Chronically Glitched Podcast ( M.E / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome )

Martina

Chronically Glitched: A Digital Diary New Episodes every 2nd Sunday. buymeacoffee.com/chronicallyglitched A raw, working-class account of life with ME/CFS, no sugarcoating, no recovery fantasies, no safety net. This is the real version of chronic illness: the collapse, the grief, the complete destruction of identity, and the fight to build a life that still feels like yours. Honest but never cruel, darkly funny, emotional, human. A place where your feelings are seen, heard, and understood.

  1. 12 Jul

    #Martina'sMissing & The Life I'm Waiting Around For

    This week I’m talking about something that’s been on my mind a lot lately. It struck me recently that if you scroll back through our family WhatsApp group, I’m hardly in any of the photos anymore. It’s not because anyone’s left me out. It’s because I haven’t been well enough to be there. I ended up calling it #Martina’sMissing because that’s exactly what it feels like. After a while, you realise you’ve quietly disappeared from family memories. That was one of the reasons I decided to see everyone when they came to visit. I was fed up of always being the one who wasn’t there. As expected, I had the delayed crash afterwards. I was already in PEM when the heatwave arrived, which made coping with the hot weather even harder. I also talk about eating a whole tub of ice cream, the vasovagal response that followed and what that actually is. I’ve started tapping (EFT) again, so I talk about why I’ve decided to give that another go. The biggest thing I’ve been thinking about is whether I need to stop waiting for the day I get better before I start living the life I’ve got now. That doesn’t mean giving up hope. It means trying to find some peace with where I am now instead of always thinking, “I’ll do that when I’m better.” As always, this is just my experience of living with severe ME/CFS. Check out us on Spotify for links to recommendations #ChronicallyGlitched #Martina’sMissing #MECFS #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicIllness #InvisibleIllness #SevereME #Housebound #PEM #PostExertionalMalaise #Vasovagal #Grief #Acceptance #BigFinish #DoctorWho #AudioDrama #Podcast

  2. 28 Jun ·  Bonus

    Even Rest Needs A Rest

    Even Rest Needs Rest This week we’re taking a short break from the podcast. It’s been one of those fortnights where life has simply happened – we’ve had the hot weather, family visiting, and I even managed to have a vasovagal response after eating far too much ice cream! Sometimes there’s no big dramatic reason; it’s just a reminder that living with ME/CFS means listening to your body and knowing when to stop. We’ll be back in two weeks with another Mum & Me episode, and we’re looking forward to catching up with you all then. Thank you so much for listening and for all your support. See you in a couple of weeks! #ChronicallyGlitched #MECFS #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicIllness #Disability #InvisibleIllness #Spoonie #ChronicFatigue #PEM #PostExertionalMalaise #Podcast #HealthPodcast #ChronicIllnessPodcast #MumAndMe #RestIsProductive #Pacing #LifeWithME #DigitalDiary

  3. 14 Jun

    What an M.E/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Crash Feels Like, The Three Stages

    In this episode of Chronically Glitched, I take a closer look at what an ME/CFS crash actually feels like and the three stages I experience during post exertional malaise (PEM). I talk through the build up, the sudden shutdown phase, the acute crash itself, and the long recovery period that follows. I explain how everyday activities that most people take for granted can trigger severe symptoms, why crashes are so difficult to predict, and what it feels like when your body simply refuses to keep going. If you’ve ever wondered what a crash really feels like from the inside, this episode is for you. #MECFS #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #PEM #PostExertionalMalaise #ChronicIllness #DisabledLife #InvisibleIllness #Spoonie #ChronicPain #NeuroimmuneDisease #MECFSAwareness #LongTermIllness #HealthPodcast #ChronicIllnessPodcast #PodcastUK #ChronicallyGlitched #DigitalDiary #DisabilityAwareness #HouseboundLife #SevereME #MECFSCommunity #FatigueIsNotTiredness #LifeWithME #ChronicDisease

  4. 31 May

    The Holiday Crash ( M.E / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome )

    In this episode Mum and me talk about our little holiday to Marske and how it actually went in reality. We talk about the good moments, the bits where I managed to feel a little more normal again, and then the aftermath afterwards and how long it took my body to recover from pushing beyond its limits. We end up talking a lot about family health and the strange ways illness and certain traits seem to pass through generations. Mum talks about things she later discovered about her grandma and how many similarities there are between different members of the family, from bowel problems and diverticulitis to the way our bodies seem to react to stress and illness in similar ways. It becomes a bigger conversation about genetics, inherited health issues, and how families slowly piece these patterns together over time. We also talk honestly about ME/CFS treatments, symptom management, and the reality that most people with chronic illness spend years trying different things hoping for improvement. Some things can help a bit, some things help certain people more than others, but there still isn’t a cure. We discuss pacing, rest, and why protecting your energy becomes one of the biggest parts of surviving with this illness. Another big part of the conversation is work and the damage that can happen when you spend every bit of energy trying to prove you can still keep going. We talk about how work can end up taking everything from you. You force yourself to show up, push through, and hold yourself together for work, but then there’s nothing left afterwards for family, hobbies, relationships, or yourself. The crash comes later, behind closed doors. We also mention one of the support groups I’m part of, Brain Health Breakthrough CIC, and how important it can be to find people who genuinely understand this illness and the reality of living with it day to day. You can find them here:https://brainhealthbreakthrough.co.uk And as always, we finish with the things that have been keeping us company lately.

