Humans of ME/CFS

I have been living with ME/CFS for almost 40 years, but for most of this time it had no name.

After an unidentified illness in high school, I began to experience a series of illnesses. Each new symptom and visit to a doctor resulted in no diagnosis and no help.

After years of being told it was stress or in my head or given a prescription or new diet, I stopped going to doctors and learned to pace myself, deal with the pain, and accept the limitations on my goals in silence. I forced myself to remain active, riding horses into my fifties.

ME/CFS took that away from me when menopause and ME/CFS combined to do war on my body. Fortunately, I have an amazing husband who cares for me when I can’t keep going.

I am not depressed, crazy, or a hypochondriac. In my late forties, a nutritionist told me to look into CFIDS (now known as ME/CFS) and I read others people’s stories. I cried for the first time because I knew I was not alone. I was not crazy and, yes, I was actually sick.

Knowing it has no cure is the second part of this life altering battle, that there is no end to the pain, exhaustion, or to your body failing you when you need it the most. Yet I am strong, brave, and courageous every day in the face of this disease.

I have ME/CFS.