"Despairing of the doctor at Montagu"

I recently went to see a doctor at Montagu Hospital having been referred by my GP. I am showing all the signs of having ME/chronic fatigue syndrome and have had months of tests to eliminate other possible causes of my symptoms.

Because I am not very good at speaking to professionals about my ailments I had done some background reading on ME and printed out a page from the Action for ME website regarding symptoms, which I had annotated to help me to express my concerns and for the doctor to see the correlation. I am fully aware of the dangers of self-diagnosis and went with an open mind for a professional opinion and discussion.

After reading aloud the notes from my GP, the doctor spent the rest of the 10 minutes I spent with him focusing on my 'tiredness'. I was given little opportunity to explain that the 'tiredness' was so much more - I showed him the notes I'd made. He glanced through them and effectively dismissed them with what was a poorly disguised snort of ridicule. He proceeded to explain that ME was a condition found only in young people who'd had glandular fever, and one from which they all recovered. This does not agree at all with the information I'd had from the various ME groups and societies.

He then decided to do some more tests, which even my GP considers irrelevant.

I left feeling confused, angry, upset, despairing. I felt as though I'd been laughed at and not taken seriously. I will not be returning to that doctor for more of this and instead have taken advice from Action for ME and am working with my GP towards a diagnosis.