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Andrew Gifford

@andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social

2.9K followers 1.2K following 2.9K posts

Hello, welcome :) This Invisible Illness: my first long form documentary photography project, about ME/CFS a complex & challenging health condition - like Long Covid. https://linktr.ee/andrewgifford.photography Bristol, UK. 335.42 ppm. He/him/oi.

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 15d

Here but not here - from my ME/CFS photo project

glass.photo/andrewgiffor...

ALT: Colour photo of a caucasian adult male's head just about visible through foggy blue-grey glass, as he peers in through the murk

#DocumentaryPhotography #pwME #MECFS #LongCovid

Here but not here:

Andrew Gifford on Glass

glass.photo

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 13m

Making sure to name 'Sir' Simon Wessely as a bad actor in the Action4ME survey.

Reposted by Andrew Gifford

Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 32m

Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating

- CO2 in the air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening
@wmo-global.bsky.social

#climatecrisis
Story by me
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating

CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening

www.theguardian.com

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 47m

I'm absolutely not a Capa expert, so please forgive me if a new understanding of his work at this time and death has since come to light (I made this photo in 2010).

Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 49m

Colour photograph of a hung (at museum) black and white portrait photograph of the war photographer Robert Capa. He is in USA military uniform, with cigarette in mouth and has his 35mm film camera only just visible held out of frame. He looks directly at us, with conviction. Beside this is a hung laminated summary of the circumstance his death - he'd walked alone up the road looking to make photos showing Vietnamese farmers desperately trying to grow rice while under the pressure of war, but he was killed while doing so, likely from shrapnel (faik).

Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 49m

Robert Capa's camera at the American War museum, Hanoi, Vietnam

The documentation says he was killed while seeking to make photographs of farmers trying to grow rice under the pressure of war.

#Photography #RobertCapa

Colour photograph inside the American War museum in Hanoi, Vietnam. Grey walls are lit by flourescent strip lighting. Adult tourists browse the hung photographs and documentation. An adult female Vietnamese citizen reads the caption beneath a large back-lit photo of Robert Cappa's 35mm film camera, which has a hole ripped through it, likely from the shrapnel which killed the dedicated war photographer.

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Reposted by Andrew Gifford

FunkisHen ♿🇵🇸 @funkishen.bsky.social · 1h

"...If you really want to know about the most serious health challenge facing our planet, one that still has not been recognized, be sure to watch these videos and then demand the change that is so desperately needed.”
Leonard Jason, Ph.D.

PZ @itsmepz.bsky.social · 2h

www.dialogues-mecfs.co.uk/films/the-ta...

The Tangled Story of ME/CFS - Dialogues

www.dialogues-mecfs.co.uk

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 1h

Reasonably sure it is a contravention of our human rights for the UK Gov to: systemically back quackery, under fund effective research AND under pay on welfare. 400,000 people impacted, nearer 1.3-2 million including Long Covid. If Gov wants us productive asap, it should better support us meanwhile.

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 1h

I've never seen a single ME/CFS or Long Covid advocacy group or org fighting for this realignment in expenses we face. It would make such a difference, as we can each make some improvements in both health and quality of life, while awaiting medical breakthroughs which could be years and years away.

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 1h

A whopping two thirds of my welfare goes on fighting the disease - drugs, supplements, therapies, accommodations - without this I'd be much worse and likely worsening. I could not afford this were it not for being in a relationship.

DWP must double PIP immediately, back-dated to date of diagnosis.

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 1h

IMHO the commonest practical problem is the expense of ME/CFS. It's really fucking expensive, as you cannot work once at moderate level.

DWP's paltry PIP and ESA 'welfare' in the absense of ANY clinical support from the NHS means poverty while trying to stave off a worsening of the disease.

wamesmecfs.bsky.social @wamesmecfs.bsky.social · 2h

Dr Nigel Speight writes that ME families are still encountering charges of FII (Fabricated and Induced Illness) formerly called Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy. In the UK he believes the current paediatric guidelines regarding FII need to be changed.
tinyurl.com/44c4zykd

Current problems facing ME families in the UK

The commonest recurring problems ME families are encountering in the UK at present stem from current paediatric guidelines regarding FII. (Fabricated and Induced Illness) This was formerly called M…

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Andrew Gifford

Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 2d

My colleagues & I have taken a huge gamble to set up @thenerve.news We’re trying to build a new independent publication from the ground up. Social media is our only distribution for now.

