2) Neurological/Cognitive Problems -  such as impairment of concentration and short-term memory; mixing-up of words; difficulty processing information; disturbed, unrefreshing sleep, with a lack of normal, restorative sleep; balance problems; sensory disturbances (e.g. hypersensitivity to light and sound); emotional lability.

3) Unpredictable Fluctuation Of Symptoms  -  from day to day, or within a day.  This can mean not feeling tired all the time, but it is common to feel ill all the time!  Symptoms can be exacerbated by doing too much and not managing the condition properly.

Other symptoms include: muscle pain (which can be severe) and muscle weakness; multi-joint pain, normally without swelling; clinical/laboratory evidence of viral infection, with sore throats and painful lymph nodes; poor temperature control i.e. sweating or shivering; altered sleep patterns; chest pain (which should be investigated if frequent and/or severe); abnormalities to the heart rate and rhythm, including palpitations; visual disturbances; problems with digestion similar to Irritable Bowel Syndrome; mood swings; severe migraine-type headaches; and generally feeling unwell.

Depression can occur in those with M.E., but is an effect of the illness and not the cause.  The percentage of those with M.E. who are diagnosed with clinical depression (as opposed to just feeling "fed-up") is no different than what would be expected in any chronic illness e.g. as in M.S.

These symptoms could, of course, be caused by a number of illnesses, and therefore only help to confirm the diagnosis when the main diagnostic symptoms are all present.

M.E. usually has a sudden onset following a viral illness (e.g. flu, gastroenteritis), but it can also follow the use of pesticides/organo-phosphates or a vaccination - as in my case, where my illness was started by a Hepatitis B vaccination which I was required to have as a student nurse. Needless to say, the sudden onset of M.E. brought my brief nursing career to an abrupt end!

At best people with M.E. manage to work, even if they have to spend every evening and weekend resting.  Some, however, are confined to house, or even to bed; while others are somewhere in the middle  -  not housebound, yet unable to work.  M.E. often lasts for years, and as yet there is no known cure.

Continued >