A ROSYTH student battling constant debilitating fatigue has been nominated for a personal achievement award at the upcoming Fife Adult Learners Awards.

Clare Birnie (25), of Churchill Place, was nominated by her tutors at Carnegie College for her determination to overcome her illness to continue with her education.

Clare developed myalgic encephalopathy (ME) five years ago, and has fought personal and professional setbacks to get her life back on track.

ME, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome and post-viral fatigue syndrome, is an illness of uncertain cause and can affect anyone at any age. In many cases, it is linked to a viral infection and can also be triggered by an operation or accident.

Its symptoms include severe fatigue, painful muscles and joints, disturbed sleep patterns and poor concentration.

Clare said, 'It started off as a throat infection. Then I got the flu - I actually had two strains of flu and ended up in hospital with jaundice because of a mycoplasma infection.

'All that happened within two months, but once I got over it I was still really lethargic and spent most of the day sleeping, so I kept going back to the doctor to find out what was going on.

'It"s hard to describe. Your limbs feel like lead, I can be in class and the tutor"s talking and it"s like I"m in a dream, and next thing I"m asleep.

'It"s just a constant feeling of being mentally and physically exhausted. It"s really overpowering.' On being diagnosed in August 2006, she said, 'I wasn"t over the moon but I could at least put a name to it.

'I had been going 18 months not knowing what it was.

'I was pretty down at the time, I didn"t know what was wrong with me and wasn"t able to do very much. When I went out with my mum and dad I would get panic attacks.' Other aspects of her life were also affected - she lost touch with friends and workmates and had to give up her job as a qualified nursery nurse.

She said, 'My mum continued working but she had to give up some of her hours because there were times I just couldn"t do anything for myself, even getting washed and dressed in the mornings.

'By the time I had done that, I would be so tired I just wanted to go back to bed again. It was a massive blow to my self-confidence.' Determined not to let ME beat her, Clare enrolled on a Highers course at Carnegie College, doing one night a week.

She said, 'I started in 2004 after I fell ill - I got to the point where my head was just mush.

'I wanted to get my mind back.

'I made sure I slept more on the Wednesday so I wouldn"t feel as tired in class.' She scored an A in intermediate maths, Bs in human biology and English, and a C in history, and progressed to an HNC in applied science (biomedical) in 2007, which she completes next month.

She has now been offered entry into the second year of a part-time biomedical science degree at Edinburgh Napier University.

She is also a walk leader for Bums Off Seats.

Clare said, 'I still have to sleep in the afternoons most days but when I am in college all day, I don"t have the chance.

'I have a big bottle of Red Bull - it"s not enough but it helps!

'It"s given me a boost of confidence - I never thought I would do so well. When I started, it was really to get my mind working again, and I was very humbled to be nominated for the award.

'I"m managing better and have come out of this better than I anticipated.

'I do still feel quite low at being stuck like this but I do try to look on the bright side that I can do a bit more now.

'If I can walk out the door with a smile on my face, I"m happy.'