Facts about ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or M.E. affects 250,000 people in the UK. Typically the most active and talented people are afflicted. More than 33,000 children are affected in England alone, causing them to miss school for long periods, often years. About 20% of the total number of patients have severe ME, lying so ill they are unable to move. It can last for decades. 

Very little progression has been made in last 21 years. I suffered from it in 1991. There is still no test for it, no cure, standard treatment or drugs available. We urgently need to raise awareness about the disease (known in the US and Canada as CFFIDS) to ensure Government funding is made available for research, tests and treatment. The danger of total trust in alternative medicine also needs to be highlighted. 

For more information please see:

  CFS Research Foundation website

and 

Action for ME 

Suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is not funny at all.

Gloria Gaynor and me - in iBelieve Magazine

The third installment of excerpts of Funnily Enough in iBelieve ~ the Christian Lifestyle magazine

~ Please click on image to enlarge ~
illustration provided by the publisher

To keep reading, Funnily Enough is available on Kindle and in print.

To subscribe to iBelieve magazine please click here

Home cures for the relief of joint pain and symptoms of CFS ~

Everyone asks me why I wear two watches. I wear a Bio-flow magnetic leather wrist strap to help circulation, which I find does help alleviate joint pain.

Some people are allergic to ginger but I'm not. I eat as much as possible. It is wonderful for the relief of joint pain and nausea: Ginger jam, ginger tea, ginger biscuits, rhubarb and ginger. New Forest Ice Cream make the most delicious oriental ginger ice cream.

If you grate ginger and garlic in equal proportions and add it to curries or roast chicken you don't taste either too much and yet the result is delicious. I know it is good to recommend eating large quantities of green and purple vegetables with any meal. We have purple sprouting broccoli ready for lunch.

You can also add ginger to the bath. Cut in it long strips if you do, otherwise it makes an awful mess.

Make sure your pH balance is right. I have to avoid acidic foods such as tomatoes and satsumas or counter-act them by drinking a lot of celery juice.

Trampolining? We found the trampoline in South Africa. I'm not that keen on them but they say that it is very good for the brain - especially children's brains - to jump up and down. Have fun!

Home cures for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or M.E.

I take:

Sunlight or cod-liver oil ~ for Vitamin D and joints

Marmite and more Marmite ~ for Vitamin B intake

Epsom salts in long baths ~ for Magnesium 

Prescribed to me by my ME Specialist

Since I am not a doctor I feel uneasy about giving advice to others about how to cope with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. We are all different. However, as someone with personal experience, I cautiously add my sixpence:

Graciously accept everything the National Health Service can offer you.

Ask to be tested (and re-tested) for other conditions such as Thyroid problems, Glandular Fever, Bilhartzia, Tick-born diseases such as Lyme's disease, allergies, intestinal worms etc. I found I had developed a new allergy to mold and so did well in an arid climate, albeit with sunglasses.

Listen to your body and keep still until you feel inclined to exercise. Suggest friends ring for a chat rather than visit until you are up for it.

My life was transformed by having all my teeth crowned. Now free from mercury-amalgam fillings I no longer catch bugs or viruses going around. 

Having taken herbal worming tablets I now buy broad-spectrum Vermox worming tablets over the counter in South Africa and take a dose every year. You would do this for an animal and I have no intention of losing my health to nematodes. Their evidence does not always reveal itself in NHS tests.

I buy Epsom salts for my bath from agricultural suppliers: Scats or the Farmers Co-op. You'll find boxes in the section for horses. Use when you need re-vitalizing rather than before you want to go to sleep. 

We found that acupuncture was not good for ME patients. Spending time on a General Hospital ward was not a healing experience but I concluded that it was important to accept the tests and scans offered to in-patients.

Funnily Enough on Premier Christian Radio ~

I really enjoyed being at Premier Christian Radio in London 

where Maria Toth invited me on her morning show 'Woman to Woman'.

You can listen to the programme on this link
only certain browsers will get you there,
You will need to use Internet Explorer or the latest versions of Chrome of Firefox 

A life transformed ~

This is the inspirational story of July Letsebe, 'Stepping Forward' Programme Director at the Waterberg Welfare Society, a charity that addresses the pandemic HIV/AIDS in a corner of rural South Africa.

Please visit my charity page for detailed information and links.

The World in One Room

~ Jessica Taylor's life with M.E. ~

Do watch this true story of a lovely girl who has been suffering from severe M.E. She has been truly courageous in her battle with this debilitating disease. Her aim is to make the world aware by encouraging people to watch this autobiographical video.

When you have Post Viral Fatigue it is tempting, when you feel better for a day or two, to return to normal activities too soon. Hopefully, Jessica's short film will encourage patients to convalesce properly. She witnesses to the danger of severe ME setting in.