Instead, my ongoing symptoms are of "chronic fatigue" which, it transpires, is another name for the dreaded myalgic encephalopathy (ME), or "yuppy flu". This is little consolation because, although there are 250,000 "sufferers" in the UK, it has no cure, few treatments, and it doesn't have a diagnostic test or clearly identifiable causes itself. Indeed, for years it was dismissed as an imaginary condition and I admit to being sceptical myself. I don't feel tired, which is the symptom most associated with ME, just flu-ridden and feverish.