So it seems that I have made some progress. This is not something that I really know how to work with, to be honest, as it is such a rare occurrence, in my sixteen years of illness, but it does seem to be happening. I have written ad nauseum in this blog about my rebreathing mask, and the extra carbon dioxide that it provides. Posts can be found here and hereon this subject. Briefly, a doctor in Breakspear Clinic in the UKmeasured the state of my autonomic nervous system, and discovered that I have reduced levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in my system. CO2 and oxygen are both necessary for cer ..read more

I have been writing for years.  I probably started back when I was an earnest teenager wanting to impress literary girls, and I continued into university, producing a poetry collection as part of my final year project.  Once I started working, I wrote a lot less as I had less time on my hands. Then, when ME hit, I found that I suddenly had lots of time again. When I was able, I began to write again, slowly, tentatively, in fits and starts.  Writing is one thing that most people with ME can do. It may be slow and painstaking, but if you feel OK for twenty minutes a day then ..read more

I have been writing for years.  I probably started back when I was an earnest teenager wanting to impress literary girls, and I continued into university, producing a poetry collection as part of my final year project.  Once I started working, I wrote a lot less as I had less time on my hands. Then, when ME hit, I found that I suddenly had lots of time again. When I was able, I began to write again, slowly, tentatively, in fits and starts.  Writing is one thing that most people with ME can do. It may be slow and painstaking, but if you feel OK for twenty minutes a day then ..read more

There was a screening of Jennifer Brea’s harrowing film Unrest yesterday in a local hotel and, after twelve months or so of largely staying away from thinking and talking about M.E., I decided to go along. The film was organized by the Irish ME/CFS Association and introduced by a young woman who herself has M.E. and who, I later found out, had done interviews on local radio and newspapers. The radio interview is here; she is poised and impressive and an excellent spokesperson for M.E. sufferers.  Jennifer Brea People may not have heard of Jennifer Brea, but her story is a familiar on ..read more

Delighted to say that my blog has been named among the Top 50 CFS blogs by feedspot.com.  ..read more

I usually put the anniversary of the beginning of my experience with ME/CFS at the beginning of December. I got a cold in late November, 1997, and that was the last time that I was fully healthy. Yet all during that year, 1997, I was ill. I had constant sore throats, chest infections, colds, flus. I would finally get over one illness and two weeks later I would be sick again. I was missing a lot of work, and even when I managed to get in to work I would be struggling through the day, just about managing. The illnesses were not very serious in themselves, but they tended to last a long time an ..read more

I roll the dice And move like An arthritic old man Space by tortuous space.                                          I roll one And then one And then one. There are no other numbers. With time, I make progress. But then, there is the serpent, His tongue out, Lascivious and filled with venom. He wants to make top, bottom, Up, down, High, low. He is a machine for defeat. Inevitably I step on his head And down I go. And so, I roll the dice, And move like an arthritic old man, Space by tor ..read more

Between the 1970s and the 1990s there was a campaign of violence and conflict in Northern Ireland, begun by the IRA and carried on by Loyalist paramilitaries. It was called The Troubles. Thousands of people were killed and many more were injured and maimed in a low-level war fueled by historical divisions and hatred. By 1994 everyone, including the combatants, was exhausted, and the IRA declared a ceasefire. Then the negotiations began to attempt to reach a political settlement for Northern Ireland. The negotiations were long and fractious and protracted, and on many occasions people lost t ..read more

One of the biggest things that I have done in my forty-five years is publish a novel. It is something I have been wanting to do for years – probably since I started reading – and I managed to do this in the last six months. It was a big project; I talked about it a little in my last blog post. As I have self-published the book, I have had to do everything myself, especially in the area of launching and promotion, and this has been the hardest part of the whole enterprise. Still, I launched it here in Ireland in July, and then set about looking at launching it in Portugal – the novel is called ..read more

I have just published a novel. At the moment I am on holidays from teaching, and am promoting the book, organizing launches, contacting bloggers and journalists, Facebooking and twittering. It is exhausting, but a different kind of exhausting from the usual. I have been writing on and off for years. I used to write a lot of poetry in my teens and early twenties, and I really started up seriously again with the writing about 10 years ago when I was in the midst of dealing with ME/CFS, and I wasn’t managing to make any progress with my health. At the back of my mind was the idea that, if I ca ..read more