Episode 049: Jeff McCarthy on running with Lyme disease and chronic illness

Episode Notes

How do you continue to exercise and be physically active in life when you have a chronic disease? Award-winning blogger Jeff McCarthy has had Lyme disease and the effects continue to cause him problems. We discuss how he still manages to run and race regularly while managing a chronic disease and serious challenges with fatigue. If you are have any kind of chronic illness then his advice will be welcome and it's good commonsense stuff for anybody, with or without problems. Jeff also talks very openly and honestly about the challenges he has experienced with his mental health.

Jeff tells us about his journey with Lyme disease and how he had cyclical problems with fatigue and other symptoms. His body crashed in mid-2013 and he lost a lot of weight and was bedridden. He had treatment intermittently for a couple of years before he sought treatment in Brussels from a specialist. Since 2015 he has improved significantly and he has not needed any medication for the past year. The effects still linger and he describes it as "permanently running with flu" but Jeff has become an expert on his own condition and managing it day-to-day.

Jeff McCarthy runs the successful blog runeatrepeat.co.uk. 

Links

Run Eat Repeat website Twitter: @runeatrepeatuk Lost Connections by Johann Hari

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