The Fatigue Book: Chronic fatigue syndrome and long covid fatigue: tips for recovery

by Lydia Rolley, Rachel Leggett (Illustrator)

A practical, attractively illustrated guide to managing chronic fatigue in order to enable recovery at a pace that works for the individual. It outlines proven fatigue management tips and is suitable for people of all ages affected by either long COVID or CFS/ME, and for their family and friends. Whether someone is at the start of their recovery journey or has been doing this for some time, there is clear, practical advice based on a self-management approach that applies the principles of Pacing and Activity Management (but NOT Graded Exercise), as recommended by the new NICE guidelines for both conditions. Drawing on her unique joint training in occupational therapy and psychotherapy and long professional experience in an NHS Fatigue Clinic, Lydia Rolley provides an approach that recognises physical, mental and emotional/spiritual needs suited to the individual. Each chapter includes a range of Tips from which to choose plus Food for thought, Pause and Mind, body and soul. Essential text is highlighted so that the severely fatigued can focus purely on that in the early stages of recovery.

Genres: Nonfiction

449 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2022

Reviews

[Quirinus Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I *love* this book for so many reasons, but here are my top 4:

#1 It goes deep -
this isn’t just the standard “eat well, hydrate, pace your activity, get enough sleep” advice (although there are good tips for that) it does a 360 scan of the fatigue landscape. Want to socialise but lack the energy? Carrying guilt for needing help from others? Too brain fogged to work out how to minimise fatigue on a trip to the shops? All this and more is covered.

#2 It’s written in an accessible format -
We’re talking easy language, short pieces of text, key points in grey boxes, questions to guide the reader and tailor the advice, diagrams, illustrations and almost every tip covers only 2 pages max.

#3 Themed chapters and tips index -
Not only can you tailor the advice to your particular needs (the 100 tips are organised into 11 thematic chapters) but you can find what you need easily due to the tip index. I’ll be referring to different aspects over the course of my recovery journey depending on what I need when.

#4 The advice works -
Written by an expert with long-standing and first hand experience. There are so many useful tools, and it’s bang up to date so no perpetuating of damaging therapies like GET.

Geared more towards those with moderate to milder forms, but a lot of the advice can be applied to those with more severe forms too.

[Susan Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of getting to know Lydia Rolley when we worked together in Croatia. She is as kind, gentle and wise in person as she is as an author. When I learned she had written this book, I was eager and excited to read it and to also have as a resource for my clients. It did not disappoint. This is an excellent book that will provide help and hope to each reader. It's filled with care and experise from Lydia, who not only lives with CFS/ME but also has worked with countless patients as she has guided them in their recovery journey. The Fatigue Book is filled with practical, wise, and gentle advice for those struggling with CFS/ME or Long Covid. I especially love her emphasis on pacing. It's invaluable for the recovery process and for life in general. The book is also beautifully illustrated by the author's daughter, Rachel. Thank you, Lydia Rolley, for writing this much needed book. I'm so proud of you and thank you for the work you are doing.

[Erin Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as a professional. provides lots of practical ideas for pacing, managing chronic fatigue and focusing on the boom/bust cycle, sleep, motivation, etc. A couple of snippets of good ideas for children. Very self-helpy- will hopefully help those suffering. A few snippets of great ideas for professionals in terms of explaining metaphors to patients, but not groundbreaking. Not sure if the prayers included make it less accessible to non Christians, in my opinion this is a barrier of including religion in self help.

[Jacq Calvert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some solid advice, but it wildly overstates the likelihood of recovery, and can be weirdly moralistic about things like "healthy" snacks and sleeping patterns.

[JC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a very easy read even on high brain fog days! The illustrations were funny and the text and illustrations were informative together. The chapters were mostly short and informative too, filled with loads of tips of different subjects like pacing, rest, sleep etc. every chapter had a summary that made it easier if you couldn’t read it all. It was a good index of the content of the book and resources pages. I liked the way the 100 tips was marked both in the main index, but also a tips index, so it’s easier to find them back after you done reading the book. It also has sections where you reflect on different subjects, and what you are doing and how you want to change. The prayer thing in the end of the chapters wasn’t my cup of tea, so I just skipped that, but I’m sure it’s helpful for some. With books like these you should take what’s appeal to you and your life and then work ob implementing the changes. The reflection sections really helped with this. I have read many books on recovery from ME/CFS and Long Covid, and this is the book that has been the easiest, most helpful for me to read so far.

[VvTired (Lauren) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Highly relatable but mostly advice I’ve already been given having gone through treatment. I would have liked more information that I could pass on to people who don’t understand fatigue based conditions.

[Richard Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful, practical suggestions and observations. Enables the reader to know they are not alone.