One woman's battle with chronic fatigue
By By JODIE STEPHENS
June 29, 2013, midnight
GEORGIA Eastley never had a chance to finish high school, celebrate her 18th birthday or go to university.
While her friends leapt the milestones to adulthood, the Deloraine teenager was trapped in a dark room wearing sunglasses and earplugs, her senses so frayed she couldn't even handle deodorant in the house.
Ms Eastley, now 20, has myalgic encephalomyelitis, otherwise known as chronic fatigue syndrome.
Initially dismissed as a "yuppie flu", ME is now recognised as a serious and debilitating illness which can cause profound fatigue, muscle and joint pain, headaches, disrupted sleep and immune system problems.
The cause is unknown.
Ms Eastley said the illness first presented during a basketball game when she was 16, and the "attack" left her unable to breathe or move her limbs.
She said doctors initially dismissed it as asthma, but in the months that followed attacks became more frequent and severe.
"I had to give up netball and I had to give up basketball, but then the attacks started happening in class, and my arms would lock up and I couldn't breathe, no matter how hard I tried," Ms Eastley said.
"I would have to miss a few days of school afterwards, in bed, feeling really sore and lethargic with headaches and nausea."
Ms Eastley said she tried various doctors as the disease progressed, but they all said nothing could be done.
"At first they didn't believe me, there were lots of different reasons why I was sick - I was missing my sister, who had just moved out of home, or it was just in my head, I was just being a stubborn teenager, or I didn't like school," Ms Eastley said.
"After six months I had a diagnosis, but they still told me there was nothing they could do. It broke my heart every time."
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