Chronic illness has profound effects, changing every part of the lives of those who have them: how much people can do, their moods, their relationships, their finances, their hopes and dreams, and their sense of who they are.

We hope that even though you may not have control over the ultimate outcome of your CFS or FM, using this site has convinced you that there are many things you can do to improve your quality of life and your odds of increasing your level of functioning.

This site contains coping skills and strategies that can help you take responsibility for those things that are under your control. Many people in the self-help program and many of Dr. Lapp's patients have improved their quality of life and some have increased their level of functioning substantially using the ideas and strategies you found here.

We hope that by using what you found here, you can gain the ability to manage your illness better, creating the most favorable possible circumstances for your body's healing powers to carry you to whatever level of improvement is possible in your individual situation.

And we also hope that, even though you may not have the life you expected, you can build a good life for yourself nonetheless.