hello all

[Nicola McIntosh]

good to see you back martin 😀

nik

[Phill Fenton]

Yes it’s good to see you back Martin 😀

So tell us what you’ve been up to in the last year or so?

[Carrie Brown]

Hello Martin, good to see you back 😀

[Lynn Normington]

nice to see you back Martin 😀

Lynn

[Martin Pearson]

Thanks for the welcome back people, its the freindliness of this site that helps to make it so special.

Phill, to be honest with you I haven’t been doing very much at all, I got quite seriously ill and didn’t have any sort of health insurance so pretty much lost everything. I have been repairing laptops because I have a fair knowledge of computers just to earn enough money to live.

I got something called cronic fatigue disorder which is like MS. Apparently it is brought on by overwork, stress, not sleeping, not eating properly etc etc so I have no idea how I got it !!!!
Anyway it totally knocks you for six as although your mind is as active as normal you just can’t physically do anything, sometimes it was so bad that I couldn’t physically get out of bed no matter how hard I tried to get up. Its a long term illness so I am by no means over it but I do now feel a lot better than I did a few months ago and I can at least get some work done now.

[Lynn Normington]

can it be controlled by medication Martin if not it’s got to a bit of a downer 😥 but at least you are up and about now so that must be a good sign ?? why does it stop you making signs ?

Lynn

[Shane Drew]

Martin, sorry to hear of your health issues mate.

CFS is rampant here. They call it Yuppy Flu as well, because it effects well heeled business people in the prime of their life. Pretty well stressed related illness from what I’ve researched.

Had a mate of mine, a aluminium welder with 4 kids and a lot of work, come down with it at about 30 years old. He couldn’t get out of bed for 4 months. Wrecked his income although 2 years later now he is back at work, but can still only put in an average day.

Take care anyway. I know a few in oz that have had it. You will get better, but you are talking a few years to get back up to speed. Another mate had it about 5 years ago, and you would never know now.

Overdose on vitamins is what sufferes have told me.

Its is often confused with Glandular fever, similar symptoms, but you never seem to recover.

We have Ross River Fever here too, which also has similar symptoms, but is even more debilitiating.

As I say, take care, lots of sleep and rest. No grog, no smoking, fresh vegetables everyday and lots of vitamins is needed in the aid to recovery. Most of all, you need very supportive friends and family. People without an understanding of the disease often label suffers as being ‘lazy’. You probably know that already though.

Unless you have had it, or know friends that have it, most people have no idea how it affects families or individuals.

Good to see you back on the boards mate.

[Martin Pearson]

Lynn, No its not the sort of thing that medication can help a great deal with, Shane sums it up better than me and to be honest if someone had told me a few years ago that they had it I would probably just have thought that they were lazy as Shane has said.
Its not so much the fact that it stops me making signs it doesn’t really but you feel drained of any energy all the time so actually doing any work is very difficult. I could be really thirsty and go without a drink because the actual effort involved in making a cup of coffee was to much !!

Shane, thanks for the support, yes you are right people do get over it but it takes a lot of time I know. I didn’t know about the not smoking but I guess that is just common sence anyway. Trouble is that I am on my own so don’t have any real support and smoking is about the only pleasure I have!!!!

[Shane Drew]

Wish I was closer Martin, I’d be more than happy to help you out.

If you can give up the smoking, it will help you. I’ve never been a smoker, so I can’t say I know how it feels, but as you say, common sense really. Keep up the fresh fruit and veg everyday as it will be advantageous too.

I’m sure the local sign community here will help if you need some.

Let us know what we can do Martin, if you need anything. I feel for you mate.

Take care, and get some rest…. 😉

[Martin Pearson]

Shane, giving up smoking is easier said than done, its about the only pleasure I have left now !!!!!

As for help from the sign community on here well I have already been surprised by how many people have welcomed me back, not that I should have been really because I am always telling people that one of the great things about the site is how friendly it is.

I would like other members to read this and be more prepared than I was. A good insurance policy to cover you if you are unable to work can save you a lot of grief. I wouldn’t want to put anyone off the industry either because I still love it but just remember to take better care of your health than I did, when it first started if I had taken a couple of days off and rested I might have saved myself a lot of aggravation, then maybe not. We will never know!!!!

[John Childs]

I’m sorry to hear of your woes Martin. I had no idea.

I presume that as you are back on the board you are feeling a little better and hopefully you are over the worst.

My best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.

John

[Jill Marie Welsh]

Welcome back, Martin.
I hope you are doing OK.
Sounds like a pretty crappy illness.
I sure hope you beat it.
Love….Jill

[Marcella Ross]

Welcome back Martin.

My father in law suffers from chronic fatigue disorder. He’s knackered all the time and sleeps for up to 18 hours a day! He gets up in the morning and within 2 hours is back in bed, then up for a bite to eat, then his energy is spent again and back to bed until late afternoon. He’s in bed by 7.30pm for the night after his dinner ……. if he manages to eat it.
So I can imagine what you’re going through 🙁

Hopefully things will get better. Good luck. 😉

Marcella

[Martin Pearson]

marcella, if your father in law has it then you will have a pretty good idea what its like then, don’t know about your father in law but I often feel quite guilty for feeling tired when I haven’t done anything even though I know its not really my fault and I can’t help it.
I don’t sleep anywhere like that amount though, I have tried to sleep but even though I am exhausted I just can’t sleep a lot of the time. I think it might be a side effect of the painkillers I have to take for my physical disability but I’m not 100% sure.

How long has he had it for and are there any signs of him getting better? As Shane has said you can recover from it but it takes a long time and normally a lot of support from friends and family.