I sat in the bath tub and cried a lot. I had never felt so broken down. I decided to not show up for the second day. I was a complete wreck in the morning, but my family persuaded me to show up. I obviously was driven there.

I just sat there and couldn’t speak. Throughout the day I felt more and more weird. My whole head was sore, it was like having cotton inside the head. I was dizzy and had heart palpitations.

It was useless to mention anything to Live Landmark about it, because it was our own fault, we had made ourselves ill.

The rest of the gang was very enthusiastic and said they’d go out for a drink in the evening. Because now they were completely healthy, they said.

I thought they were people with depression or something. I thought it was completely crazy that they could get well if they had ME.

We had to sign that we were better. When your body is full of adrenaline, and you have been completely brainwashed, you just sign it. We were completely overrun by the facilitators.

I remember we were supposed to get fruit every day. There was a bowl there with four wrinkled apples. No one touched them. Just had to mention it. It shows the low level of the course, the lack of respect.

Of course, I crashed afterwards. I got really sick for a long time after the course, so I got pretty scared.

I had been bed bound for several years when I got ME. I was afraid I would not get better again after the LP.

The papers we read before starting the course were completely.. well.. it’s hard to find the right words.. the form we filled out and THE COURSE. I get angry and tears come when I think back on this and write about it. From one end to another, LP is brutal and rough for someone severely ill. I think it can be dangerous.

They make people feel so bad about themselves. If the participants aren’t strong enough and handle it, it’s scary. Then they might not be able to live any longer.

If you have ME I strongly advise against taking an LP course.

These days I try to live within my limits.

I’m in a bad period now, so have to stay mostly inside. I wish I had more capacity for my grandchildren and my family. It’s a great sorrow. I wish I could be more social.

When I’m able to, the best thing for me is to be outside in nature. On the top of my wish list is a cabin.