Humans of ME/CFS

Day after day I wake up feeling like I spent the night in a dryer. Feeling beat up, aching all over, dizzy, weak, and nauseous every single morning since I was 51. I am now 62. Pain medications have only sometimes helped me get out of bed in the afternoons. I am no longer completely bedbound thanks to the medicine, but I was bedbound for a good three years.

My adrenal glands do not function at all until eight or nine at night. So along with the weakened immune system, aches, and pain, I also have constant stomach problems, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Fibromyalgia, vision problems, and memory loss. What’s even worse than all the life changes is the ignorance of doctors.

I am so tired of hoping and praying that new doctors I see will understand. I am always leaving feeling misunderstood and brushed off. I feel like I will just be a gnat until I die. My dream is to have a friend and a doctor who will say, “I get it, I want to help you!” But there is not one ME/CFS doctor in my area.

So, I just exist. But I will keep dreaming.