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I think this is a good approach if you're able to take it. It didn't ever occur to me that the cavalry might be coming, and maybe that's been helpful in an odd way. I got ill in the mid-70s, and ever since diagnosis I've expected to live with ME for good. So I enjoy what I can, if I can, and...

Yes, I got a blank page with that because of the content blocker. It loads fine on Safari, though.

Presumably because they can get more research funding from government departments keen to look as if they're taking action to address long-term ill-health? From what I can see, funding research like this isn't much different to paying an ad agency to deliver a campaign.

A good day is a less bad day, as @Wyva says. It's being out in my powerchair, wondering at nature, somewhere with few or no other people. Or it's being able to go for a good swim at the leisure centre. A somewhat less bad day is enjoying the cricket or a book or a puzzle, and being able to do...

An idle thought: might some of the advanced thermal imaging techniques available now tell us anything about differences in muscle function between ill people and sedentary controls? From what I've read on the board, it seems to be quite difficult to work with and compare muscle tissue samples...

I think its heart's in the right place, but some of it seems to be lifted from practice that isn't necessarily ideal for people with energy limiting illnesses. Talking about SMART goals and role playing scenarios might not be very appropriate for someone whose illness is severe enough that they...

I had a really positive reaction to the original AZ vaccine (I felt great!), and a positive reaction to the Moderna bivalent. The Pfizer made no difference at all to ME symptoms, and the first dose might even be what triggered the bouts of atrial fibrillation I had for a few months. The second...

What is it with some Americans? I once convinced one that western Ireland has an extra day of the week.

I've always told everyone who asks about my illness. Nobody's scoffed at it, and thankfully few have said "Have you tried...?". But I've needed a wheelchair outdoors for most of the time since my diagnosis, and that will make a difference. I don't think I've ever felt as if I haven't achieved...

Ach, come on you lot. These people staked their whole careers on an all-or-nothing outlook: you think up one bunco, and keep working it on different people. It's hardly surprising they're preoccupied with it.

Yes, my onset was gradual over months, and I don't know the trigger. There was no illness, just able to do less and less over many months. Odd as it might sound now, it never occurred to me that I was ill. I didn't even feel unwell, I just had weakness, low energy, and slow recovery that were...

I wonder how match funding works in research? I'm only familiar with a system of favours, where small companies negotiate bits of spare capacity—rehearsal room days, time in the metalwork shop, loan of equipment that would otherwise be on a shelf—from bigger ones, in return for a reduced show...

The approach in swimming now seems to be that exposure is probably the best way to deal with the virus, since avoiding it doesn't work and most kids exposed to it eventually develop immunity. I imagine the NHS has taken a similar view, and verrucas are only treated if they're really problematic...

I think it's more a request for what information someone holds about you, where they got it from, how they use it, and whether they've shared it with anyone else. They're often requested by individuals. For instance, my GP practice suggested it was the best way to get the medical records I...

If it's only viruses, couldn't stool be PCR tested? It wouldn't show tissue abnormalities, but it'd likely pick up the DNA of enteroviruses. Guess it still needs money, though, and might be hard to justify unless there's a good indication it could tell us something we need to know.

As far as I can make out, none of them are. Practitioners are the modern thing! Doctors are expensive and not all of them stick to the script.

I too get muscle weakness after activity that's challenging enough. The main characteristics are that it's relatively short lived, and there's an element of negotiability: I'm unsteady but have the sense that I'd get out on adrenaline if the building were on fire. Most of the pain only sets in...

I mean anybody with a bit of paper showing they've been on a course. It doesn't matter whether it was occupational therapy or psycho-something or Feng shui, as long as they're capable of reading the manual. The purpose is to act out the Healthcare Provision sketch with your hair nice and neat...

They must be getting desperate. What was it Desmond Dekker sang? "Shirt it a-tear up, trousers are gone"? "Po-o-o-or me."

Yes, but only if it does have doctors. Doctors with an interest in conditions like ME. The trouble is that practitioners with six months' training are a lot cheaper in the short term, and the short term is all that seems to matter. We'll likely be stuck with this until the population starts...