Having read a few of the recent posts on the thread entitled "About Ashok Gupta", I thought it only fair that I should be able to answer peoples' concerns.
- "Entrepreneurship"!
I currently run a clinic based in Harley Street, where I treat people for ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia. At this clinic I also see people for other conditions including stress, where I use amygdala retraining for other things, but now most of my work is with ME/CFS & Fibro patients. I also run a training company which specialises in Stress Management and Time Management. So all of these things are very much linked, and in fact in my training I emphasise the role of the amygdala in a whole host of conditions.
With respect to the speed dating, it was always a side hobby in the evenings, never my main focus, and in fact it was just a bit of lighthearted fun. I had set it up with a friend of mine and we sold the business on to someone in December 2006. So I am no longer involved in it for 2 years now. I see nothing wrong with having varied interests - I'm actually really glad that I did it!
Now let me link these things together. Trying to earn a living just from seeing patients with ME/CFS over the last 8 years was never feasible, so I did look at other ways of supplementing my income. And it was the best thing that I did. Because the money that I earned from from other things actually funded the creation of the DVD programme, and there was no way I would have been able to release the DVD programme at this price, or even create it in the first place! I have never revealed this anywhere, but to create the 15 hours of interactive video, the book, the charts, the website, etc, cost me upwards of $60,000 US Dollars, and 2 years of my life. Ask any TV production company in the UK how much it would cost to produce that amount of content! In some ways it was a personal financial gamble, but I knew it would be of benefit to people, and I wanted as many people around the world to have access to the treatment.
So am I entrepreneurial - probably! Am I ashamed of that? No, not at all! I actually associate entrepreneurialism with creativity and being prepared to push the boundaries of our understandings.
Many people are rightly concerned that people are trying to make money out of patients with these illnesses, and there are probably people like that. However I don't place myself in that category. Until my programme is independently verified as an effective treatment for ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia, I am offering a money back guarantee to all buyers, which makes it low risk for most patients (I don't know many other treatments that offer this). Furthermore, the first 3 hours of the DVDs are available for free on the internet, so you can make up your own mind. I never claim it helps everyone, there are around 10% of patients who aren't helped, and I am doing further research to understand why that is.
With respect to a trial, this is my number one priority. There are more and more professors and hospitals interested in conducting a trial simply because their patients are getting better/recovered using the programme. I will have some news on this soon, I cannot at the moment mention who they are until we actually gain the funding.
- My Experience of ME/CFS
I can assure people that I definitely had the illness! As will lots of patients who go through the programme will testify, because they can relate so closely to what I think they are experiencing. I was diagnosed by a GP and by a hospital CFS unit in the UK, and went through all biomedical tests to eradicate other conditions.
I was never bed bound, however I had all the symptoms including some immunological symptoms such as sore throats, as well as the neurological ones including poor memory, difficulty concentrating, etc. I also had the aches and pains in the muscles, post- exertional malaise, etc...you name it, I had it!
In fact you can watch a video of me below talking about my personal experience:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_fXqok9sYt8
- People Recovering 100%
I have been so busy recently, I have not gathered together testimonials, but I shall make that a priority. There are many people who are getting fully better, and I addressed this in a previous thread entitled Few Full Recoveries. As I had mentioned in that post, different people take different times to recover, and it does take some time for the body to get back into full shape ready for intense exercise -sometimes up to a further year. Also the amygdala can still be sensitive once it has been retrained, so it can interpret natural tiredness as "ME/CFS" exhaustion, so it can sometimes kick into action again - so it has to be a gentle process. Graded exercise over a period of time can help. To help this end, for those of you who can, I would strongly suggest coaching at our clinic to iron out any final issues to get the body back to full 100% health - sometimes it does require that added personal touch, and I am considering making the phone coaching a core part of the programme.
So for those people who are posting in this forum and questioning my motives, I understand your concerns. However, please do understand that I have tried to navigate the tricky world of ME/CFS with integrity, and tried to help as many people as possible. If you have issues that you want to discuss with me, then simply address me directly and I will be happy to answer your questions - I will be as open as I can be.
There are many people who are battle hardened from having these illnesses, fighting with medical providers, insurance companies, doctors, etc, so I understand there is a lot of anger/resentment at anyone that says they can help. But please bear with me, the independent trial evidence will come soon.
Warm regards
Ashok
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