Further updates and lots of good news

 So from my last post I was struggling too much to stick with all the supplements as they were causing so many awful side effects that I could not tolerate. Taking about 25 tablets, powders, oil every day plus living on such an incredibly restrictive diet simply was not worth it in the end for me. I came to a point where I just could not do it any more. I stopped all my supplements apart from CoQ10 and started eating a much more varied diet - but with minimal dairy and gluten to start with. The side effects from supplements stopped and to start with I was not getting increased pain despite eating more foods. But my pain levels have slowly increased - although I just cant for the life of me put my finger and which foods make it worse. Still my pain is definitely a lot less than before all of this. I do try to eat a lot of meals as I was whilst following the low lectin plan - such as scrambled eggs for breakfast, or choosing low lectin or gluten free options.  I am disappointed that no other symptoms improved and disappointed that it cost so much money to not get very far with improving my health when I tried so hard, and Michael put so much effort into cooking and shopping, but it is what it is. For now I will continue being careful with my food choices, attempting to keep lectins and oxalates lower but its not going to rule my life. 

Above - my Beauty of nature winning image SWPP

I would say that over the last few months I managed less than I was prior to starting the regime and I have been trying hard to slowly rebuild my activity levels. This has been hampered by an ongoing trapped nerve affecting my neck and shoulder, and more recently getting Covid. I am currently still recovering from Covid but know to build things up slowly and count myself  incredibly lucky not to have had it as bad as so many others.

Above - my 2nd place image in SWPP Beauty of nature competition

 One thing I have kept up from the regime the nutrition therapist suggested is mindfulness and meditation. This has become a very pleasurable part of my day and I can spend up to 2 hours a day meditating. I do find that it helps with pain and helps me to be more balanced and positive.

This summer I have put the rest of my energy into my photography as usual, this time creating still life images in our dining room and today I reaped the rewards of my time consuming efforts. Sometimes it could take me hours or days to create an image, slowly setting compositions up bit by bit and going back to it after a rest or maybe the following day, then getting lighting right one light at a time. It kept me occupied while I wasn't getting out and distracted me from the M.E symptoms and side effects of supplements. It was a great way to slowly learn how to do still life and I was happy to win a gold for one of the images with the SWPP and NPS. But that does not compare to todays surprise. 

One of my main aims was to be placed in the IGPOTY ( International garden photographer of the year) still life project for a 2nd year ( I had an image highly commended last year). Today the winners were announced and I feel incredibly honoured at having my images awarded 1st place, 3rd place, a finalist, a highly commended and 2 commended!!! Yes, you read right that was 6!!! images placed - I could not have imagined that in my dreams and was quite shocked but thrilled. It feels like a very special achievement to me. You can see all the winners here - IGPOTY Still life winners

Strangely this has occurred on the same day as another project I've been involved in, which I believe is fate as the publicity from the above may well help  with this. Last year I approached the M.E. association with a proposal that I supply them with images for free to enable them to create products to raise funds and this has finally resulted in the release of two calendars plus two sets of cards/notelets created from my photographs. I am very proud to be involved with this and will be encouraging people to buy them. They are themed as Animal magic and Flower power. So hopefully my success with the IGPOTY and any resulting publicity might help prompt extra sales if I can direct people interested in my work to the M.E. associations online shop. There is also a little bit about me in the M.E Associations magazine. M.E. Association website

Yet another bit of good news from my photography arrived this week, I  came first and 2nd in  the SWPP Beauty in nature competition  - totally unexpected and a lovely surprise. What a week! Very uplifting for sure and motivating me to keep slowly pushing ahead with my other projects and competition entries. I am now working on pulling together a portfolio and still aiming to produce images for a fellowship. Beauty of nature

Update and side effects

 07/07/21

 I have continued on with the protocol as outlined in my previous blog and very slowly increased MCT /C8 oil - but it has knocked me for six - feeling extremely nauseous to the point where I am not managing my full suggested calorie quota every day, dizziness for most of the day, stomach ache and cramps and swollen glands in my throat/neck. Exhaustion is  extreme and energy extremely low, meaning I am managing less than my usual. Brain fog and other symptoms persist. My whole digestive tract is uncomfortable with bouts of loose stools. I am trying to persevere, hoping this will settle down but feeling close to packing it all in as I am pretty fed up with almost constantly feeling worse. But the things keeping me sticking to it are the hope that I have a possibility of improving my health and quality of life, knowing some treatments can result in feeling worse before feeling better , looking at the long term goals - but at the moment I feel that life is passing me by this summer, with me hardly getting out 2-3 times a month whereas before I was getting out 4-8 times a month. Trying to stay positive and optimistic, enjoying our garden, doing meditation and doing some tabletop still life photography.

