ME/CFS

Dr A Macintyre in 1998 in her book on ME; described one main symptom as a;

“ profound fatigue (mental and physical), made worse by exercise, with a variety of bizarre symptoms, in a person who may look well and in whom there are usually no abnormal signs of examination”.

Myalgic Encephalitis can be broken down into three segments, which can summarize some of the effects of this illness;

Myalgic; stands for Muscle pain;                                                             
Encephalo is shortened for Encephalitis which is affecting the brain;      
Myelitis is the affecting of the spinal cord and nerves.

Although litis encompasses inflammation and evidence in ME cases do not always show this, this is a pretty good indication of how someone with ME is affected.

Just a few symptoms of those with ME include;

Chronic Fatigue – often described in arms, legs and all over, people describe their body as feeling like lead.   
Brain Fatigue – where they feel completely exhausted mentally.           
Cognitive Dysfunction – Memory and thinking problems, more commonly called ‘brain fog’.    
Pain – usually widespread over the body, usually in joints and muscles.              
Sleep Disorder                                                                                                
Irritable Bowel Syndrome                                                                          
Chronic Headaches                                                                                        
Sensitivities - to odours, light, sound, food, skin sensitivities etc…        
TMJD – Temporo-mandipular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome – severe pain in the face or head, usually associated with muscles and ligaments of the face.                                                            
Impaired Coordination                                                                                

Like with the others in the CFS spectrum ,there is no know cause to ME, however it is associated with being a post-viral condition, although there are people affected with ME after stress, environmental factors and trauma.

There is no known cure for ME, however research predominantly appears to confirm it is a virus, only a few years ago specialists confirmed that they now believe it is a physical condition rather then a pshchological condition. There is only hope that now a cure is not to far away from being discovered.

Websites useful for ME are;

www.afme.org.uk.

www.ayme.org.uk.

www.meassociation.org.uk.