Having #ME means...
...paying full price for train fares as you don't know until the day if you will be well enough to travel
...going from being the most organised/reliable person in the world to someone that can’t be relied upon
...making plans with friends but knowing & letting them know, that you may not be able to make it on the day
...sleeping for 8 hours and waking up exhausted to the core and in pain
...looking absolutely fine to everyone around you, when you feel dreadful on the inside
...a short walk around to the shops to get milk leaves you shattered to the bone
...ongoing trials of new medication to find something that might stop or at least reduce the pain
...the chemist doesn’t even have to ask you your name, they just get you your prescription
...a constant battle between what the heart wants to do and what the body can do
...asking a question, getting an answer, then forgetting what the question was
...wanting to be politically active, but having little energy to do more than sign petitions
...even a wonderful few hours with friends means pay-back in exhaustion and pain for a week
...no matter how carefully you pace and look after yourself, the illness can still get worse
...with increasing regularity you are trying to get the words out but your brain simply won’t work
...dealing with people's judgements from 'you're lazy' or 'not trying hard enough' to 'it's all in your head'
...1 doctor tells you one thing, another the complete opposite, & your left trying to make sense of it all
...a steady draining away of your confidence and sense of self-worth
...your world gets smaller and smaller and smaller…
#MEawarenessWeek.
If you would like to learn more about ME, I recommended the following:
Me and My ME - Ten Things You Didn't Know About Living With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, article by Laura Roche, Huffington Post
Plus:
ME Association - what is ME
Action for ME - about ME
