Send to a FriendM.E. is a complex illness that affects people in different ways. There are many possible symptoms but you probably won’t suffer from all of them. It’s common for symptoms to change and fluctuate during the course of the illness. Everyone experiences an individual mix of symptoms.
These may include:
Overwhelming and persistent fatigue or tiredness, especially after doing things that didn’t used to make you feel exhausted. You may notice the fatigue straight away or it may take a day or two to kick in and is not relieved by rest. This delayed reaction is a distinctive feature of M.E. which can help doctors to make a diagnosis.
Feeling generally unwell or malaise which is similar to feeling like you have the flu. A sore throat with or without swollen glands.
Pain is common and can be felt as aching in the muscles and joints, pins and needles, muscle twitching and headaches or migraine.
Sleep difficulties such as needing to sleep excessively or not being able to sleep, unrefreshing sleep, waking in the early hours, light, dreamy, restless sleep and sleep reversal (for example, sleeping from 4am till midday).
Problems with thinking such as concentration difficulties, memory problems, difficulty finding the right words and problems organising thoughts.
Problems with the digestive system such as nausea and loss of appetite, indigestion, excessive wind, bloating, stomach cramps and alternating diarrhoea and constipation.
Problems with the nervous system including poor temperature control, sweating, dizziness and difficulties with balance and vertigo.
Increased sensitivity to alcohol, medication, some foods, bright lights, noise and odours.
View a selection of related articles from past issues of InterAction, our quarterly magazine.
Real experiences
Tod
'I used to lie awake half the night and feel doubly lethargic the next day. My GP advised me to take a very low dose antidepressant to help induce sleep. It was important to get the right dosage otherwise I would sleep well but feel hungover in the morning. These days I rarely need the tablets though as I'm much better. My problem now is that I tend to wake up at 4 or 5 am and find that my mind is racing. This too can ruin my daytime energy levels. A clinical psychologist advised me not to fight this surge of mental energy but to find ways to accommodate it and drain it off. So now I get out of bed, make a hot milky drink and do something mentally undemanding, like a jigsaw puzzle, cards patience or telly. Whatever I do, my rule is one hour maximum before I return to bed.'
Aniela
'Trying to write an essay made my brain feel blurry, disconnected, and limp, so that thinking felt like pushing a car up a hill. I thought it would go away soon, but it didn't. The symptoms were adding up: insomnia, bloating and abdominal pain, headaches, emotional vulnerability, marked memory loss and inability to concentrate, and of course, constant exhaustion. Intense bursts of activity were followed by massive lethargy because I never knew if I'd have the energy to finish something I'd started unless I kept going. I'd crossed the boundary between exhaustion into feeling very ill, yet I still didn't have any word to describe it except 'tired'. In the following year it got progressively worse, with a major symptom of leg pain and weakness developing so I could barely walk and could not do stairs.'
Simon
Information first produced November 2003. Currently under review.
