Is ME a mind-body illness?

[MEguy]

I just got over having tremor and hypnic jerks for the last month. I could not sleep and then suddenly I woke up this morning and all my tremors and hypnic jerks are gone! My GP ran some tests for me and everything is normal..............so Is ME just a mind-body illness that gives us transient symptoms? I am starting to believe this is what it may be as no one has ever found any organ pathology in this illness.

[Iesgobdafydd]

I'm uncomfortable with drawing a hard line between physical and mental illness - the brain is a physical organ too, and symptoms of physical illnesses can also come and go. There's been a stigma in our society around mental illness, and an idea that mental illness is somehow less real than physical illness or that someone can "just snap out of it" if they only tried. I mean, if it helps you in any way to think what you have is a mind-body illness then please don't let anything I say stop you doing that, but if you're thinking that because the doctor can't find anything wrong then your symptoms must be imaginary or somehow your fault, please trust yourself! There is an awful lot doctors don't understand yet. Anyhow, it's great that your tremors have stopped and I hope they stay stopped!

[Hidden in reply to Iesgobdafydd]

"There is an awful lot doctors don't understand yet." There are about 30 chronic syndromes and diseases, where doctors admit not to know the cause of. Of course they are "chronic", since, if they do not understand how they come to exist, how can they cure them...? I firmly believe that in ancient Chinese medicine, there is a lot to be learned from.

[MEguy in reply to Iesgobdafydd]

The tremors have not stopped. When I try to sleep they come on and I get a jerk when I fall asleep which wakes me up, Sorry i though they had stopped which they have when I am up and about but it is at night time they mostly happen. I don't know what I can do about this.

[Iesgobdafydd in reply to MEguy]

Might be what's called myoclonus ? But that's just a symptom name.

[Regalbirdy in reply to MEguy]

You could always try a magnesium supplement before bed - either as a spray or an oral supplement?

Magnesium is thought to be beneficial for the nervous system. Many people are magnesium deficient without realising it. If you do choose to go down this route, please pick carefully - some types of magnesium supplementation can risk causing a stomach upset, whilst others will not be as bio available.

You may find this article of interest: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

I used to get that jerking, awake thing regularly. Don’t really get it anymore!

[strongmouse]

The main problem with trying to unpick this is getting the best treatment for ME. ME is not a psychiatric illness in itself, but it can cause mental health issues such as anxiety or depression as can other long term health conditions. Some people with a psychiatric medical illness will develop ME. Some people with other biological medical illness will develop ME.

The main problem with diagnosing ME is that it relies on old fashioned good clinical doctor skills, as currently there is no way of testing for ME (blood tests, MRI scans etc). Research is going on into this which looks promising.

Doing all we can to stay healthy in other ways - mentally and physically - helps overall, but there is no current cure. The ME Association has good information on treating certain symtoms, best management practice and co-morbities.

meassociation.org.uk/medica...