Jody Smith finds that even with ME/CFS, new life as symbolized by the mighty egg, can still spring forth … The egg has been a symbol of new life since ancient times. Recently, this symbolism has struck home for me in my own life. I’ve eaten a lot of eggs in my life. Particularly in my vegetarian years,
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Andrew Gladman reflects upon the recent IACFS/ME conference and the buzz surrounding a small molecule, leptin. It’s safe to say that the past couple of weeks, following the IACFS/ME 2014 conference, have been something of a whirlwind in terms of new ME/CFS research being unveiled. Now that the dust has had a chance to settle let’s take a step back
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by Jody Smith Of all the things ME/CFS is responsible for causing in our brains, this may be one of the biggest. Before I was lambasted by ME/CFS, I was an idealistic and trusting sort, loyal to a fault. I tried to see the best in people, tried to give the benefit of the doubt. My soft malleable center
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by Jody Smith Poor dental health may not be at the top of the list when you think of ME/CFS problems. But many of us who have been sick for any length of time can tell you some horror stories about our teeth. I don’t know if having ME/CFS is directly linked to poor teeth and all that can result,
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Gabby (Nielk) reports on the launch by The 25% Group of this special day of understanding and remembrance for those severely affected by ME I wrote the poem below about two years ago, in the midst of one of my harshest crashes. I was bedridden for many months. I was in pain most of the time and totally helpless and
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by Jody Smith Chronic illness and the Poverty Diet often go together. Far too often. I was on the Poverty Diet for many years. I have ME/CFS, my husband Alan deals with crippling past injuries and fibromyalgia. We raised our children on the Poverty Diet during more than half their childhoods. It is a no-brainer (pardon the ME/CFS pun) that
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by Simon McGrath ‘Let the Patient Revolution begin‘. A militant cry from those difficult, demanding ME/CFS patients unwilling to listen to doctors and researchers who only have patients’ best interests at heart? No, this dramatic call comes from a pillar of the medical establishment, the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Its recent editorial argues that the healthcare system as a whole
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by Jody Smith For most years in the last two decades, summer has been my best season. My serious crashes always took place between September and April. And every year, beginning in May, I would begin my slow climb back toward something resembling health. Laying outside in the sun for 20 minutes or so in the mornings seemed to make
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by Jody Smith As is so often the case, the research on a possible correlation between metabolic syndrome and ME/CFS is scanty. When I came across this threadbare research, though, I was desperate enough to check it out for myself. I recognized myself when I read about the weight gain and difficulties in dropping the weight, but what really rang
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by Jody Smith I’ll always remember my 25th wedding anniversary as being something special. I wish I could say that this was because my husband and I celebrated in some marvelous fashion, but that wasn’t it. At the age of 49, I thought I was having a stroke. I got up that morning feeling fine — or no worse than
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by Jody Smith The struggle with energy (or lack of it) is an integral part of life with ME/CFS. Whatever other symptoms each of us deals with, the ongoing energy black hole and knowing when and how to use what little oomph we might have safely, is a conundrum we all grapple with, often without success. During the times when
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Carol Schmid examines what it is about the nature of ME/CFS that makes it likely to generate skepticism. Despite ME/CFS being an illness so severe that it has been found to cause a poorer quality of life than any major illness including cancer [1], its sufferers continue to be disbelieved, shamed and abandoned by doctors, friends and family. It is
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