Story
ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome blights the lives of 250,000 people in UK today, 20 million worldwide - and you wouldn’t know it to look at us because it's an invisible illness. That's why we're going BLUE - colouring it in for all to see.

We might not look ill, but the smallest exertion can floor us; our bodies are painfully sore; restful sleep eludes us; and ‘brain fog’ clouds our thinking. It has changed our lives drastically – disrupting education; making employment impossible; and straining family relations to breaking point. A quarter of us are housebound or confined to bed for many months or years. There is no known cure.

So, we’re going BLUE in ME Awareness Week 2017 (8 May to 14 May) to raise awareness that

ME is REAL and it is PHYSICAL. 

My Story

I've had ME since March 2000 & initially it was mild, which thankfully meant for me I could continue to work for 12 years. But like many ME sufferers to achieve this it meant sacrificing social & leisure activities, often household chores as well, spending weekends & time off resting to enable sufficient reserves of energy to let me make it through the next working week. Over the years the severity of my condition increased until 5 years ago when I was forced to stop working. Despite every effort to the contrary I'm now a severe ME sufferer, almost totally housebound and largely bedbound relying on others to do things for me, often even the basic tasks that when I was able bodied I took for granted. Its not an easy adjustment for someone who was fiercely independent but I'm lucky to have amazing friends and family!

Ironically when I was at work I wore blue daily, I'd achieve 10,000+ paces/steps every day and I was the go to person for everything technical(both professionally and personally). In contrast now I can manage 10 paces with a crutch on a good day before having to stop & rest and I will often struggle to send a text or work out how to switch on a device. But I can still go BLUE and am planning to get my nails painted BLUE this week & by doing so hopefully raise awareness & funding to go towards research into ME and to help the work of The ME Association in supporting people with ME and their families.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, but please understand I'm not after sympathy. For all ME has stripped from my life it still leaves me a determined survivor who hopes to one day return at least in part to the person I once was.....

But to achieve that requires answers and answers require biomedical research. So if you do feel you can make a donation no matter how small it will be greatly appreciated. You can text a donation of £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 as shown below, or use this page to donate. If nothing else I hope you understand a little more about ME and that it isn't just feeling 'tired all the time!'

Text MSME69 £5 to 70070.

#GoBlue4ME

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.