ME/CFS: A disease at war with itself

Persuasion Smith shares some thoughts on the stigma that comes with ME/CFS … We can all agree that ME/CFS is a nasty disease, particularly in its severe form, but there are abundant nasty diseases in the world. What is unique and particularly confounding about our disease is that so much controversy surrounds it, and not only surrounds it, but invades it too.  It

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Knitting Equals Pleasure, Despite ME/CFS

Jody Smith loves knitting. Again. She thought her days of knitting and purling were long over but … she’s back … A dozen years ago I was so decimated by ME/CFS that I couldn’t read, watch TV, or flip through a magazine. My days were spent zipping back and forth along the spectrum of waking and sleeping. I was wide

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ME/CFS and the Magic of the Canine Factor

Jody Smith has been taken by surprise by the value of having a dog when dealing with ME/CFS … There’s been plenty of research indicating that having pets is good for your health. I never really noticed any particular benefits to having cats, though that may have had more to do with my cats. They’ve been fairly indifferent to my presence and

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ME/CFS and Beating the Clock

For Jody Smith, the ticking of a clock was enough at one time to chase her back to her bed. But with the passage of time, she has been able to reclaim her living room …  I have two clocks in my living room. One clock is on the wall across from where I usually sit at my computer. The

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ME/CFS: In Free Fall Through the Looking Glass

Jody Smith continues to try to put into words the horror of the altered state that hobbles the brains of those with ME/CFS …  If you’re not a fan of hallucinatory drugs you’re gonna hate ME/CFS. When I first became ill in March of 1992, the feeling of altered reality inside my head, the shaking which could not be seen

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No Longer Naive in the Ways of The Beast

After having lived for years with ME/CFS, Jody Smith learned there’s more to this beast of an illness than she realized, and that what might help one person may not help others … When I first got back online five years ago, I was naive in the ways of this beast we call ME/CFS. I guess I thought that whatever it

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Time Change Equals Jet Lag, ME/CFS Style

Jody Smith marvels at how much difference one hour can make to those with ME/CFS, as much of the world has endured The Time Change in recent weeks …  Where I live, we recently went through a time change, compliments of Daylight Savings Time. Having ME/CFS, I don’t need to travel anywhere to get jet lag. I just need the clock

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Life on a Dead-End Street

Jody Smith considers how her life had become one of necessary isolation, and how a chance encounter with new neighbours and the possibility of having them in her home, led to feelings of fear and insecurity. Looking back she reflects on how these concerns have slowly improved and how the occasional visitor is now more welcome… I live in a cul-de-sac

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