ME/CFS is a medical condition affecting thousands of adults and young people every day.
- CFS stands for chronic fatigue syndrome.
- ME stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis. Myalgic means muscle aches or pains. Encephalomyelitis means inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
ME has a wide range of symptoms that affect every day living of the people who have the condition. Some of these symptoms can be extreme tiredness and aches and pains which make everyday tasks a lot harder to complete.
Symptoms can come and go, and will vary from person to person. Some people are only mildly affected; others struggle to manage normal school or working hours and may have to cut back a lot on their social life; while a small percentage of patients have to stay in bed, and aren't able to look after themselves or eat properly.
However, with careful management and a lot of support, people can significantly improve their lives. Which is where AYME come into play, allowing all young people to get plenty of support and giving them skills to support the management of ME/CFS so they can improve their way of life.