Getting better

People do get better from M.E. In may cases 'better' may not be the same state of health before becoming unwell. The illness will have had an impact on your life which changes you and your circumstances. Sometimes the impact can be huge.

Very little research has taken place into people with M.E. over a long period of time so no one really knows the typical course of this illness and what recovery actually means.

Children appear to make a quicker recovery than adults.

We also know that people who have received inappropriate medical advice are less likely to make a smooth recovery and may become more severely affected. People who have other coexisting health problems or difficult social circumstances will have more problems.

To find out more about recovery from M.E., researchers will need to study different groups of people:

People who recover quickly and fully
People who consider themselves recovered after a long period of illness but are still prone to setbacks and continue to pace carefully
The more severely affected who remain very debilitated

View a selection of related articles from past issues of InterAction, our quarterly magazine.

Real experiences

Tony
'After two and a half years off work – including a year virtually housebound – I was able to go back part-time. A year later I was back full-time, firing on perhaps three out of four cylinders but able to do what I had to do. Since then I've had two major relapses as a result of pushing myself much too hard but recovered within nine months each time, essentially because I now know that stopping everything and a lot of rest does the trick. Boring, but for me it works. I still get bad patches but fortunately there's no significant downturn in energy. Some of the 14 symptoms I had at my worst point recur from time to time in a milder form, but nothing that prevents me doing anything I want to do. So these days I remain effectively recovered.'

Christine
'I have had M.E. for just over ten years, and while not yet fully recovered, I am better - much better. I'm able to make arrangements and keep them; overdo things and recover relatively quickly; enjoy the cinema and theatre; and I have recently started permitted work. Rest continues to feature in my daily routine and I still experience times of exhaustion. However, my quality of life has improved so much that this may be 'as good as it gets' for me. Mostly I'm delighted when I do something I haven't been able to for years, but occasionally it emphasises how incapacitated I once was and I feel a sense of bitterness for the lost time. I should be grateful that I can walk easily, but I still want to run.'

Information first produced November 2003. Currently under review.