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What I mean when I say ‘I’m Fine’
“How are you?” “Oh yeah, I’m good, thank you. I’m doing just fine.” A common, every day exchange between two people. It may be someone you know well, or someone you’ve just met. Telling people you’re ‘fine’ is so common nowadays that I don’t think any of us know what it really means. Whenever people ask me how I am, there is a lot that happens in my mind. How honest should I be today? If I did answer that question honestly, can I talk about it openly without crying (usually no)? Would they understand, or even care? Can I actually put into words how I’m feeling right now? How…
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Why is pacing so gosh darn difficult?
If you didn’t know, pacing is the single, most important way of managing your symptoms when you have a chronic illness like Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. It involves spreading high-energy activities over a long period of time, to stop your body over-exerting and inducing those horrible, energy limiting symptoms. ‘High energy’ is defined differently from person to person, depending on the severity of their condition. For me it is anything that involves standing up, but for someone with a more severe condition this could be as small as processing daylight. It takes a lot of planning, and a lot of practice, to be really efficient at it. However I do know people…
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How to manage an energy crash
I’ve been trying and failing to write this afternoon. Started things, stopping half way through, taking breaks to stare off into the distance, starting again. Nothing really seemed to be working. The problem I am having is that I am in the midst of an energy crash, and I just do not have the mental capacity to form sentences and write. I love to write, but I do need some sort of energy to be able to do it. I can’t just fumble through it – no one wants to read a half-assed post from someone who is struggling to keep their eyes open. While I sat there, resting in…
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Post Exertional Malaise and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS)
Post Exertional Malaise (or PEM) is one of the most common symptoms of many chronic illnesses, and is one of the defining symptoms of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS). This very limiting symptom is something that likes to rear its ugly head even when you think you’ve been so careful. And can come in many forms – sometimes I don’t even realise it’s what I am experiencing until my husband reminds me I have overdone it and what I am experiencing is the result of that. The dreaded PEM. As it’s such an important part of my life with ME/CFS, I thought it was high time I shared a bit more about…
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Being Diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS)
I’ve had this blog for many years, and written so much about my life and my experience with chronic illness, but have never actually talked about being diagnosed with Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) and what that looked like. I will be honest here, I was diagnosed nearly 10 years ago now so my memory is not great on the details, but I do remember the main bits which includes a lot of the really important stuff. If you are undergoing testing, or about to start the process, this may give you an idea of what to expect. However, depending on where you are based, and who your doctor is, as well…
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Simple tips for getting through the tough days
I try my best to be a relatively positive person, to not to let the negativity of life consume me, but even I struggle with getting through the tough days. General life in itself is hard – no one has a life free of negativity. But when you live with a chronic illness, or mental health condition (or both), it can feel like the bad outweighs the good, and getting through each day can feel impossible. I’ve had my fair share of tough days, and have spent a lot of my life figuring out how best to get through them. I’ve not got it perfect by any means, but I…
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Living with a Chronic Illness, Every Day.
Looking through past blog posts I realised that I’ve talked quite a lot about life with mental illness, but I haven’t really focused that much on the other evil in my life: my chronic illness. I was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) over 3 years ago now, and it’s been a rollercoaster ride ever since. There are so many new things to get used to, treatments to try, lifestyle changes to make. It’s something that you just can’t prepare for. I do count myself as very fortunate, because I know so many other sufferers of ME who aren’t able to work at all, and many who are bed bound. But…
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Brain fog made me do it
Brain fog is a very common symptom of any chronic illness, the fogginess of the mind clouding memory and cognitive functioning. It can make even the most clever individual feel rather silly, and it can make doing anything difficult. So, in an effort to explain what brain fog feels like, and to try and laugh at some of the things I have done, I have decided to reveal all in this post. All the things I’ve done as a result of brain fog. It is something that I’ve been struggling with a lot recently. My current job is great as it is not physically demanding, but it does drain my…
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The Chronic Illness Guide to Edinburgh
I’m not really a travel blogger, but travelling is something that most people like to do, whether or not they have a chronic illness. So with my recent trip to Edinburgh I thought I would try my hand at a bit of travel writing. No time to read now? Pin it for later: Travelling to Edinburgh with a Chronic Illness The first thing I will say is, Edinburgh is not really well suited to chronic illness. The place is nothing but hills! Even the zoo is on a hill! If you do decide you want to go to Edinburgh be prepared for the sheer amount of hills there are to…
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Myalgic Encephalomyelitis symptoms that aren’t as well known
I was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) nearly 10 years ago and there are still symptoms that arise that aren’t expected to this day. Each day is a learning curve with new and wonderful things to deal with (sense the sarcasm). It’s more than just all encompassing fatigue – in fact this causes many problems of its own. That is why it can be such a destructive disorder, particularly for those on the severe end of the spectrum. Keep reading to explore some of the more unusual and unexpected symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis – and let me know in the comments which one was the most surprising! Please note this…
