“Ooh did someone overdo it?!”

An exacerbation of symptoms after activity is not a personal failing.

It’s merely a fact of life with M.E.

Most people feel a tad drained at this time of year. There’s a lot going on, and one can get to the 27th December and want to collapse into a little heap of complete peace and quiet.

Post Exertional Malaise is not feeling a bit tired or worn out after activity; something that is common and expected with conditions where fatigue is a symptom.

Post Exertional Malaise (the hallmark symptom of M.E.) is a worsening of symptoms after activity that is out of proportion with the activity that triggered it.

It tends to last longer than the activity that brought it on. People can have days, weeks, months, or in some cases years at that more severe level of suffering. It is unavoidable, although learning about your poorly body can help. For example, when I was able to read book I knew I would feel much more unwell afterwards because of the effect prolonged concentration has on my poorly body now.

So please keep your “Uh oh did someone over do it” comments to yourself. Better still, educate yourself; a person with Post Exertional Malaise as a symptom is going to have a worsening of symptoms after nearly every single activity*. They haven’t necessary “overdone” anything at all. And if they have, perhaps by daring to sit at the table to eat a meal with their family once a year, can you blame us for wanting to live a little now and again…?

*Someone’s “Baseline” tends to be things they can do without an exacerbation of symptoms. But a Baseline isn’t permanent and external factors and stresses (like getting the common cold) will mean baseline activities are no longer ‘safe’.