 Hoping the side effects settle so that I can try a ketogenic diet properly, supported as it is supposed to help a lot of people with energy levels.

 Its all such an expensive option following this protocol with costs for tests, nutritional therapist, about 20 tablets a day plus, oil, and a couple of supplements in powder form added to my drinks and food, then then specialist diet. It adds up to hundreds and so far I have felt worse for most of 3.5 months, it is sapping my mental and physical energy, despite my determination and huge efforts to remain positive, focused and sticking rigidly to it all.

 Whilst my pain is massively reduced and less frequent, this was something we feel we had largely tackled ourselves by working out that the low lectin and low oxalate diet gave good results. Although further advice helped us work out with foods had higher oxalates. The problem is that my diet feels so restricted and is going to be very hard to stick to long term.

I am still incredibly grateful that I have had the opportunity to try this option and have not given up yet. I had to try it - given the chance of getting better.

UPDATE 13/07/21

Another week on and side effects have reduced, glands only a little less swollen, sore throats reduced again, nausea reduced lots, stomach ache comes and goes, loose stools less of an issue, but fatigue and exhaustion are severe, energy is extremely low, hardly managing to keep up with my baseline pacing. Brain fog has eased temporarily for a few hours twice in the last week, other than that remains the same. Struggling to get off to sleep at night but sleeping through apart from when woken by pain from the trapped nerve in my neck.

( Warning below contains open details re menstruation - miss paragraph if you do not like to read)

I should add that the exhaustion/fatigue/low energy could also be worsenned by another health issue that Ive experienced this last month - extreme menstrual blood loss of over 700mls ( measured using a menstrual cup - which apparently equates to around 250 mls actual blood and the rest other fluids)  in the last week which is highly abnormal and has been pure hell! My DR is convinced this is caused by the second Covid vaccine ( she has seen it happen lots to ladies following their 2nd jab) that I had about a month or so ago, this is my first proper period in 6 months as I am going through peri menopause and it has lasted 26 days so far - the longest and worst in my life. Ive had bloods taken to check my full blood count and platelets due to the amount lost - and the bloods demonstrate that I have lost just over a unit of blood since one month ago, but luckily has not tipped me into anaemia - although the receptionist refused to give all the results ( I have to pick them up)  I have been taking iron supplement with vitamin C to aid absorbtion and a diet rich in iron, so I am assuming this has helped - there are other parts to a full blood count and platelet result that give a better picture of what is occuring - I will know once I have the full printed results.. I was prescribed Tranexamic acid to stop the bleeding and it has reduced it.

I know the above is not generally a subject we all talk about openly in public and some may consider it distasteful. However I am an open book and this is part of my journey, it is an important aspect of my health at present and I also feel that other women should be aware of this complication - I was not aware. It can be a scary thing to experience and in my 20 years or so as a nurse, even with two spells of 2 month blocks working in gynaecology and being used to a lot of blood, this still rated as extreme, so to some women with no experience or knowledge  in this area it could feel like they are literally bleeding to death. Its always worth talking to your Dr if you experience anything similar.

 

All in all I have felt utterly dreadful every day of this last week, despite the side effects symptoms easing off. I have stuck to the diet and protocol and now taking 10 mls C8 oil twice daily and 2 DIM daily. My nutritional therapist is aware of all of the above and reviewing later this week.

Hopefully I will start feeling a bit better soon. I have been spending my time at home  with just a half hour trip out locally to pick a few wild flowers, and have been trying to do a little tabletop still life photography, but mostly reading, meditating, enjoying watching wild life in the garden and watching a bit of easy going tv. Despite feeling dreadful I am happy enough in myself and taking pleasure in our garden each day, although really missing seeing people. whilst the UK is getting back to near normal I am still stuck at home and rarely see a soul, but this is the nature of M.E.

We have several visits a day from a group of about 12 Goldfinches with 3 young, its been fun to watch their behaviour and see them enjoy the wild flowers we planted last year.

Nutritional therapy and M.E. update

 Just a quick update on how the plan is going and how I am doing, more for my own records than anything.

