I know Elijah through the film industry. We met at a networking event and since then have worked on a few projects together. What I never knew was that Elijah deals with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A condition he very rarely tells anyone about, but this is what this podcast is about. Giving people the chance to open up about their chronic conditions with no judgement.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is characterised by extreme fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest.
“People often think I’m just tired or lazy, but it’s not that simple,” Elijah says.
Elijah shares the long and frustrating road to receiving a diagnosis. It all started when he needed to take a quick nap while waiting for a mate to walk to school with. He spent his teenage years trying to find a diagnosis. Once he received the confirmation, he was told “well that’s what you’ve got. Can’t do much about it.”
In the episode, Elijah goes into detail about the challenges of living with CFS, explaining how the condition affects him both physically and emotionally. Over the years, he has given up telling people he has Chronic Fatigue. He was just sick of people saying “aren’t you just tired?”
“Just tired” is an understatement. Elijah needs to schedule in every day activities. Knowing that if he has a physical day, the act of cooking dinner may push his body over the edge. So every task for the week and more need to be thought through.
Through the episode Elijah touched on wanting to tell more stories of people living with CFS, even potentially putting together a documentary. What a great way to bring awareness to a very misunderstood condition.