Does this sound like a ME sufferer to you..?

[bloomin freezing]

I have a 'friend' who every so often mentions 'her illness' as she puts it, she's talking about ME. Now, she's 25 has a sales job where she says she often drives a couple of hundred miles a day, horse rides early mornings, goes to a gym several times a week, regularly goes on bike rides that maybe 10 miles round trip, oh yeah as I write this remembered she told me she's just signed up to do the London to Brighton!!! What else....she's out most nights after work/gym, helps in her mums pub, sometimes helps out saturdays in a friends shop....need I go on?

Feel free to share as many opinions on this as you wish, she's always coming up with tall tales, i'm sick of her.

[jeannieblue]

I have a 'friend' who every so often mentions 'her illness' as she puts it, she's talking about ME. Now, she's 25 has a sales job where she says she often drives a couple of hundred miles a day, horse rides early mornings, goes to a gym several times a week, regularly goes on bike rides that maybe 10 miles round trip, oh yeah as I write this remembered she told me she's just signed up to do the London to Brighton!!! What else....she's out most nights after work/gym, helps in her mums pub, sometimes helps out saturdays in a friends shop....need I go on?

Feel free to share as many opinions on this as you wish, she's always coming up with tall tales, i'm sick of her.
What are her symptoms?

When and how often does she get them?

Its a complicated condition and one that is hard to judge.

[marybishop]

Sounds like self-induced exhaustion to me!!! Depending on the severity (and of course everyone's different) will depend on how it affects you but I know when I first had it just getting to the end of the day was a challenge and if I did too much I would end up in bed, not necessarily for days on end but I would feel like I'd got the flu permanently and I really had to pace myself to just do very ordinary things - I certainly couldn't have done all your friend does!

So based on what you've said I would have thought 'no' but it depends on how long she's had ME and it may be that she's much better than she was but her lifestyle means every now and then she has a relapse.

[bloomin freezing]

she's always been the same, on the go! when i first met her (8 or so years ago) she had a full time job and did evenings in a pub, then sports at the weekend. In all the time i have known her she's not had so much as a cold, up until last year we were best buddies the whole time so i've been in contact with her daily.

Her mum (whos about 60 now) did practise as a nurse (don't know what kind) but that stopped probably 15 yrs ago or so after an accident, i think her mum may've diagnosed her.

basically she's just so full of bull**** all the time, she tells tales to one friend, then repeats it to another but changes a few parts of the story.

[jeannieblue]

Recommend find new friend. She obviously has some kind of problem where she feels she needs attention, some kind of insecurity perhaps.

Its sad, and think that if you can't deal with that, then it would be kinder to let the friendship go rather than let the resentment and tension build up as she is bound to sense it and the insecurity will build up even more.

[Ebony]

I have ME,its a very strange, misunderstood and varied illness but i have to say if i could do even a quarter of what your friend could do i wouldnt complain! I dont like to judge but it does seem as if she's maybe looking for attention, what symptoms does she say she has? i know some sufferers who are a lot stronger than i am and say theyre nearly recovered but still get exhausted, have lots of symptoms and need lots of rest if they go out shopping for too long, had a long day at college/work, etc

[belfastgirl23]

More than anything the fact that you put the word friend in inverted commas says what you feel about her. The illness is neither here nor there, if you are sick of her then i guess that's what this is about.

Also I suppose I'm a bit confused because I'm very impressed by the list of things she does but it sounds like you aren't? What's the real story here?

ME is much misunderstood though....if she was always able to keep up with this pace of life before and can't now then maybe by her standards there is something wrong with her. I guess it's what you're used to.....while I might ask a few questions about her diagnosis etc I've heard too many horror stories of people who are really feeling ill being questioned about their illness that personally I'd never go there directly...