So far pain is massively reduced, however  it can flare in the days following mental or physical exertion still - this is not a pain due to lack of use as it occurs in strange places such as across the cheek muscles in my face, plus usually accompanies further swelling of the glands in my throat and sore throat. The pain levels are still lower even on these occasions which is a massive plus. 

Frustratingly I have experienced a pinched nerve in my neck for the last  month so Im am unfortunately still experiencing pain - just a different sort - nerve pain through my shoulder, down my arm, accompanied by pins and needles/a dead arm sort of feeling. I have been practicing various neck exercises to help with this, used a Tens machine, heat pad, working on ensuring my posture is as good as it can be, altered how I work on a computer and how I sleep. So hopefully it will ease in coming weeks. I am taking Boswelia extract with Curcumin and black pepper to help reduce inflammation in and around the nerve to aid healing. One surprise to me is is just how much some meditation can actually help relieve the pain Im experiencing from the trapped nerve - I think this may be partially down to the position I practice in - but I have found one meditation to help a lot apart from when it reaches that excrutiating point. I would highly recommend meditation for pain relief - but look for one that suits you - some I find simply dont fit with me, whilst some are excellent.

As for all my other symptoms I would say little has changed, brain fog/cognitive dysfunction/memory problems persist and  fluctuate but can seriously interfere with my life and functioning, energy and stamina remain low, exhaustion/fatigue remains unchanged, flu like symptoms persist,  the sore throats and swollen glands in my neck occur less frequently which is a little improvement. Sleep disturbances persist. Post exertional malaise continues. The cold hands, feet, nose eases in the summer months anyway so difficult to assess but I remain intolerant to temperature fluctuations. I still experience fluctuating sensitivity to noise and light, as well as difficulty focusing my eyes.I  continue to struggle staying upright/on my feet for very long, with my balance remaining unstable - I have almost fallen several times at home recently. So not really any improvement over all other than pain reduction.

Recent blood tests show low ferritin at 32 ( possible aggravator mould) -but transferrin ok so not a supply issue but a storage issue ( all being used), low lymphocytes, high vit D, TPO ( Thyroid anti body) raised but less than it was years ago. TSH ok, T4 ok, T3 lowish and to be re checked in 6 months.

At present I am taking the following under supervision of my GP and nutritional therapist alongside following the plant paradox diet - ( PLEASE NOTE - this has been specifically worked out for me following medical history, tests, etc this is NOT a protocol for anyone else to follow. There are reasons I take each item and these are determined by specialists)

Morning -  Thyroxine,

 Betaine - for stomach mucosal lining and protein digestion, 

Ox bile - for digestive foundation, 

Molybdenam- for brain fog and sulphites

 Liquorice extract - for adrenal support and dopamine backlog

 Cod liver oil - omega 3 ,

 MCT oil - pure ketones in prep for keto diet plus brain fog

 Turkey tail powder - brain fog, 

Vitamin C - bio available vit c

CoQ10 - to aid mitochondria with energy 

Vit B 12 sub lingual

 Co enzyme B1 sub lingual - to help with multiple markers shown in OAT test

Acetyl L Carnitine - for brain fog

Lunch - Glucommanan powder - to bind mould - demonstrated in 2 tests

Tea - Betaine , Ox bile, P5P - to stop internal oxalate production, 

Bed time - Magnesium to aid sleep and pain relief plus Sleep aid herbal tablets as required

I am increasing MCT oil over the next week in preparation of trying a keto diet to hopefully kick start energy levels. Then starting DIM complex to help immune response indicated by low ferritin, increasing it over the following week.

Plan to continue with the nutritional protocol and other advised actions such as mindfulness, meditation, daylight, pacing etc and review in a few weeks as there is not an endless supply of funds and we simply cannot continue costs of nutritional therapist and so many supplements ( these alone are costing around £100 a month upwards) plus the cost of the diet. Fingers crossed we see some improvement. Its not easy following such a strict dietary regime with such a limited food choice when I dont have the energy to cook, and not easy on my partner either but we are both giving it our all and I am so grateful to Michael for cooking separate food for me ( he is not into this way of eating himself).

As always I try to balance the M.E stuff with some positives and whilst I have not been getting out much this last few weeks I have been dabbling with a bit of still life photography and thoroughly enjoying it. So those are the photographs shared today.

I offered use of some of my images to the M.E association to help them to raise funds and I have had an email saying they wish to take me up on this offer, images to be used on cards etc. I'm really happy to be able to contribute something to the M.E. community and do my bit to help raise funds for such an excellent association.

