Support closer at hand for people with ME

It's called an "invisible disease" and in 1986, aged 39, Waihi woman Anna Pickett had her first encounter with it.
It was not a widely known condition back then, and it took Anna a year to learn to manage myalgic encephalopathy (ME) although she still has "ups and downs".
However as the liaison for a new local sub-group for ME sufferers in Katikati, Waihi and surrounding areas, Anna hopes a monthly get-together will see people share knowledge and gain a positive lift to life.
One of the main symptoms of ME (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome) is extreme fatigue - and their exhaustion doesn't go away, says Anna. "Some get better but others struggle for years."
Anna likens it to a flat battery, "the feeling when you've been very ill and feel absolutely drained and washed out - people with ME stay stuck in that drained state".
She says the condition affects sufferers' lives like no-one can imagine. "They can no longer do things they want to; they need others to assist with mundane tasks, and with that comes the grief of personal wishes for life put on hold. I've worked but always had to give it up."
Anna Pickett says, generally, non-sufferers don't understand ME "because outwardly sufferers look okay".
She believes the new support group, part of ME/CFS Support Bay of Plenty (formed 29 years ago and based in Tauranga), will see sufferers able to connect. "They'll be able to share ideas, feelings and be there for each other."
The aim is also to provide an uplifting experience, "something to look forward to".
Anna says the closest support group has been in Tauranga, which for ME sufferers with fatigue is inaccessible.
"A group in our own area means we don't have to travel long distances."
Tina Richards, field officer for ME/CFS Support, also sees the new sub-group as a positive development, "a means of providing more effective support to members in the area".
Anna herself first discovered she had ME after a period of enormous stress, "often the case with people who get ME".
However, she believes she'd had it since age 12, when she had a mysterious illness she thinks was glandular fever.
"It's not uncommon to have chronic fatigue with that but my energy levels have never been the same."
Not surprised to have had a burnout, "I was surprised at the level of it - like a streamroller had driven over top of me".
Anna went through the day half an hour at a time, "too tired to do ordinary things like the laundry".
She felt like crawling into bed the whole time "but I found that sleep was not rejuvenating and I was incredibly stressed".
Back then, she says, ME wasn't well-known "and sometimes considered by others as a state of mind".
It took a year for Anna to turn things around. "I paced myself. I'd use a little bit of my inner battery [energy] but not drain it all, so it could build up again."
She tried not to give in to stressful, negative thoughts. "I let them go over me like water off a duck's back."
This has helped a great deal, as have targeted vitamin and mineral supplements.
Anna manages her ME now and says today it is a recognised physical condition that often comes with body pain (fibromyalgia), and affects the brain "which is foggy, sluggish or on holiday".
ME also affects glandular functions, cellular energy and the nervous system.
Anna hopes the group can make a difference to sufferers' lives. "The aim is to share knowledge in order to help manage the illness better, and to provide an uplifting and supportive environment so people don't feel alone with their illness 'being there for one another'."
The Katikati and Waihi ME Support Group meets monthly, alternating between the towns. The next meeting is on Tuesday, October 12, at the Rustic Pumpkin Cafe (north of Katikati on SH2) at 10am. For more information phone Anna, (07) 863-6973.