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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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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…
