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For me to stay stuck in achiever and perfectionistic patterns, I have to be in them in the first place. How does the author of this know that this is the case, given that I'm on the other side of the planet and they have never met me. What is this assumption based on? Ah. Does this imply that...

I'm afraid I'm at a loss to find a suitable word in any language for this. Even a string of swearwords doesn't really do it justice.

AZ now only being given to over 60s in Germany. Latest is that the risk of a blood clot in the brain is especially high for young women. 31 cases including 9 deaths out of 2.7 million vaccinated.

They were talking about blood clots specifically, and making the point that correlation isn't causation, and that the statistics on blood clots weren't any worse than what you'd expect if people weren't being vaccinated. Which is odd, because according to the news in Germany, although the...

Thanks for all the comments. I think I'll just wait for it to go away again. Most things do if you wait long enough, one way or another.

Anecdotally, quite a few people I know (not PWME) are taking to their bed with flu-like symptoms for a couple of days or more following the AZ first jab, and it's becoming received wisdom around here. My wife had Pfizer on Sunday and is fine. I heard on "More or Less" this morning that...

I think you'll find that the average person has 1.9998 legs. Dammit. Am I going to have to start believing in acupuncture or reflexology? That's all I need, to become living proof of a belief system I've never had any time for. Although, hang on ... I think you might have just answered one of...

Thanks, it's not painful, more like tickling or pins and needles. And it's not spontaneous (I originally thought it was), but directly caused by touching another part of my body, which is the most perplexing feature, like my wiring has got mixed up. You'll see from my avatar that underpants...

Here's a weird thing. In fact so weird I don't even know what to call this thread or what to google. I don't think it's an ME thing, just posting this on the offchance that anyone has a clue. I've been having a strange sensation on the outside of my right shin occasionally for months, a feeling...

According to Barbara Ehrenreich (Natural Causes) homeostasis is just another dodgy concept that has been accepted without much question since it was coined about 100 years ago. Your cells do what they want and go to war with each other without reference to you or anything you do. Macrophages...

We had quite a chat about the placebo effect here: https://www.s4me.info/threads/placebo-effect-discussion.10017/#post-307560 The placebo effect can only cause a subjective feeling of improvement, but is not able to cause objectively measureable improvement. The common perception of the...

I most certainly did, and as evidence I would refer to the numerous ways variations on the positive thinking myth have been used to abuse our patient community over the last few decades, the role it plays in the patient-blaming we are all familiar with, and more widely how it has become commonly...

Those who claim that positive thinking can affect illness recovery have the burden of proof, because they are making the claim. The only knowledge you need is what constitutes sufficient evidence. PG's n=1 anecdote of how he thinks he recovered certainly doesn't, it's far more likely that he...

Indeed. I don't remember Noel Edmonds being invited by the BMJ to tell his cancer story. Of course PG was invited because he is a doctor, and his views will carry the authority of a doctor. Whilst doctors seem to be as susceptible to quackery as everyone else, their profession gives them a...

Sorry to harp on, but "folk science"? I had to look it up on Wikipedia, and it's as bad as I thought: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_science

I could be quite vitriolic before I got ME. ME can affect anyone, from the vitriolic to the placid and pious, and all types in between. Coming down with ME does not mean you have to change your personality to fit someone else's idea of what an ME sufferer should be. Some people are vitriolic...

This is Wallit being Wallit. His involvement in the NIH study hasn't made him change his spots.

I think we should have a new forum rule that all oaths must be minced in future.

I have just learnt that Gadzukes (or Gad zooks) is an example of a minced oath. I've never heard the phrase "minced oath" before, but I rather like it.

Also in my nearest big town, which my GP tried to trick me into making an appointment at by telling me about a great hospital department which specialised in rare illnesses and might just find out what's going on with me. So I called the number he gave me, and the conversation went something...