I also managed to get two images awarded gold from the NPS for May 

The best made plans

Well I made it to my 5th week on the Plant Paradox diet before my plans of sticking to it became more difficult due to the most unusual and sad changes affecting the whole world now - Covid 19 - a new Corona virus which has spread round the world in a matter of months, resulting in thousands dying and life changing in ways that we in Britain haven't seen since world war 2. Due to the need for the majority of people being ordered to stay home by our government, to stop the spread of disease ( quite rightly so) there have been knock on effects in how we obtain shopping. If you are healthy you can take a trip to shops as infrequently as possibly to buy food or medication, but if you have an existing illness or are over 70 it is advised that you stay home, isolate and shield.  So this is what I am doing, and we are trying to avoid my partner going shopping as well. It has been incredibly difficult to get a full shopping list online - many items that are impossible to buy - such as the dairy free, sugar free, soy free coconut yoghurt that I get or omega 3/pasture raised eggs - which without I end up just eating fish and vegetables - not easy weeks on end! So I decided to stop following the diet during our current crisis and try again when things settle down.

However, after 3 days, on my 3rd day eating half Plant paradox diet, half normal food my symptoms really started getting worse again. In the month of following the diet my pain levels reduced around 75% most days - I think I only had about 5 days in a month where my pain levels were as they have been prior to this diet and now my pain has increased again. I think I had been a blase apart having pain again - but right now I want to stick to the Plant paradox diet again even though it means eating pretty much nothing other than restricted vegetables ( without lectins - so no tomatoes/peppers/potatoes etc), wild caught fish if we can still get it delivered, restricted nuts ( no peanuts or cashews), certain oils such as coconut/avocado or olive oil, coconut milk.  I think I will just have to try using free range eggs and hope for the best that my symptoms settle down again.

Symptoms helped by 4 weeks of the diet -
pain mostly reduced, also less stiff on moving around
 brain fog and actually being able to use my brain a bit - certainly not back to normal levels but definately much improved - although 3 days into stopping Im struggling to think again!
Sore throats - normally I have sore throats anywhere from 2-6 days a week - by week 3-4 on the plant paradox diet my sore throats only occurred once or twice a week ( it can literally last just a matter of hours)

Off the diet - by my third day off the diet and having lectins again, not only has my pain increase in amount/intensity but with frequency and in so many areas of my body. But I also noticed that the little jumpy, sort of electric shock/twitchy feelings I get in my muscles have suddenly increased and my body feels on high alert again. Writing this is incredibly difficult - I can hardly think of the words that I need - I am literally stopping every sentence or two - forgetting things, searching for my words and feeling mildly muddled/confused - I was not feeling this so much on the diet - it was not cured but I was able to think properly more frequently.

I cant write any more just now as my brain simply wont function, but Im going to try really hard to get the foods I need to stick to this diet - whilst I felt improvements werent massive and energy levels had not improved at all, ending up feeling in pain again with a sore throat every day and my brain not working, my muscles twitching away  is enough to make me get back to it. Although I need to get more inventive on recipes for fish and vegetables as it gets tedious. I want to write more - including stuff about our current situation but feeling too muddled and cant explain just how hard it has been just doing this much - I keep completely forgetting what I was writing and getting confused - stopping and coming back to it. Even struggling to add the images. I have some things I want to write about that I feel are important but I will just have to do it at a later date when my brain will work. How bloody frustrating this is - I had agreed to write an article for a magazine whilst my brain was working a bit better - hoping  it will function better back on the diet again.

On a plus side - I just got awarded 2 golds and 2 highly commended from the SWPP  which made my smile. I feel super lucky that I live somewhere with a garden where I can enjoy watching the flowers, insects and birds during this awful time.
Hoping everyone stays well and safe, thinking of all my lovely friends and family and sending love to you all.

Taking control

After 14 years of having M.E. and the medical profession/NHS pretty much failing big time in helping me ( and most other M.E. patients) to be well ( other than pacing), I have researched and tried many things to help me to be as well as I possibly can. I am not in denial of having M.E. Ive accepted it a long time ago, however there are many stories of people who have recovered or at least managed to get there health into a better state leading to having more of a life - in the last year a friend of a friend appears to be well on her road to recovery - through researching and changing things like nutrition. To see her photographs of her on holidays up in the hills etc gives me hope, and so this last few months I have been trying to find my own path to recovery yet again. 