Sharing this article in your networks would make a huge difference. Thank you! 🙏🙏🙏

Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 3d

NEW: The British politician, his Russian intelligence handler & a Kremlin plot against the US & Ukraine.

My new piece about Nathan Gill and Nigel Farage for @thenerve_news in which we ask:

Why, even now, is no-one asking questions?

t.co/BUTtpK9C4S

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Reposted by Andrew Gifford

Minestrone Monster @minstronemonster.bsky.social · 2h

#neisvoid #me/cfs #longcovid folks, can anyone point to research on exercise post covid? I know 'six weeks rest' is the anecdotal suggestion, but are there any actual papers on this?

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 2h

WLTW: Raoul Peck film on the parallels between 1984 and 2025.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ8l...

Orwell 2+2=5 - Official Trailer (2025)

YouTube video by IGN Movie Trailers

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Andrew Gifford

Emma Haslett @emmahaslett.bsky.social · 1d

This is a huge story but massively under the radar in the UK.

A US Christian legal org called the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is working to roll back abortion rights here using the same playbook it used in the US: briefing politicians, watching, waiting.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

They Helped Topple Roe v. Wade. Now Their Sights Are Set on Britain.

www.nytimes.com

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 19h

In my own case, iirc, none of my NHS blood tests have suggest low blood volume. I'm sure it would have been flagged if so.

I would love to peruse any papers around electrolytes and ME or Long Covid. I'll dig around tomorrow.

Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 19h

I figured :)

Reposted by Andrew Gifford

Mike's Euro Maras for M.E. @mikeseumarathons.bsky.social · 1d

Race report for Skopje Marathon, Macedonia 🇲🇰

Marathon 38 for @investinmeresearch.bsky.social in European country 34.

www.mikeseumarathons.eu/skopje-maced...

Thanks for your support and sponsorship

SKOPJE, MACEDONIA

Training for marathon 38 in Skopje was a little tough with injury and illness but after missing my flight connection from Turkey to Macedonia, I was very pleased to get to the start line. The day...

www.mikeseumarathons.eu

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 19h

Mmmm, chips.

Adult daily recommended amount of salt is 6g (NHS website). We're already at double this. I wonder how much further we should go as pwME. Seems bloating is the main sign of too much intake; www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slid... (this is NOT medical advice etc.)

Telltale Signs You’re Eating Too Much Salt

Learn about the telltale signs of too much salt in your body, and how you can keep your sodium levels in check.

www.webmd.com

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 19h

I see, thanks Kati, sounds like I'm much the same re scenario and intake. Do you suspect low blood volume btw? Have you tried a higher intake of salt and any observations?

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 19h

Thanks Margo, good points all.

Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 19h

Pre my ME developing from Mild to Moderate and worse I would get a dry mouth from salty foods but, thinking about it, this hasn't happened in 15 or so years. I don't crave salt nowadays, but my pallete/body seems to be finding more seems better, going by taste. But, I don't know sweet spot.

Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 20h

My Q prompted by a Patrick Ussher podcast ep where he talks about low blood volume in ME. My GP hasn't tested me for this and I've no idea if/how the ME-addled results would appear via NHS methods/scale. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p... (has his own podcast, and YouToob, too)

Patrick Ussher, author of Understanding ME/CFS and Strategies for Healing

Podcast Episode · The POTScast · 10/07/2025 · 1h 7m

podcasts.apple.com

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 20h

Nope! I do have a meter, but I really don't like monitoring or apps, recording shit - I generally detest admin. I did test for a few days and was a little low on blood pressure, but my OI improved with salts and so I didn't bother retesting.

Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 20h

My mid Moderate ME body almost never asks for water, I'm almost never thirsty. This seems odd. I do get a headache if dehydrated, but never thirst. I have to drink to a rough schedule, rather than a sensed need.

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Andrew Gifford @andrewgiffordphoto.bsky.social · 20h

Salt/electrolytes, how much should pwME consume? How to find the sweet spot?

I take 5g mineral salts daily, plus 5g sea salt with food. Has resolved orthostatic intolerance, but I'm not sure how much more I may need nor the signs of 'too much'. I don't know if I have low blood volume.

#MECFS #pwME

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