Today I should have been blogging about spring dresses, but I have chosen to write a different kind of blog post and cover a subject that means a lot to me. This week is ME awareness week, it runs from the 10th- 16th May. I was struck down by ME in my twenties, you may think ‘struck down’ sounds rather dramatic, but that’s exactly how it happened.
ME/CFS stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, the World Heath Organisation classification is that it is a neurological disease, the Department of Health officially recognises ME/CFS to be a neurological condition of ‘unknown origin’. The symptoms are wide ranging & debilitating, and it can be mild or severe, some of the symptoms (& there are many more) are fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches & pain, sore throats, breathlessness, urinary symptoms, nausea, digestive problems, IBS, headaches, brain fog, alcohol intolerance & PEM – this stands for Post Exertional Malaise, this means when you exert yourself over what your body will tolerate, whether physical or mental, your body suffers a shutdown after effect, you experience what feels like the flu; your muscles are weak, your body will not carry you & all of your symptoms flare up & hit you one by one, this can be delayed for up to 72 hours after you have overdone things, so it is hard to establish the activity that pushed you over the edge, In order to go back to your previous levels of illness, you have to rest & not do anything until the relapse or crash passes.
Considering this illness has shaped my life, I have never really spoken about my experience, other than to the people that helped me through it & others I know with the same condition. I believe if I had a different illness this would not be the case, as when I was ill there was disbelief from some doctors, & some people around me, which is hard when you are dealing with illness. There was a stigma attached to ME/CFS in the 80’s & 90’s, it was referred to as ‘yuppie flu’ because it was linked to high flying career driven people, although the history of this condition dates back to the Victorian era, with other famous outbreaks happening in the 1930’s in a community hospital in Los Angeles, then later in the 1950’s at The Royal Free Hospital, this has carried on over the years, these clusters seem to be linked to an initial virus, in the same way that Long Covid occurred after Covid infection. ME/CFS can also start with a virus, infection or trauma, & many other ways, it can hit you quickly or take you down slowly, It also can effect you no matter your age or ethnicity. I know of people who have recovered, but I also know of people where there has been a devastating effect.
Here is my story…
When I was in my mid-twenties, I was loving my life & full of energy, I had been working as a freelance textile designer having graduated from Uni & I was hoping to move into the fashion world. All of a sudden I developed severe acne, my siblings both had acne as teenagers, I however, thought I had a lucky escape. The spots were painful, my face was covered & I tried everything to improve my skin. I was on work experience with a fashion designer in London & travelling to Carnaby St, but my self confidence was shot, make-up did not cover my spots & people did stare. I was referred to a dermatologist, who prescribed a strong acne medication & I remember in the consultation, I asked “Does it have side effects?” and the answer was “Everything has side effects, even paracetamol”. I was healthy, I was rarely ill, so I thought it would be fine. The prescribed course was 4 months, it wasn’t working very well, so the dermatologist put the dosage up, (he shouldn’t have, as it was measured by my weight & I was too light for the increased dosage) but the drug started to clear my skin & I was delighted.
On finishing the course of medication, I booked a holiday with a good friend of mine, we flew out to Fuerteventura and had a lovely week of eating, drinking & swimming. I remember the night it happened, it was a pretty perfect night, sitting in a sunny square having a beer, It was the night before we were due to fly back so we were taking it easy. That night, in the middle of the night I went to the bathroom & my legs just buckled, I could not walk, all the muscle strength in my legs just went, they just felt numb, I woke my friend up & she helped me to the bathroom & then back to my bed, my heart was racing as I thought I was having a stroke, I was terrified. As It was the middle of the night, we decided that no doctor would see me & it would be best to just try to make it home back to the UK, where I could see a doctor. The next day I felt weak, my glands were swollen, I felt fatigued and I had a headache which felt like my head was in a vice. I made it home and collapsed on the sofa.
The Early Days
This was the beginning of weeks, months & years of symptoms, swollen glands, severe fatigue, temperatures, muscle pain & weakness, bone pain & UTI’s, IBS & much more. I contacted the dermatologist who wrote to the manufacturers of the drug, I was told these types of side effects could occur, but they should clear up in 6 months… they did not! What I did not know, was that the change that had occurred in my body was permanent. I slept for huge amounts of time, I would sleep for 17 to 20 hours in a stretch, food would go straight through me, I felt like I had the flu a lot of the time, but also like I had been poisoned, I could not walk more than a few steps, I had problems lifting my head up, I couldn’t get up or down the stairs. I could not do the very basic things, like washing & brushing my hair & brushing my teeth, my muscles in my arms would not work, they would start twitching constantly, it was almost like I was lifting a 10 ton weight, when I was actually holding a hairbrush! At this stage, I was bed-bound, I had all my meals upstairs, but some days I didn’t eat. I couldn’t watch TV or read as couldn’t concentrate, my brain would not function. I slept & cried sometimes because of the symptoms & sometimes because of the life I had lost. My friends would ring to arrange a night out, they expected me to get better in a couple of weeks, (to shake it off) but it didn’t happen. Days felt the same & slipped into each other. Big stuff happened around me, friends bought flats, started careers, went travelling, my sister got married, I missed most of the day, as I was in bed with a temperature. My GP ran some blood tests, I had glandular fever when I was young, I hoped I had it again, but I was negative for Epstein-Barr Virus, my bloods did show I was fighting something, but what that was, they couldn’t say. About a year & a half into the illness, I was referred to a Rheumatologist, he found I had an under-active thyroid and discovered some anti-nuclear antibodies in my blood, which would suggest I would go on to develop Lupus, it meant there was an autoimmune response going on in my body, a bit like MS, but I didn’t have Lupus or MS & the thyroid medication made no difference to my illness.
