I have severe ME which research suggests might be a virus that affects the brain. As a result I am completely housebound and bedbound for 23-and-a-half hours a day.

I am in constant pain that saps my energy so that I can hardly feed myself, comb my hair, read or write a letter.

I am unable to watch TV or telephone my friends, and my mind is so confused that I have difficulty understanding a conversation or making choices about my life.

I wake and I can hear the outside world but my eyes refuse to open and I'm unable to move a finger. After 20 seconds or more the sleep paralysis releases me and I'm relieved it's over.

My eyes are stinging and painful, and everything I look at overloads my senses and causes me much pain till I'm forced to close them again and stop thinking.

I can't tell you how utterly dreadful I feel.

My first thoughts of the day are that I wish I wasn't alive and how am I going to climb this huge mountain of a day.

Once I'm conscious I don't have the urge to sleep again, in fact I'm not tired, I'm too exhausted to sleep properly.

My fatigue isn't the same as exhaustion felt by a normal healthy person.

Every little thing needs thinking over carefully and bigger things take weeks of planning.

For example, a shower needs days of rest beforehand and days to recover afterwards and I can only get through these about twice a month.

I've woken in time for lunch and rest in anticipation.

Eating is a battle. I'm fighting with my appetite and a swallowing reflex that is very weak and doesn't work properly.

I fight to eat my soft eggy bread, my throat crying out saying it's had enough, as well as my hands that have to carry it to my mouth.

I hope to be given the opportunity to be able to have a feeding tube soon as this will make my life much easier.

I'll be able to get all the vitamins my body desperately needs and save some of my energy.

Later, now needing the toilet, I'm able to shuffle from my bed, my weak and painful limbs supporting me, to the bathroom 10 steps away.

My body feels like lead, my legs like twigs. Everything feels so heavy, like I'm a big sack of potatoes.

After nearly fainting on the loo, hoping I won't run out of energy on the way back, I collapse back onto the bed, just missing the floor, waves of nausea sweeping over me, and I have to retch.

My daily nosebleed now starts and I have to deal with that.

I use my mobile phone to text messages and I text mum to check the time for tea. Somehow I'll manage the words and I hope for the best that they make sense. It takes a lot out of me. I'll be able to manage 4 or 5 texts a day if I have to, but that's it.

Luckily this has become my form of communication, which is helpful, and I have a push button on my bed to signal for help if needed.

I sit up again to lift my heavy laptop, tugging it towards me.

With my body wanting to lie back down in the darkness and silence, I check my e-mails. I might add a bit to my website later.

That keeps the world in touch with me and I'm glad it's one thing I'm able to work on even though it's a struggle.

I have my luxuries. These include either one song on my stereo, 15 minutes of television on a very good day, (although the movements and lights I can hardly bear), reading, or writing a letter, or using the computer.

It's a hard illness to manage, pacing myself and learning to let my body rest so that I don't get worse is perhaps the hardest thing I've ever done.

Not like climbing the mountains I used to do, or holding down a job.

I used to enjoy all kind of sports and walking around my country garden looking for flowers and animals when I wasn't so poorly.

I'm sad some people think I'm making it all up and I choose to remain in bed and in pain, and not to see my family, or to do anything like normal people would.

Then it's night time.

I don't look forward to the vivid nightmares and wondering if my breathing is going to stop.

But I'll wake up again tomorrow - I always have done - hoping one day I'll be better again.

Sports-mad Nicola Winnall was forced to give up her place at Chester University, where she planned to train as a counsellor, because of the debilitating effects of ME.

And yesterday Alastair Miller - Worcestershire's only specialist with an interest in ME - left his post for a new role.

Nicola, aged 21 and from Bewdley, has spent two months compiling A Day In The Life Of Nicola Winnall to highlight the desperate need to replace him - for her sake and the estimated 2,000 other sufferers in the county.

This is an extract.

What exactly is myalgic encephalomyelitis?

n ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis/ encephalopathy) is also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and is

also often dismissed as 'yuppie flu'

n It is a chronic illness that affects 1 in 250 people.

n Early diagnosis improves chances of recovery n Although there is no specific test available to diagnose ME it can be diagnosed by identifying the symptom pattern typical of ME and ruling out other conditions

n The exact cause of ME is unknown. People with ME often have abnormalities in their immune and nervous systems

n Up to 25 per cent of people with ME are severely affected, either house or bedbound and unable to look after themselves

n There is no cure , although symptoms such as pain and sleep disturbance can be treated to improve quality of life.

n With time, most people can expect to see an improvement in their symptoms, although not everyone recovers to

pre-illness level.