• Zonked - Isolated

    I have had this dreadful syndrome since 2003. It started with tonsilitis and I was ill for 4 weeks. My first day back at work and I collapsed on the way in, I was feeling faint, so weak and I couldn't walk, my legs wouldn't work. I was lucky in that my GP said straight away it was post-viral fatigue and that was the start of a long struggle back to health.

    I slept all the time at first, total exhaustion. My life has changed, I tire very easily and the worst thing is my brain when I'm tired, it doesn't work. Foggy is an apt word for it. I am always getting sore throats, I have had this one for 3 weeks and I am very unwell. No one understands, they think I am just tired, it is so much more and it leaves me totally depressed.

    My biggest problem is making others understand that a simple infection to them can have terrible consequences for me and not all doctor's understand it, they think I'm out to get time off work. How do you get across the terrible debilitating effect it has on you? I have had a few relapses, this is a tough one at the moment, and work have not been understanding at all, and of course depression sets in if it lingers on and on. Life feels so cruel at the moment, and I am a sorry mess but I guess it will improve.