the wicked christmas bake off

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ME is a life-altering and complex multi-system disease that persists for a minimum of 6 months. People who are diagnosed with this chronic illness usually have a very poor quality of life and can often be unable to cope with even general daily activity; taking a shower or brushing teeth can be virtually impossible in some cases. At the severe end of this illness, digesting food can sadly become a very serious issue too. ME can be fatal. And for too long ME has been seriously neglected.

Baking for us won't bring about a cure, but you will help to raise funds and awareness for a much needed cause. And we are so very grateful. We need more people outside of the ME bubble to help!

This illness can fluctuate for a portion of people (moderate to mild) which means they do get some relief on odd days, but even 'mild' ME/CFS is life altering. For others it can be severe and constant. People with ME experience something called PEM - post exertional milaise - which means the consequences of exerting (even very small exertion) can be excruciatingly painful and long lasting.

There are millions of people missing with this illness and many more off the back of LONG COVID. The cause of ME remains unknown and this is why we desperately need to help the researchers! In most cases there is an association with infection.

We have also raised awareness for POTS before, because there is a strong cross over with this illness and ME; pregnancy, major surgery, trauma, viral illness sometimes being a trigger. To put it very simply, POTS is a disability which causes an abnormal increase in heart-rate sitting/standing. Many patients need to lay down/rest for long periods of time in a desperate attempt to stabilise. 

LYME DISEASE has been on the list of charity's you can donate to before. Why? Well, "ME/CFS has been linked to a number of viral infections, specifically Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) and Human Herpes Viruses (HHV). However, bacterial infections may be another possible source of infection in ME. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks."

Patients can be left bed-bound and house-bound for years due to physical disability and associated chronic pain. There are overlaps with other illnesses such as fibromyalgia, POTS  (as mentioned) and even multiple chronic and persistent new infections can sometimes take advantage of the person who is already unwell. Jennie Jacques, our creator, has more recently opened up about her personal journey with chronic UTI.

Moving forward we would like to continue to find ways to involve other associated illnesses into our bake offs. 

For now, we fight, first and foremost for ME. 

Why? 

Well...

Imagine lockdown, forever and then inject the flu plus a heavy hangover, with out the partying - you might get an idea of how some days for some people with these sort of illnesses can be. Oxygen starved might (arguably!) be a better word than 'fatigue.' Not to mention the severe chronic pain which more often than not accompanies the aforementioned. 

There are no words to describe how bad it can be.

For several decades, those diagnosed with ME have suffered in almost complete silence because the science is criminally under funded. Off the back of the pandemic research into ME is moving in the right direction but sadly not fast enough. To elaborate on our early comment, it is estimated that half of the people with Long Covid will end up with an ME diagnosis.

The NICE guidelines for ME were thankfully amended in October, 2021. But, there is still no protocol for severe ME in our NHS hospitals. And not all NHS hospitals are adhering to the new NICE guidelines. We need change on a systemic level, to prevent more deaths.

Secondary depression and suicidal thoughts or suicide itself can sadly also be associated with this horrific illness. We know that ME is not a mental illness, it is a neuro-immuno-metabolic disease, but the quality of life for the person with ME can be so low that some people with ME state they'd be better off dead and others refer to it as a living death. 

We must give people with ME a voice. And baking contest is just a light hearted way to raise awareness for an illness which is currently robbing more and more lives. 

We need your help! 

Baking a cake and donating some spare change will contribute to raising awareness for ME and funds.

ME can be triggered by many forms of trauma, the most common form is a viral infection. COVID-19 is a potential trigger for many more cases of ME, which we are starting to see - "post" infectious illness and long term viral damage and debilitation is escalating.

The COVID crisis has presented a unique opportunity to understand how a viral infection — in this case COVID-19 — may develop into ME in some patients. Great change is on the horizon and BAKE4ME want to mix in as much hope and support as possible.

#BAKE4MECFS is a fun and simple way to show those who are suffering, we hear them and we care!