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This is really important, but hopefully it can be got around by being clear that questions are based on levels of activity that would be considered normal. For instance, on most days of the week it's usual for healthy people to wash and dress, do some kind of work or activity, prepare or buy...

This is unlikely at present, as the genetics underlying mental illness are unclear at best. Also, illnesses such as depression are so common (at least one in four people will be affected at some point in their lives?) that it would be very hard to make a clear genetic link. We'll hopefully...

Antibiotics can make anyone feel crap, to be honest – but fortunately, you shouldn't have to put up with the symptoms for long. I've just finished a course of a macrolide, and in me they cause dizziness, a thumping heart, and fatigue. There are upsides, though – they also remove all my ME pain...

In 1976, a young doctor perched on the end of my hospital bed after a week of tests, looked me in the eye, and said, 'I can see you're really unwell, but I'm sorry, I can't work out what's causing it.' It's depressing to think that he probably got sucked into the medical machine, where...

Perhaps they could have a think about what's likely to be on offer to them, @Forestvon? I suspect the answer is going to be very little, unless the person needs additional medical evidence for a disability benefits claim and a specialist appointment could be helpful to their case. If the...

Well-spotted, @MerryB, it does look like an interesting example. Their criteria might be much broader than ours would be, but we could probably learn from their experience of recruiting GP practices. The study title, though...you just know King's College is involved without even looking! :rofl:

Yup – following an epidemic of 'tongue-shaming' on Instagram! :wtf:

So to shift the conversation away from the slightly depressing topic of the SMC, here's an idea. I've been thinking about the importance of visual impact in helping to publicise new projects. It sounds as if recruitment of interested patients is standing at around the 5,000 mark, which is great...

For me it happens around 36 hours after I've exceeded my energy envelope – but yes, it is 'flu symptoms. For me, the pattern's been pretty stable since I became ill in 1976, though of course I didn't know what it was before I was diagnosed. I just thought I got a lot of viruses!

:laugh::laugh::laugh: Me too! Used to have four of 'em, and they were very variable (at least in the amount of draught they created).

I'd spotted that, too – sounds intriguing, so I've set it to record.

Very interesting and informative ramble, though! :)

Sorry, I'd forgotten all about that! Not having a great day today.

Does everyone get immune symptoms with PEM? I've always had this, but I don't know whether it's universal. If I've only exceeded my energy envelope by a bit, it's nothing more than slightly raised neck glands on waking, which go down again within half an hour. Once you recognise it – rather...

:banghead::banghead: That's 30 seconds of my life I won't get back! :laugh:

I do see your point, but if this phenomenon exists, won't it need to be picked out of the GWAS statistically rather than from participants' symptoms? If there aren't any visible differences at all between ME patients and controls, there's no point proceeding any further with GWAS research...

Indeed, and we're seeing the consequences in appallingly sharp relief. Decades on, so many people still think vaccines cause autism – how many children have died, or suffered life-changing damage from encephalitis, because they weren't vaccinated against measles?

I've wondered about that, too, but it doesn't always cause symptoms – apparently some elite endurance athletes have it too. I suppose it might have more effect in combination with another variant somewhere else?

I wouldn't have been on the suspected cancer pathway, then, as I didn't meet any of those guidelines and I waited a good couple of months for the lower endoscopy the first time around. I can't recall the second quite as clearly, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't within a fortnight (I'd have been...

I was referred twice in two and a half years without this. It's definitely worth going to your doctor and, as @adambeyoncelowe says, focus only on the bowel issue. If you haven't had it before as a symptom of ME, it probably isn't. I really struggled with it for more than four years, but my...