The Diagnosis
My GP referred me to Professor Findley, who was a consultant neurologist in charge of the ME/CFS service in Romford, I had a brain scan & an EEG on my brain and on that same day I was diagnosed with ME/CFS, I was relieved & sad in equal measures, but there was a way forward at least. Under his supervision I started to take a very low dose trIcyclic, he said it would help with sleep & pain, he also told me to manage my illness by pacing activity and rest. A few weeks into this medication, my pain & my cognitive function improved, I could watch a tv programme & follow what was happening, my short term memory came back, the medication also helped with pain & because I was well rested at night, I had a bit more energy the next day, I could finally see a glimmer of light. Over the next months, I continued to make slow progress, I staggered my day with rest periods, and sometimes I was symptom free for a day or a few days, sometimes I would fool myself into thinking I was better, so I would overdo things (I did this quite a bit!) this would result in a relapse, where I would be back in bed again with flu like symptoms, it would sometimes take me months to work my way back to where I was before. In these periods of being symptom free, when I thought I was better, I occasionally tried an aerobics class, when I was 30 minutes in, I could feel my glands under my armpits swelling & my legs wobbling like mad, but I didn’t stop, for fear of standing out, so I ignored my symptoms ( little did I know I was damaging myself). Eventually my relapses became further & further apart, but I was still frustrated & I wanted full recovery, I still couldn’t stand unsupported ( I would find the nearest wall & lean), stair climbing was hard, I had problems finding the right word, & my glands would swell up all the time. I did lots of research to desperately find a cure, I tried… homeopathy, reiki, the candida diet, herbal medicine, the lightening process, reverse therapy to name but a few, but none of these worked for me & some made me worse & resulted in a relapse. I was no longer able to see Professor Findley, as he was only seeing patients privately, so my GP referred me to Dr David Smith who specialised in ME/CFS.
Recovery
The first time I entered his waiting room, something struck me, letters were stuck to the wall from patients who had recovered, I had never seen this or heard about this in the ME world, people just didn’t seem to recover! Dr Smith was a kind & slightly eccentric man, he treated people with low doses tricyclics as Professor Findley had, but also added a low dose of Fluoxetine Hydrochloride, the trIcyclics were for reaching a deep restorative sleep and the Fluoxetine Hydrochloride had an anti-fatigue effect, he provided all patients with his recovery programme which was a pacing programme and it was to be followed strictly in the early days of illness. Some patients (like me) were unable to tolerate all or part of the medication, so for me learning the recovery programme, finding out what made me worse was key. Dr Smith stressed two things to me about the illness, two things always made it worse…doing too much of one thing or just doing too much and stress. Over the years my appointments with Dr Smith helped me to see there was life after ME/CFS, patients of his were living normal lives and achieving great things, going back to school, getting qualifications, getting jobs, but always being realistic about what could be achieved and keeping stress in check, if there was a bad boyfriend in the wings he would say get rid, if you had a job that made you ill, change career. Some stress is unavoidable & for those times you may need a little help getting through, in the form of therapy or medication, but try to eliminate anything that does not help you in the here and now, and be OK with saying no to people, know your boundaries. Dr Smith has now retired, but I know his past patients & I am very grateful for his help, guidance & positivity. A couple of my symptoms still pop up from time to time if I am not mindful and I think my recovery is described as a ‘functional recovery’, I have had to change the way I live my life to stay well. Over the years I have gained a huge amount of knowledge of ME/CFS, I have talked and shared my experience with many newly diagnosed people, & quite a few have their own recovery stories too & since recovering have achieved great things. The good news is, if you are diagnosed these days you can make a quicker recovery, when I was ill there was disbelief, stigma, the wrong advice from some of the medical profession, my diagnosis took a long time, I lost a good five years to the illness & then 3 years after this I was recovering but functioning. It is very important to surround yourself with people who support you & believe you. The people who helped me through my dark days were my Mum, just being there for me was so important & knowing I wasn’t alone, The ME Association, I rang the helpline when I was feeling desperate & read any information they shared, I also joined community groups, (it helped to see I was not the only one), a boyfriend that I dated for a while was hugely supportive & brought humour back into my life, I had two friends both with chronic illnesses who understood, so we would meet & chat, my GP who although was learning herself about the condition, always believed me & would go that extra mile, & Professor Findley & Dr Smith.
Life After M.E/CFS
If someone had knocked on my bedroom door when I was at my worst with ME to tell me that I wouldn’t be stuck like this forever, I would not have believed them, I could not see how I would get better, as I was ill for such a long time and nothing seem to help, if they had told me I would be a mum to an amazing girl, meet my husband at Glastonbury festival, travel to some amazing places, go to gigs, cook, drive, eat out, laugh, work, write, care for family, socialise, walk, dance & swim, I would of thought it impossible, so this is a blog of hope, for anyone you may know who is sick with ME/CFS or Long Covid or any other chronic illness, please share this blog post & give them hope that recovery is achievable.
Where You Can Get Help
For anyone that needs help, here are some services (£) & free resources
https://meassociation.org.uk
Raelan Agle has a YouTube channel with many recovery stories & some great content https://raelanagle.com
Pamela Rose is a fatigue coach and will offer a 25% discount to readers of my blog, use code ’25OFF’ off the Three Week Fatigue Rescue Course https://www.pamelarose.co.uk
Lauren Windas is a Registered & Licensed Nutritionist & Naturopath https://www.laurenwindas.com/cfs/me https://www.instagram.com/laurenwindasnutritionist/
Toby Morrison https://www.cfshealth.com/home Toby has some free training & you can find him on YouTube.
Danielle Williams Registered Nutritionist https://daniellewilliamsnutrition.com
James Wythe https://healthylivingjames.co.uk