Stuck in limbo

Back in September, when I wrote my earlier post about having swine flu, little did I know that it would leave me with longer-term problems. I recovered from the flu within a couple of weeks, but the exhaustion and shakiness didn't go away. It turns out that I have postviral fatigue syndrome, brought on by the swine flu. Yes, have, not had. It's still there, affecting every aspect of my life. I haven't been able to work since the start of September. I can't go mountain biking or dancing because I don't have the strength any more. I can't walk more than a short distance without getting very tired. If I do too many things in a day or over-exert myself, I end up feeling very ill and having to take a few days lying down to recover.

If you have the opportunity to get the swine flu vaccine and you're wondering whether or not to get it, let my case be a warning to you. Even so, I consider myself lucky - people have died from swine flu, so for me just to be left with this is definitely the lesser of two evils.