Well you might have been wondering where I've been, I said I would be back blogging then I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Well, I've been feeling pretty rotten and it all came to a head on Monday where I was rather poorly! Luckily I have lovely jubbly housemates and they all looked after me like the lovely people they are.
I've had ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) or CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) since I was about 14. I had glandular fever which developed into Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome which then developed into ME/CFS. The main symptoms of ME/CFS are:
- Exercise intolerance and exhaustion after physical activity
- Pain/myalgia (mine is mostly in my ankles and wrists)
- Fasciculations; visible twitching over the muscles. (I hate this)
- Cognitive problems such as clumsiness (I think I was like that before anyway!!) and word finding ability
- Problems with immune system such as frequent colds and headaches
- Alcohol intolerance (I'm the world's biggest lightweight, I don't drink now!)
- Sleep disturbance
Sounds like a barrel of laughs doesn't it? Well, I recovered really well when I had it bad in my teens. My Mom was amazing it did loads of research and we got me through it. But I think after a very difficult year, things have started to calm down and my body has gone "Aaaaah...." and let go! I've been feeling under the weather for a couple of weeks and like I said it all came to head on Monday when I pretty much collapsed on my friends and had to go to A&E! Since then I've been absolutely exhausted, breathless and twitchy with achey ankles. I didn't click that it could have been a relapse until my boyfriend did some research. So I'm not too happy with it but I know how to cope with it.
The thing with having an illness like ME/CFS is that it's an 'invisible illness'. It's ruddy awful. On my worst days, I'll look a bit pale. That's it. I won't have a mark on me, you can't see it, it's not a broken leg where I'll wear a cast and everyone will immediately notice. But inside I'm absolutely exhausted, not just a bit tired, more like when you've been out on a night out until 3 in the morning and you get up for a lecture at 9, but all the time. I'm not at that stage yet, but if I don't act now it'll get that way. So I've got to pace myself. But hey-ho; I've been through worse.
So the point I'm trying to make with this post is that if you know someone with an 'invisible illness' - and there's absolutely loads of them - just be there for them, be that bit of support that they need. Let them know that you know that they are not well, because sometimes you just think that you're being silly because there's nothing visible.
So that's me up-to-date. I'll try and post something a bit more cheerful soon if I can muster the energy. I've discovered Netflix though so I might be a bit distracted.
Chloe
xo
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