Help is on offer for painful illness

People in Lancashire are being called on to recognise a debilitating, often painful and isolating condition called chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).
By The Newsroom
Published 10th May 2016, 10:30 BST
Updated 10th May 2016, 11:21 BST
Josh DurhamJosh Durham
Josh Durham

People diagnosed with the condition have been urged to sign up for help on offer from Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust as part of an awareness week that starts today.

Specialist Irene Lewis said: “There’s sadly very little awareness about CFS/ME with numerous symptoms shared with other conditions.

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“As a result, people with the condition are diagnosed rather late. However, there is a lot that can be done to help people manage the condition and the CFS/ME specialist service is at hand to empower people with the condition to live as normal lives as possible.”

Josh Durham, 49, was diagnosed a year ago, and said: “The biggest thing for me was the brain fog that comes with ME and it was like I had no access to myself and I wasn’t concentrating.

“You can easily relapse and be unable to go into work. The work the team has done hasn’t removed the chronic fatigue but allowed me to live with the condition and manage it.”

“There is help out there.”

For more information, call the team on (01772) 777022 or visit www.lancashirecare.nhs.uk/CFS-ME

Related topics:PeopleLancashire