After-effects of even a simple errand can be severe and last for days

Re “Low-income people fear high-cost change” (Page A1, June 3): Susan Buck, a woman living with multiple disabilities including chronic fatigue, was interviewed for your story on how the deal to raise the federal debt ceiling could affect key social programs. Many online readers took issue with the idea that chronic fatigue is a real disability. They also suggested that Buck could work a paying job, based on photos of her in her garden.

I would like to offer my perspective on what it’s like living with myalgic encephalomyelitis. It’s an incurable neurological disease that affects most of the systems in the body. Although the disease comes with dozens of symptoms, one of its hallmarks is post-exertional malaise. This means that the patient feels worse after almost any physical, emotional, or cognitive effort. The effects can last for days.

My condition is severe but, like Buck, I can garden. I planted a rose bush recently. It’s just that after an hour of gardening, I was dizzy, nauseated, hurting, and faint. I dragged myself back into the house and slept for three hours midday. Other things that cause my body to shut down include buying groceries and cooking dinner.

A 2015 study found that the quality of life for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis was worse than that of people with any of the other 17 medical conditions studied, including stroke, heart attack, and cancer. Consider that and then ask yourself if you can really tell that a person can work for a living just because she’s able to hold a pot of marigolds for the time it takes someone to shoot a photo.

AMANDA MATHIESEN Arlington