SOPHIE Allen (Letters, September 16) is quite right to say that assessors for PIP (Personal Independence Payments)  do not understand fluctuating illnesses.

I have had ME (myalgic encephalopathy) for 20 years, and ME sufferers also have problems with assessors and frequently have to waste precious energy (often becoming worse) appealing against the decision.

However many do win on appeal, so I suggest she appeals.

The ME Association is also fighting for better recognition of fluctuating illnesses.

ME sufferers suffer additional problems because ME, a neurological illness like MS, has so often been dismissed in the media as ’tiredness’ and equated with chronic fatigue.

But ME has the key symptom of feeling ill (with flu symptoms and pain), not simply ‘fatigued’ after often very minimal exertion with 25 per cent of us, including children, housebound or bed-bound.

– Veronica Jones, Clearwell.