So is it considered a physical condition or a mental illness?

Neurological IME. Brain forgets that body is better from whatever virus you were ill with in the first place and keeps you in ‘survival’ mode. Or at least that’s what the ME sufferer’s groups were saying a few years ago when my brother had it (5 years of being really vacant, vague and of course tired. He’s about to get a first in engineering degree though so safe to say he’s better now…)

A bloke-friendly analogy would be that it’s a bit like that chap on here the other day with the Alfa 147 that went into ‘limp’ mode every time it went past 60 despite there being nothing wrong with the engine.

Though the Lighning Process and its great success really does challenge the purely neurological understanding. The other complicating thing is that there is a host of knock-on psychological problems that arise, particularly if you get it in your teens when you are supposed to be drinking cider and chasing girls/boys around.

And its not just ‘yuppie flu’: in my professional life i have met many ‘council house tenant’ sufferers of ME who would instead be branded as ‘benefit scroungers’. Same illness, different insults. 😆

I know a couple of people with it (knew, one died young).

To be honest I really wouldn’t get involved. It’s life destroying.

To be honest I really wouldn’t get involved. It’s life destroying.

Eh?! As several examples above have shown, it’s not usually anything like that long term.

I suffer from ME every Monday morning when my alarm goes off.

A sausage butty usually cures me though.

A friend of mine who is a gym instructor had it a few years ago. It took a while but she completely recovered.

But she is the type who can never do anything in moderation, she will excercise to the point of exhaustion and she is a vegan as well. I think most people were waiting for the “come uppance”. Since then she’s taken it a tiny bit easier, but she can still get his by ailments which seem to take weeks to recover from.

ME seems to be a mixture of things, and there’s arguements about whether it’s in your head or whether infection is the cause. Maybe it’s either, or both. There’s some interesting new science on ME being in some way connected with a virus named XMRV. Of course, in the past, all the research money in the UK was given to the headology docs.

I’m biased. I had a diagnosis of ME which got lots better with antibiotic treatment for something else altogether.

Eh?! As several examples above have shown, it’s not usually anything like that long term.

I guess we can both only talk from personal experience.

Just found this so thought I’d post.

I’ve been suffering from this for about 6 months at least. Bloody horrible condition. All I want to do is ride my bike. Everytime I try to I end up unable to do even the most basic stuff around the house for 4-5 days and with 2 kids it ain’t easy.

I’m fighting it everyday and pushing to recover but it’s damn hard as no one knows too much a out it and the NHS are proper chocolate teapots on the subject. The best information that not only explains what is going on and makes sense of the symptoms is http://www.drmyhill.co.uk . Since following the advice life is more manageable and I’m hoping to be able to ride my bike damn soon!

I wish the OP and his missus all the best – many people recover, it’s just a shame the NHS are no help and actually cause more suffering with CBT and GET – muppets!

For those who make fun of it, while I’d like to say I’d wish it on you I won’t as it is one of the darkest most depressing places I have experienced and would t wish it on anyone.