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Me too – and actually, I think the statement about fatigue not being the cardinal symptom per se comes from ME patients. I've heard numerous people either describe it as a lack of power, or say that it arises from previous activity (and is therefore part of PEM). I find it impossible to separate...

It is deeply chilling to look back on the calculated cruelty inflicted on WWI soldiers when society decided it couldn't afford for so many to be ill or disabled – so it gaslighted them, as well as physically torturing them with 'therapies' – and what happened when society decided it couldn't...

'Not Yet Diagnosed, Nervous'. Originally used as a code by doctors to describe symptoms of shellshock. Edit: in a pejorative way. If there were no physical wounds, it was often dismissed and veterans were not entitled to the recognition and pensions they'd have got if they'd been injured by a...

Thank you – it reads well (as did the first version, to my eyes anyway). Haven't the brain function to go into any depth at the moment, but I'd prefer you kept the 'as yet' qualifier on 'medically unexplained symptoms'. It makes it clearer that you're not accepting the term as some kind of...

Our council's rents do vary a bit, but it hasn't gone down the fixed-term tenancies route at all. They're either introductory (first 12 months) or secure. The only variant is where a secure tenancy is demoted due to serious breaches of the tenancy agreement, but they're pretty good at supporting...

How interesting – I guess it depends where you live to some extent? I was a new tenant when I first moved in, but everyone is automatically offered secure tenancies after 12 months unless they've failed to pay rent or caused problems. When I was considering renting privately, I found the...

Hear, bloody hear! I only got my social home because I'm disabled and over 55; had I not been, I'd have had to wait up to 10 years instead of 15 months. Everyone in my family lived in council housing, in an era where there were few obstacles to a family getting a tenancy, and where a young...

If HB were always paid promptly and direct to landlords, there'd be far fewer problems with arrears. As for trashing the place: this will always be a risk, but asking for references and following them up removes a lot of it. That still leaves a problem for young tenants with no history, but...

Thank you – as he's a fairly recent appointment and probably still getting to grips with the brief, it might be best to keep our powder dry. Provided he stays in post, I could contact him in early February and give him the heads-up so he can be ready to say something about it. It's possible...

It's about bloody time – although I'm not convinced it will make much difference, as it'd be easy for landlords and lettings agents to ensure quietly that claimants entitled to housing benefit failed affordability tests. It would help if more councils processed applications promptly, as one of...

Have just remembered – :banghead:! – that my local MP has been appointed the shadow minister for health and social care. He has a good record for engaging with constituents, so I could email him with information about the study in the hope that he can help with publicising it via (for instance)...

I don't recall seeing anything like this, but it hasn't really been my experience. After minor surgeries, I always have to insist I came back for stitches removal two days earlier than recommenced, otherwise they grow into the new skin and I need further surgery to remove them. (I've never had a...

I wonder if clothing and kit whilst on active duty might also be a factor? If a soldier goes outdoors in a conflict zone, his/her skin tends to be covered up pretty comprehensively; they may also avoid going out at all except when necessary. Only thinking aloud, though, I don't really know...

The fact that they're saying they'll change people's names suggests this is probably the case. If they wanted them for research purposes, it'd make more sense for them to approach the MEA, as @NelliePledge says.

Same here; I'm not even sure what triggered my ME, but 'progressive accumulation of dysfunction' sums it up perfectly. Mine took many months too.

Good! Judging by the number of articles posted on Facebook, there's been enough publicity in the mainstream media to have attracted the attention of people with no prior knowledge of post-viral syndromes, or personal experience of Covid-19. When healthcare is their actual paid job, there's...

I get this when in severe PEM. I was worried when it first started, so I mentioned it to my GP; he said that in meningitis, there are usually other indicative symptoms. It's apparently not uncommon for people to have a stiff neck at the onset of viruses such as colds or 'flu, so I wonder if it's...

I get it too. I'd always attributed it to the immune flare I get after exertion, as I feel the same way when I have a virus coming on. No idea whether that has any basis in fact, though!

Just to say a belated thanks to @Andy and the rest of the team for the presentation yesterday. It was so good for people to be able to put faces to the names, and see a team genuinely engaging with patients.

People may not yet realise that it's a symptom. It might seem an odd thing to say, but I had a lot of issues that I wouldn't have been able to identify as individual symptoms until I started having conversations with other patients. It was only when I realised that some people didn't have...