Person with ME
Dr. D


 

I have suffered with ME/CFS for over a year now and it has been a terrible struggle to keep on to my job and support my family.

Over the last 12-18 months I have felt more and more ill. Repeated visits to the GP's at my local surgery have led to them telling me to be patient and giving me higher and higher doses of anti-depressants. Meanwhile my health just went from bad to worse to terrible.

I just couldn't understand why I was ill all the time and struggling with my workload. The more I tried to keep up with my workload of 50 hours a week the more ill I became. For a while the GP's almost had me convinced that it was down to my depression and anxiety and I had to be patient.

During the summer term every day was a horrendous struggle against fatigue. It took huge will power to get through each day without collapsing in a heap.

Things came to a crashing halt at the start of the summer holidays. My body just crashed and I spent the first two weeks of the holiday laid on the sofa feeling absolutely dreadful.

I saw 2 GP's in the summer holidays. They were cold to the point of hostile when I had the temerity to suggest that I had ME/CFS.

I finally lost patience with the NHS and I was forced to see a private holistic doctor who has listened to me and helped me make some improvements.

I feel so badly let down by the NHS which is wedded to the idea that ME/CFS is a psychosocial illness when 4,000 research papers show that there is a physiological basis to ME/CFS.

I have done a lot of reading about my illness and would strongly recommend the self help book by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, an American physician who has successfully treated many people with ME/CFS.

 I have found inspiration in the compassion and commitment of pioneering doctors such as Professor Malcolm Hooper and Dr. Sarah Myhill.

I have been writing to my MP for what its worth and would encourage all people with ME/CFS and their families to do the same.

We need to emerge from the shadows a community and make our voices heard.

Wishing everyone good health
 

www.investinme.org