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AND pensions! :mad: I've been on sodding ESA for six years longer than I would have if they hadn't changed the rules, kept quiet about it, and then accelerated them even more so that we faced a cliff edge as well as short notice. I'll be better off when the pension does finally arrive, because I...

That sounds good, @Hoopoe! As soon as you find people you click with, it'll be irrelevant. A lot of conversations between friends are more or less content-free, just chitchat, wind-ups, anecdotes, etc. People's lives often are surprisingly boring, not least because a lot of what they could...

I'm in my mid-60s and have no family apart from a sibling who lives miles away, so I dare say I'll find out soon! :laugh:

Applies to inpatients too. When my older relatives were in hospital, family members often had to get things for, assist, and even advocate for elderly people who didn't have any visitors. I remember one elderly lady who'd been given incontinence pads but wanted to use the toilet, and all she...

Oh, that's interesting. So the "novel oral therapeutic being developed" and "ready for GLP toxicity and GLP safety pharmacology studies" might be a new formulation or combination of existing drugs?

I find it interesting that at least some GPs treat elderly patients very differently. They feel that as the named doctor, they should see the patient regularly and where possible make the home visits themselves, because familiarity and continuity of care is so important in this group. I didn't...

I'm losing track a bit, so I've started a list of some of the things that have been highlighted for the shortlist of factors to be accounted for. Not all of them will be necessary or even a priority, I've probably missed off blindingly obvious stuff, and the wording is clumsy (still in PEM)...

The flaky ladies in my family said it resolved in pregnancy, and after each child it was less severe when it returned. I only saw my mam with a rash on exposed skin once. By the time I was old enough to notice she only usually got it in her ears and belly button, and with her sister (who'd had...

Unless he's after some nice sinecure that will give him influence and position in retirement, but he has to be seen to toe a party line first. You could be right about there being no particular motive, though, specially if he genuinely believes his recovery was down to the, erm, 'treatment'.

In my family's experience, that should read: Decades ago, people were less able to challenge their doctors Partly because knowledge was guarded jealously by a paternalistic system (prescriptions written in Latin?), partly because if you fell out with the only GP in your community it might cut...

Yes, this is puzzling, and also (at least the remissions) something I've experienced. But I suppose if an immune mediated switch can go the wrong way to trigger ME or cause PEM, it can presumably do the opposite. I'd like the sleep dysfunction accounted for too. It's always seemed central to...

I put it badly, but that's what I meant. I have poor balance, and both music and light can make me fall or stumble when I'm in PEM or very tired. I need visual input to stand upright, and if there isn't the bandwidth for that, off I go. I think it's made worse by not having any filters to start...

That's really interesting. Is it because the sound forces you to shift attention to it, and you can't deprioritise it? (I ask because I have trouble like that due to autism, and wondered if it might be a shared trait.)

I'd like it to account for the fact that some people feel better with an infection—and for a minority, very much better for a short time after some vaccines.

Yes, I remember a relative being prescribed benzodiazepines for about a month, and it struck me how much her cognitive function resembled mine. She couldn't make connections, describe things, or hold onto more than the simplest thought at once. Interestingly, she also acquired some of the...

I've decided to prepare myself for the results showing no clear link, or being a bit too confusing to interpret straight away. It would be so good to have something to focus on, though, even if it still leaves a long way to go to trial disease modifying treatment. Researchers will struggle to...

I can see why they wouldn't want people with military grade twaddle-spotting apparatus, though, who are also likely to ask highly inconvenient questions.

Biology being what it is, I'm less sure about that one—but yes, it's a great idea to think it through.

It may not be directly relevant, as substantial numbers of people with ME don't really unload their muscles. They might be able to do less, but unless they're severely ill they often have to carry on as best they can. Their activity pattern doesn't resemble bed rest, space flight, or immersion...

Maybe they're developing it into a competitive sport. Next paper will describe the bonus points for creativity in derisive acronyms for patients.