It happened to me... I'm allergic to modern life

Former TV producer, Sarah Dacre, 53, had a successful career in London, but, in 1994, she suddenly began suffering from a pattern of mysterious symptoms.

When finally diagnosed with electro-hypersensitivity, her illness forced her to leave both her job and her home. Divorced, with a grown-up son at university, she now lives in Kent. Here she recalls what happened...

It began with the migraines, which I put down to stress. Recently divorced, I was running a television production company, employing more than 70 staff, as well as bringing up my five-year-old son.

My lifestyle was fast paced, exciting and affluent, so I wasn't surprised to find that I might be at risk from a stress-related illness.

As the headaches intensified over the next few months, becoming progressively more frequent, I began to worry, especially as I was also experiencing numbness down the right side of my body and bad digestion.

My GP thought I was probably overworking and told me to get some rest.

After consulting an allergy specialist, who said I could be suffering from a food intolerance, I cut out wheat and dairy from my diet in an effort to alleviate my symptoms. But nothing I did seemed to make any difference whatsoever. As I'd never had a serious day's illness in my life before, I just kept hoping my problems would gradually resolve themselves.

For the next seven years I continued to suffer from severe headaches and digestive problems, both slowly growing worse.

Meanwhile, as modern technology improved, I stocked up my office and home with more and more electronic equipment.

I had a mobile, two cordless phones and a laptop, but never did I think that these might be contributing to my illness.

Before I became ill I had a wide social circle and was physically fit - my hobbies included skiing, tango dancing, hillside walking and going to the gym.

Having been such an intensely energetic person, I was shocked to find myself now shuffling around the house after the slightest physical exertion.

In 2002, I met my partner, Rod, an engraver, and although he and my son were incredibly kind and supportive, I hated being a virtual invalid, and was determined to find out the cause of my illness and fix it.

Over the next two years I visited a succession of doctors and alternative therapists, and I tried all sorts of cures, but found nothing that did me any good.

As the symptoms grew worse, so new ones appeared. By 2003, I'd developed high blood pressure and started suffering from panic attacks and breathlessness.

Although I was naturally anxious about all of this, I knew that my problems were more than psychological, and that my condition was being made worse by worry rather than being the result of it.