International ME/CFS & FM Awareness Day
Why I feel so strongly about International ME/CFS & FM Awareness Day?
I don’t need to read the information that is on the poster about what ME is and how it affects people, This is because I am one of the people it has affected.
I was diagnosed with ME a little over four years ago, after a year of chronic tiredness and very vague untreatable symptoms just like the ones shown in the poster.
After a year of tests, eliminating everything from low Iron levels to Tuberculocious, I was finally given the diagnosis of having ME/CFS.
There is no miracle cure and no quick fix for ME, The advice I was given was to be more active when I feel tired, to rest when I have energy, It all sounded a little odd to me!
The hardest thing for me when I first got ME was having to give up my job in a primary school, I just could not function enough to get through the day as well as looking after my family and home, something had to give and this was really the only option.
I am so glad that ME is being highlighted today as normally it is such a little known subject. How can people with ME, expect anyone to understand just how it affects your day-to-day lives when very little is done to educate people on what ME actually is.
Most people when I say I have ME think I have MS, yuppie Flu or I am just making up the symptoms and being a bit of a drama queen. In the past some doctors have not even known what ME is!
In the future, I can only hope ME/CFS gets the awareness and research it deserves, They are so many people suffering out there with ME that are given little or no hope of getting rid of the debilitating Illness.
If reading this can help even one person to understand a little bit about ME and the symptoms, then that is a positive in my eyes and hopefully things will improve in the future and this illness will get the research it deserves.
To find more information on ME/CFS, visit the International ME/CFS & FM Awareness Facebook page
My daughter and I both have M.E. Thank you for sharing.
I grew up with my mum having ME. It was before we knew much about it and it was still called Yuppy flu. She does well but even 30 years on she can still have bad days. My husband has also developed ME and has it really bad, he does well to keep on a normal life. I know what it’s like to live with ME and how helpless you feel to watch those around you with it. Hugs and here if you ever want to talk x
Thanks Susan, I don’t really talk about ME with many people as they just cannot understand what you are feeling even if you try to describe it. Some days even I wonder if I am getting ill with a virus or if it is just the ME again. How strange you lived with your mum having it and then for your husband to get it, Poor you it is like you haven’t lived without it around you. I also have Functional Neaurological disorder that I was diagnosed with last year. That and ME do not mix well! Thanks for the Hug and offer of a chat if I need to talk x Hugs right back xxx
i know a friend that suffers with ME and i see how she struggles with things. My daughter suffers with Fibro which has many similar problems. so i can understand first hand here 🙂
This is a brave post to write Rachel. Kudos to you and I hope you continue to receive help and support with it when the condition lays you low. I battled with severe depression a few years ago, at the same time that I gave up work for a while, so I’m aware of the difficulties a health diagnosis like that can bring.
Not the same conditions, by any means, but I suspect they have a similar effect. Talking about ME and other debilitating conditions can only help people’s understanding – the more awareness and sharing there is in this world the better – so good on you :o)
Support from Time to Change Leeds and Leeds Mind were invaluable to me in my recovery. Best wishes, Stuart