Hi all,

Was just wondering what you guys tell people is 'wrong with you' when the topic comes up in conversation?

I am always at a loss as to how to explain my situation to people like old friends who I haven't really been in touch with since I got sick, distant relatives and other random people that don't already know ( although I do try keep it to myself wherever possible, which does backfire most of the time anyhow, cos then people just assume I am lazy and tired without reason and have something to hide! Ahhh!!! Can't win)

I seem to avoid using the term 'cfs' because it's so vague and misleading and if I do use it I either find myself being brushed off, or become engaged in a long winded q & a of what cfs is and what causes it. Then I watch the confused face of friend/relative/other as they try to piece the bits of the puzzle together.

Instead I have started telling people something along the lines of my immune system and nervous system are 'shot', and that seems to open the path to understanding why and how I could suffer the symptoms I do, moreso than when i say 'cfs' anyway. Sometimes I throw in 'endochrine system' too.

But I am always really conscious of the fact that people really need to hear about cfs and be familiar with the term and that I should be trying to create awareness about it not make it more silent than it already is.

I haven't really gone the path of calling it Myalgic Enceph....a blah blah ... I guess I think i'll get even more confused faces, although that name does give the illness more gravity.

What do you guys think? How do you guys name or explain cfs?