ME is a peculiarly individual condition; everyone suffers different symptoms in different ways and to different levels of discomfort. There are three underlying symptoms that must be present to indicate ME but, after that, you might suffer from any number of around forty recognised secondary symptoms.
The three ever-present symptoms are chronic fatigue, muscle and joint pain and mental befuddlement. The most common secondary symptoms are poor recall/memory, insomnia, headaches and sore throat. Other symptoms include poor circulation, sensitivity to changes in temperature, mood swings, numbness or tingling, dizziness, tinnitus and other hearing problems, chronic stomach complaints, blackouts, rashes and dry skin, shortness of breath and chest pain, hair loss, dry eyes and mouth, slow healing, frequent urination, constant thirst, constantly high temperature, depression and anxiety. This is by no means a complete list.
Some suffers will have a combination of these symptoms constantly for long periods of time, often so servere that they remain housebound. Others will have shorter episodes or suffer fewer symptoms at one time.
There is no cure for ME, though some of the symptoms can be treated individually. Moreover, there is still relatively little know about the condition and, worse still, many Doctors refuse to accept its existence. In the face of such medical ignorance, it can be difficult to get a diagnosis, much less sensibile advice on how to deal with your condition. Happily, there is a great deal of information available from other sources (notably the internet) and you will almost certainly find a support group in your area.