As previously, I have looked at nutrition again and last year I came across a Dr Myhills book explaining how a paleo ketogenic diet can help the body to produce energy more efficiently. The diet involves cutting out dairy, gluten and grains, sugar, fruit sugar and high carbohydrate foods such as many root vegetables. The diet advocates eating the recommended protien for your body weight each day, keeping net carbs under 30 grams daily and eating more fats (particular fats such as extra virgin olive oil). I tried this for a couple of weeks last year and it made me feel so ill, on top of feeling dreadful with M.E. and triggered horrendous migraines so I thought maybe it just doesnt suit my body - and stopped it. I had my gall bladder removed 2 years ago, so I was concerned regarding my body's ability to digest such high amount of fats. I continued to read up on this and joined a group containing others with M.E. who have tried this diet - there were some who have had gall bladders removed who felt some benefit so I decided to give it another go, and try to persist. Given Dr Myhills 35 years of experience in treating patients with M.E. and her passion for helping us to get well, I felt her advice is most likely one of the best sources in the UK.

 So I found myself 5-6 weeks into this diet, feeling utterly dreadful, despite following it strictly, being in ketosis, eating all the supposedly right foods. On top of which I have been looking after myself - getting good sleeps ( Ive managed to improve my sleeping in the past 2-3 months) , careful planning and pacing, resting, avoiding/reducing stress, stopping drinking alcohol. I have spent most of my time at home this last 2-3 months, avoiding all most activities that would exacerbate my symptoms. I have taken all the recommended supplements to help mitochondria, energy production and immune system - CoQ10, NADH, Vitamin B12 sub lingual spray, Vitamin B6 & 3, flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin D, Carnitine. I stopped taking D ribbose whilst on the paleo keto diet as suggested in Dr Myhills book .

 A friend of mine had suggested I look at Dr S Grundy's The plant paradox and I thought I would take a peek. I came across a video of Dr Grundy in an interview and was extremely interested in his approach at helping people to recover from illnesses. In his research he has found that Lectins in foods are making many people unwell. Many plants produce lectins, Dr Grundy describes plants as producing lectins as a defense mechanism to ward off predators from eating them or their fruits/seeds. The lectins can cause a whole range of unpleasant symptoms and are present in so much of our food - even meat - as animals are being raised on grains ( often genetically modified and full of anti biotics which he states are also detrimental to our well being). So Dr Grundy advises a paleo type diet avoiding all foods containing lectins - and he has seen great results in his patients, so much so that he gave up his job as a heart surgeon to help people  get well using nutrition ( and other measures).

 Now whilst watching videos of Dr Grundy explaining his approach, I ate a spoonful of peanut butter as a snack. I had a relatively pain free morning, but in the hour following eating the peanut butter I developed pain throughout my body ( this is one of my frequent symptoms which I often cant put a finger on any cause). During a video he mentioned that peanuts contain lectin and can be one of the culprits to causing our symptoms - to avoid eating them. I had a light bulb moment and threw out my peanut butter :). Now it may just be coincidence that my pain occurred in the hour following eating this, but my gut feeling says its not. I decided right then to give his approach a good try.

 So today I have started his eating plan, with his 3 day phase one, having a nice green smoothie for breakfast. What I like about Dr Grundy is that, like Dr Myhill, he is making a lot of this information public so that people can try it themselves, unlike some clinics with secretive approaches who charge the earth - when people who are very ill with M.E. dont have incomes and simply cannot pay for this vital information to help them to get well.

My green smoothie consisted of a handful of rommaine lettuce, a handful of spinach, juice of half a lemon, half an avocado, fresh mint, and stevia/pure vanilla extract to taste - all whizzed up with water. Its surprisingly nice - and a fresh way to start the day.

For this altered diet to work its important to only  eat wild caught fish, pasture raised poultry that has eaten natural insects and plants - not been fed grains/antibiotics, grass fed meats where the animal has not been given grains/antibiotics. Now these are not the easiest things to find locally in the UK. and they not cheap - but I would rather give up everything to pay for the right food and opportunity to be well again, or at least  less ill. Luckily I live near the sea and a fish quay, my partner is going out hunting today for the right meat/fish. Im fairly confident that I should be able to get wild caught fish from local fishermen.

