A Life Worth Living
A practical guide to living with MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS (ME)
(Third edition)
By Dr. Michael Midgley
A book about how to love and care for your body at a physical level, written by a physician and fellow sufferer. There is a chapter on Mind/Spirit aspects and another written by his carer.
How prevalent is ME? No one knows for sure. It affects at least 200,000 people in the UK alone, probably many more. It commonly occurs between the ages of 25 and 50, although it is now being increasingly diagnosed in children and even in whole families. It affects women more than men and typically occurs in those with an over-active lifestyle. Most people know someone with ME, or have a friend who does.
Dr. Michael Midgley has lived with this frustrating and debilitating illness for over 35 years. He gradually developed his own highly individualised body-management strategy for dealing with his problem and now has it thoroughly under complete control. He is thus in a unique position to help other ME patients, being both a long-term sufferer and a physician.
In his book, he shares his experiences with the reader and offers encouragement and inspiration. He provides practical dietary and complementary medical suggestions for controlling ME, based on his personal experiences. The book also deals briefly with the mind and spirit aspects of this trying illness. It will surely help many people with ME to improve the quality of their lives. It will also enable their family and friends to reach a deeper level of understanding, both of the disease itself and of the patient.
REVIEWS
“I feel absolutely charged after reading this delightful book … the warmth, humour, gentleness and sheer humanity of this personal journey make for a pleasant read about a painful subject . . . provides practical suggestions based on personal experience . . . covers briefly but extremely well the body/mind/spirit aspects of dealing with ME. Provides hope and possibility in the face of … a hopeless and unending round of relapse and disappointment.”
- Ellen Atwood, Sysop, CompuServe Chronic Illness Forum
“Offers no miracles and pulls no punches . . . makes normality for sufferers sound possible for the first time since diagnosis.”
- – Glasgow Evening Times
“The emphasis on allergy management particularly impressed me … I can recommend this book . . .
A Life Worth Living is ‘a book worth reading’!”
- – Journal of Action for ME.
“This is a wonderful book … an autobiography of an illness … also a spiritual odyssey … a truly inspiring book, for ME sufferers and healthy people alike.
- – What Doctors Don’t Tell You.
“Some people with ME give up all hope, either of being believed by their family and doctors, or of even getting better. You are not one of those or you would not have read this far. Neither was Mike. Read his story and learn, how to understand what is going on, how to find out what is damaging you, how to avoid at least some of that damage, how to keep hanging on, and how to learn and grow.”
Dr David Freed, Clinical Ecologist
First published June 1995. Second edition May 1996. Third edition October 2001.