Freeme - ME/CFS and Long Covid

I’ve been meaning to leave a review for a while but have been too tired to write one as comprehensive as I would like to, so I’m leaving a more brief one for now and hopefully can come back to make it more thorough later. I have had had ME/CFS, which is what this app is designed to help treat, as well as a functional neurological disorder, for about 6 and a half years. In the last year I had to stop school and work altogether because the fatigue had become so severe, so I was really hunting around for every option I could find. I came across FreeMe and Chris through Raelan Agle, who’s another great resource, and thought it would totally be worth the shot, especially because it’s absolutely affordable for what it is. I am pursuing traditional treatment options thru healthcare, but wait times + referrals, etc. are very long, so I wanted something that would give me guidance and direction plus something to work on while I was waiting months to see doctors. It’s been about six months since I downloaded it, and I do feel it’s been one of the most helpful, if not the most, helpful thing I’ve done in my pursuit of recovery/treatment. For the record, I’m not, like, cured, or anything, but I actually feel like it is possible to eventually completely recover. I’m too tired to go into any more detail about the app itself at the moment, but if you feel like this might be something helpful for you, I 100% recommend giving it a shot.

I’ve been using Freeme for about a month now. When I started, I noticed that some reviews warned that it’s not a cure, but not even my Doctors (a TEAM of them) have a cure yet, so I didn’t expect a cure. I just wanted something that would help me to feel a little better. And Freeme has certainly done that. I’m learning about healthier ways to respond to stress and emotions, and how to help my nervous system to calm down. There are meditations, education, brain exercises and writing. Plus an AI, Isla, that you can talk to. I’m also using a pacing app and going to a Cognitive Therapist. Plus antidepressants and supplements. All together, I finally feel like I’m getting better (after 15 months). Thank you Freeme!

While this app and premise may help people cope with their symptoms more effectively. The marketing of this app expressing that it fixes the "root cause" of these illnesses and referring to nervous system regulation as the "root cause" is wildly misleading and bad practice. This is not the proven "root cause" of these illnesses and as science moves forward we are finding it's only a small part of the puzzle for most people. This is an imperative distinction to make known when selling programs to people who have limited energy and funds. It's unethical to lead ill people under false pretenses. For those brain retraining helps, I am happy for their improvement. But we should always strive to follow the best science possible, especially in regards to people's health. In this case, that does not point to nervous system dysfunction as the root cause of these conditions. This should be marketed as a tool to cope with a subset of the symptoms that exist for these populations, anything more is not done in the name of best practices.