Shattered: Life with M.E.

Shattered: Life with M.E.

Author	Lynn Michell
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Subject	Illness
Genre	Autobiography, Biography
Publisher	Thorsons
Publication date	2003
Media type	print
Pages	368
ISBN	978-0007155033

Shattered: Life with M.E. is an autobiographical book by Dr. Lynn Michell published in 2003.

Publisher's synopsis

A powerful account of life with M.E. from the eyes of a sufferer, describing the feeling of a ‘life interrupted’ through a variety of voices, Shattered will offer empathy, hope and support to sufferers and their families as well as giving practical advice on how to live with chronic fatigue.

It is March 1987. There is a flu bug doing the rounds in Edinburgh, which floors Lynn Michell and her two sons. Instead of pulling out of their ill and exhausted state, none of them gets better. It takes three years for Lynn's elder son to recover. She and her younger son are still ill 16 years later.

In Shattered, Lynn Michell tells of haunting episodes in her own life with ME, a "still life" suspended by a savagely capricious illness, as well as the stories of many others – men, women and young people – which convey the complexity of ME, an illness which deals out a slightly different hand of cards each time it strikes. This tapestry of voices is held together by Lynn's own intelligent, loving, and often angry commentary and as such it is a tour de force. While the first person snapshots of sufferers of all ages paint an accurate picture of "life interrupted", readers will find hope, humour and ways of surviving as they recognise others who live and feel and react just as they do.

Awards

Shattered: Life with M.E. was nominated for the UK MIND "Book of the Year" award in 2004.

Articles and interviews

14 May 2003, Running on empty and abandoned, Dr Lynn Michell. The New Scotsman.

Links

• Shattered: Life with M.E. - Amazon (US)
• Shattered: Life with M.E. - Amazon (UK)
• Shattered: Life with M.E. - Goodreads

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

See myalgic encephalomyelitis.