Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, sounds like a mouthful doesn’t it?

Hi I’m Lauren, and if you don’t know me and about my journey then welcome. In September 2012 (nearly 7 years ago) whilst studying for my degree in English Literature, I became very unwell with a viral infection. I was advised to take 3 weeks to rest and recover at home and that’s just what I did.

But upon returning to university after shaking off some of the flu-like symptoms, I found that my health never fully returned. My body was experiencing extreme fatigue, muscle aches and pains, and severe digestive disturbances which became a huge embarrassment for me.

I was always a healthy active individual and it felt like such a bizarre way of being, having my health just decline in an instant.

I experienced severe mental fatigue (known as ‘brain fog’), which to describe it best, is almost like having an outer body experience! I felt clouded in my thinking and cognition, as though I had an intense hangover and I couldn’t think straight. Words failed to come to me and I had poor memory function.

This hindered my ability to think sharply, to read, to write.

Amongst that I also experienced vertigo and ear problems, and many sensitivities to foods and chemicals. Why was I so sensitive? What had gone wrong?

After seeking the help of many GPs and private consultants, there was no support and many shoulders shrugged. Was it just depression, they said. Other than that they had no other answer.

Until a consultant mentioned M.E / Chronic Fatigue.

I had never heard of M.E and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and it was a diagnosis that I refused to willingly take on, because I knew there was no cure. I could not live this way forever. It frightened me so much and so I sought solace in alternative therapies. For years I tried a new diet, supplement or therapy to regain my health.

7 years on I am about 95% there. I have managed my symptoms with the help of nutrition and appropriate lifestyle intervention.

I wanted to create an event to bring people together from all walks of life who are suffering in some way with this illness. M.E affects 250,000 of us in the UK alone. It is more common than Multiple Sclerosis and yet the NHS gives little to no funding, and there is so limited awareness (and a huge stigma surrounding it).

If you look at the picture above, you can see that I look happy and well, yet this was during the worst of my illness. I wanted to show you this because it goes to show that somebody can be fighting a battle you have no idea about, and just because they might look okay on the outside, does not mean that they are feeling this on the inside.

I’ve had people say, ‘you don’t have M.E you are not in a wheelchair’. M.E is a spectrum disorder, which means 25% are severely affected i.e. bedbound from it. The rest can look to be functioning okay, but still struggling day to day with functional issues such as the fatigue and cognitive problems.

Our M.E / CFS event was aimed at raising awareness of this highly devastating illness that hijacks the lives of so many people. It isn’t spoken about enough, and we wanted to break the stigma and discuss lifestyle interventions that can be used to target recovery. You can also find heaps of information and advice within my book Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Your Route to Recovery: Solutions to Lift the Fog and Light the Way.