Beth Dobbin Bedbound 22 Hours a Day With Incurable ME After Tokyo Olympics Former British Olympic sprinter Beth Dobbin, 32, has revealed she is bedbound for more than 22 hours a day with incurable myalgic encephalomyelitis, five years after competing at the Tokyo Olympics. Former British Olympic sprinter Beth Dobbin has revealed she is now bedbound for more than 22 hours a day after being diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), an incurable long-term illness. Dobbin, 32, competed for Great Britain in the 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, just five years ago. She announced her retirement from athletics earlier this year because of what she described as a serious and life-changing health issue. Dobbin, a 200-meter specialist, told BBC Sport that just talking about her condition can make it worse. She said attending a blood test at the doctor's office left her in bed for months afterward.Beth Dobbin Bedbound 22 Hours DailyShe warned that doing the interview itself, chatting for about 30 minutes, could have an impact on her in 2027. She now only gets out of bed to eat or use the bathroom. In 2026 she has left her house on just five occasions. Something as simple as a conversation can cause her to crash for anywhere from 24 hours to months on end.She described her condition as life-decimating and said she feels she has lost everything. Dobbin said the illness makes her feel like her body is shutting down. She said it feels like being a few days from death. Even sitting up for a prolonged period can take a toll, so she prefers to be propped up in bed, though this does not eliminate her symptoms.ME, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is defined by the NHS as a long-term condition that can affect different parts of the body. The most common symptom is extreme tiredness, but other major symptoms include problems with thinking and memory, insomnia, nausea, headaches, pain, a frequent sore throat, digestive issues, allergies, sensitivities, muscle and joint pain, and severe fatigue that does not improve with rest. The cause is unknown and there is no cure or specific treatment.ME Symptoms And Lack Of TreatmentDobbin rejects the term chronic fatigue syndrome, insisting that fatigue is only just in her top 20 symptoms. ME is estimated to affect a known 400,000 people in the United Kingdom and another 3.3 million in the United States, though those numbers are believed to be low estimates. Her ordeal began when she tested positive twice for Covid and suffered glandular fever during the winter of 2021-22. She did not initially realize she was ill until tests revealed the infections.She then began noticing soreness and was sleeping more, while her athletic form dipped slightly. Further tests gave no definitive answers. She soon experienced restlessness, dizziness, lack of sleep, and dizzy spells. She lost all feeling in her legs in the starting blocks of a race, resulting in a false start at the European Championships.Her health deteriorated further during the 2022 Commonwealth Games, European Championships, and World Championships, a period she later described as a year of hell. She said she saw four or five different specialists because her symptoms were across multiple body systems. All the specialists said this is ME, and they did not want it to be that because there is nothing out there for it. After the Europeans, she took a huge rest, but symptoms piled on and worsened.She struggled to stand up, slept excessively, and spent most of her time in bed. After six weeks, she returned to training but managed only three weeks. Medical professionals were shocked that she was still unwell months after the viruses. When asked about her future, Dobbin heartbreakingly replied that it is very bleak.Hope From Long Covid AwarenessHowever, she finds a sliver of hope in the fact that Covid happened six years ago and the medical community has woken up to the condition. She is emboldened with hope after the Covid pandemic and the emergence of long Covid, which shares symptoms with ME and has brought awareness to the illness. She hopes there will be something in the future and said she wanted to speak out to raise awareness.She noted that athletes are believed a lot more than the average person. She said a lot of people with this illness have told her they do not get believed and that people think they are lazy, but she has never experienced one person who does not believe her, because why would an athlete suddenly stop after 20 years.She said she has a slight platform and feels a duty to speak out, because if this happened to most people they would not be able to talk about it. Dobbin has lost her independence, her health, the ability to work, and the ability to exercise, though she still has her family.She competed at the Tokyo Olympics at the age of 27 and won bronze at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as part of Scotland's women's 4 x 400m relay team.