Last year I also tried cognitive behavioural therapy partially to see if it would help with my PMDD ( pre menstrual dysphoric disorder) and partially to help with M.E. I learned nothing new that I didnt know from being a nurse. But it led to a next treatment idea for the PMDD which is currently working well for me - despite my Dr not having a clue about this treatment, I quite literally had to explain the latest treatments to her. I now take Fluoxetine on the very first day of any symptoms for around 7 days, it helps me within 48 hours ( unlike the usual action of this drug which takes weeks or months) It isnt working as an antidepressant but it can allieviate symptoms rapidly. My whole life I have struggled with these symptoms not knowing it could be helped until last year - quite ironic that I start treatment as I start the whole perimenopause. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3442940/
But reducing my stress levels by getting the right treatment for PMDD is something that can help the M.E.

What I have managed to do is find my own ways to reduce stress, stop being a worrier and find peace of mind - I continue to strive to improve with reducing stress - its a work in progress, although I have just recently dealt with one of life's most stressful events relatively easily due to my new approaches. I use a lot of positive thinking strategies which are found in abundance on youtube.

 Another thing I tried last year was Acupuncture - from a lovely lady who has helped herself to better health following M.E. Now I do feel that timing was not good an I was on the brink of going through two very stressful things ( moving home etc) so I believe this may have affected my body's response. I attended numerous sessions, but  varying reasons resulted in difficulties in having a regular weekly session. My practitioner is a wonderful lady and I feel that at some point I would like to revisit and see if she can help me further, but at  that point last year I was not seeing signs of improvement - I really do think this was highly likely due to other factors and that if I can try it again now I might see some results, but feel other negative forces hampered my progress.  I did find that the acupuncture helped me on my path to sleeping better and also helped me to reduce stress. I had no choice but to stop treatments due to financial restraints, it is what it is -but I can see me trying to determine ways to pay for treatment in the future. The treatments brought me peace and calm at a time that was highly stressful and Im very grateful for the practitioners efforts. TBC

So towards the end of last year I moved into my wonderful partners home, I cannot express just how amazing he has been regarding the M.E. and helping to find a way forward to promote my best chance at recovery or being as well as I possibly can. He helps me with anything and everything that I struggle with, he prevents me from getting worse by doing all the cooking etc. I have been so incredibly lucky to find someone who is such a rock. I really feel that we are on this journey together and that he is holding my hand as we walk through it, negotiating the twists and turns  as just a different sort of life adventure. Michaels support has enabled me to use what little energy I have each day/week/month to do things I love instead of making myself ill doing housework and cooking, resulting in never managing to do what I love. So most weeks we go out on a drive somewhere nice and if Im up to it we explore a park/nature reserve/coastal path with me on a mobility scooter. When Im not getting out I use our dining room as a sort of mini studio to take photographs of flower etc - its all set up so that even if I only have a little energy all I need to do is sit at the table and snap away - with everything I need within reach.

Earlier in the year I had decided that when I struggled to get out I would concentrate on something positive to help me get through it, which is when I decided on doing mostly macro photography at a table top, sat down. I gave myself big goals - Ive always believed that if you believe you can do something then you can. So my aims were to try to get an image placed in the International garden photographer of the year and to do my best in the SWPP and NPS competitions as entering each month gives me a little something to focus on when stuck at home the majority of the time.
Well I didnt get placed, however I am really happy to have had a couple of images shortlisted in the macro section and to get my portfolio shortlisted. The images of the lady bird above and below  are part of that portfolio.

These next images were also shortlisted

I did even better in the National photograph society's monthly competition, being awarded a total of 22 gold awards and 41 highly commended - which landed me one of my proudest photography achievements to date - only last week I was announced overall Photographer of the year for the NPS - which is a massive achievement for me. I really hope that others with M.E. reading my blog manage to complete reading the whole blog and realise that even though ill and pretty much stuck at home for 95% of life it is still possible to make positive things happen - if you put your mind to it. This hasnt been easy - Ive suffered after every mini photo session and the majority of it has been done sat at a table at home. I started learning photography 13 years ago after getting M.E. and Im mostly self taught, having used the most basic, cheap equipment for many years, but perseverance and determination has got me to this point. So I just want to say to others with this horrible illness to keep going, and find ways to adapt, look for the most positive way forward that you can find at that time in your life and take things one step at a time.
Many of the images included are images awarded by the NPS. A few were also awarded by the SWPP.

I will try to update soon on my progress

My wonderful partner Michael - this one was awarded a gold too :)