It can be so frightening and confusing to feel so unwell and not know why. Sometimes we fear undiagnosed illnesses or tumours, and worry that there MUST be something doctors are missing. In my experience working with people with CFS/ME this is one of the hardest things to understand: Why do my muscles hurt? Why am I so exhausted? Why does my heart race? Whilst doctors have not found a specific positive medical test, it doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong. If course there is – but what? How can we explain this to people who don’t understand? How can we understand it ourselves? Our body is a hugely powerful machine, and you can start to understand just how powerful by visiting the Kings College Chronic Fatigue and Treatment Unit Website: here you’ll find clear explanations as to what’s going on and why. Share this with your friends and family, too.

Once we understand why we feel so awful, we can start to understand solutions, too. Once we understand the impact of poor or irregular sleep, we can commit to a programme to improve it. Once we see what happens when our muscles weaken, we can start to strengthen them. Once we can see how our worries affect our pain, we can see what we can do about resolving or managing them differently.