  5. 17 May

    This is Also M.E, Crashing with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Real Time

    Episode 13: This Is Also ME, Crashing with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Real Time This wasn’t supposed to be the next episode. Mum and me were due to record properly, but I’ve been really unwell, and instead of disappearing for weeks until I could manage a full episode, I wanted to leave something honest behind in the gap. So this is a shorter episode. About half an hour. Recorded while I’m in the middle of feeling properly rough after family visits, overstimulation and trying to recover again out in the garden. I think it’s important to capture these moments too. Not just the “best version” of chronic illness where you can tidy yourself up enough to speak clearly and sound normal for an hour. Sometimes ME is unpredictable. Sometimes it pulls the rug completely. Sometimes all you can do is sit outside and try to calm your nervous system back down again. This episode is basically a little bridge between now and the next full episode. But it’s also probably one of the more accurate snapshots of what living with ME actually feels like day to day. #MECFS #ChronicIllness #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #InvisibleIllness #DisabledCreator #Spoonie #ChronicFatigue #PodcastUK #MentalHealth #HealthPodcast #ChronicIllnessPodcast #MELife #NeuroimmuneDisease #Housebound #PostExertionalMalaise #PEM #ChronicallyGlitched #MECFSAwareness #RealLifeWithME #PodcastRecommendation #BritishPodcast #YorkshirePodcast #DisabilityAwareness #LivingWithME

  6. 3 May

    Part Two: Living With FND: Seizures, Brain Glitches, Disability & Rebuilding Life

    Part two with Nicola, now focusing on life after diagnosis. We talk about what Functional Neurological Disorder actually feels like day to day. Nicola describes it as her brain firing on three cylinders instead of five, with signals glitching and misfiring. We cover the reality of non-epileptic seizures, the fear that comes with them, and how quickly life can change. We also talk about the practical side of disability. Using walking aids, planning everything around energy, trying to leave the house, and the knock-on crashes that follow. There’s a lot of unhelpful advice out there about FND, and we don’t shy away from that either. Most of all, this episode comes back to friendship. We started out bonding over shared health struggles, and now we’re both much worse, but we understand each other in a way most people don’t. #fnd #functionalneuro #nonepilepticseizures #chronicillness #mecfs #disability #spoonie #invisibleillness #brainfog #neurologicaldisorder #chronicfatigue #mentalhealth #chronicillnesslife #ukpodcast #chronicillnesssupport

  7. 19 Apr

    Part One: From Friendship to Diagnosis: ME, FND, Medical Gaslighting & Nicola’s Story

    In this episode of Chronically Glitched, my friend Nicola joins me for the first part of a very honest conversation. We talk about how we met and how our friendship grew through shared experiences of chronic illness and mental health struggles. Nicola opens up about her journey before diagnosis, including endometriosis, hysterectomy, pancreatitis, open surgery, and functional cognitive impairment. We also get into the reality of medical gaslighting, being passed between specialists, and the emotional toll of not being believed. This episode covers grief, depression, and the long road to finally being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), on top of everything else she was already dealing with. This is what it actually looks like before a diagnosis. Confusion, dismissal, and trying to hold yourself together while your body is falling apart. #chronicillness #fnd #mecfs #medicalgaslighting #endometriosis #hysterectomy #pancreatitis #mentalhealth #chronicillnessawareness #invisibleillness #spoonie #nhs #grief #depression #functionalneurologicaldisorder

  8. 5 Apr

    The Cost of Leaving the House

    We start with a catch up after a busy couple of weeks, including Mum being interviewed about coming over from Ireland. Then we move into what I’ve been doing, including trying at home massage and what it does to the nervous system. We talk about the parasympathetic state and how it can briefly give you a window of feeling more normal, enough to get out of the house, before the reality hits afterwards. That delayed crash, the kind that wipes you out long after the activity is over. From there we get into the practical side of it. What actually helps when you’re in that state and your body is completely done. We also touch on body image, how illness changes your relationship with your body, and the mental side of that. We finish, as always, with what’s keeping us company. #chronicallyglitched #mecfs #chronicfatigue #invisibleillness #postexertionalmalaise #chronicillnesslife #spoonie #energycrash #nervoussystem #chronicillnessawareness

See All (21)

Trailers

About

Chronically Glitched: A Digital Diary New Episodes every 2nd Sunday. buymeacoffee.com/chronicallyglitched A raw, working-class account of life with ME/CFS, no sugarcoating, no recovery fantasies, no safety net. This is the real version of chronic illness: the collapse, the grief, the complete destruction of identity, and the fight to build a life that still feels like yours. Honest but never cruel, darkly funny, emotional, human. A place where your feelings are seen, heard, and understood.

Information

You Might Also Like