I was diagnosed in 1988 by someone who was studying CFS. He warned me back then already that exercise while the virus was active was not beneficial. I proved it to myself that if I did a little too much, even just once, I would get worse.

In 2001-2003, I saw a doctor who clearly knows nothing about CFS. I was assured that if I would exercise I would "feel better". I tried it for a couple days, and again, felt worse. This guy is now petulantly telling disability that I'm still sick because I won't follow doctor's orders -- he can't accept that I am following some OTHER doctor's orders, not his.

Paul Cheney was interviewed in 2004 about a recent study showing 100% of disabled CFS patients have cardiomyopathy, apparently from the virus settling in the heart, and he made it clear that *fibro[myalgia]* patients improve with exercise (because they don't have this heart condition), but that CFS patients cannot exercise.

In googling to see what (if any) mainstream media exposure that research got, I found a 1998 article saying that Dr. Martin Lerner also found cardiomyopathy, and advises "resting the heart ... to prevent the death of cardiac tissue". This study "explains why patients relapse with exertion".

Just recently, after being reassured by one of the doctors that I'm suing that regular exercise would give me more energy, I decided to try it again, to document the results. Nearly a month later, I'm still in more pain, and instead of having more energy at the end of a week, I had to spend the weekend in bed.