Singing gave me my life back...

Karen Louise recites the line like a mantra. After spending years of her life too exhausted to get out of bed, she has learned to listen to her body and accept its limitations.

The singer was a happy, confident teenager, a county netball and hockey player and a black belt in karate when she was struck down with glandular fever that left her suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

She battled with the chronic fatigue condition from the ages of 13 to 22 and was largely confined to her home. Some days she was too drained to get dressed.

It was Bradford-born Karen's love of singing and songwriting which helped her cope. Now 25, she's a rising star, with a new single out next month. She has worked with Girls Aloud, Lemar and Journey South and is currently touring with Simon Webbe from boyband Blue.

Today Karen has plenty to be positive about and she's upbeat about life. But she's aware that ME robbed her of much of her youth, and she takes life day by day.

"I'm at a point now where I can try and put it behind me and learn from it," she says. "Until I was diagnosed I didn't understand what was happening to me. I was really sporty but I became tired all the time and lost my stamina. I thought I should ignore it and press on. I was told to run more to build up my stamina but that made me even more ill.

"I was shivery and felt like I had flu, I kept expecting to feel better after a good night's sleep but it didn't happen. My parents didn't understand it, nobody did.

"I could barely get out of bed for days, weeks, sometimes months. I was trying to achieve top grades at school but was weak all the time. By the time I'd finished my A-levels I was depressed and thought my life was over."

A key moment in the long-running campaign to raise awareness about ME came in 2002 when the Chief Medical Officer's report into the condition was published. It was the first time the Government had recognised it as a debilitating illness, but there was no funding announcement and today there remains a stigma attached to ME, with a misunderstanding that it's linked to laziness.

"It's not always taken seriously because people don't understand it," says Karen. "But anyone who's had it knows it's a terrible thing to live with."

Karen had been singing since she was given a karaoke machine for Christmas, aged seven. She later took singing lessons and started writing songs.

"Writing and performing songs was about the only activity I could cope with during my illness," she recalls. "I found it theraputic, it gave me a focus. I learned to play the piano and started singing at weddings. Gradually my confidence grew, although some days I didn't feel up to it. My mum would remind me how important it was to the people getting married."

Karen also credits homeopathy with her recovery. "I discovered I had food allergies so I started being really careful about my diet. That - and singing - gave me my life back. I'm a huge believer in holistic health care; our minds and bodies are connected and it's important that we take responsibility for both. I buy as much organic food as I can and I do some exercise every day, even if it's just a ten-minute walk.

"We're taught no pain, no gain'; it's expected of us to go to the gym, even if we don't feel like it. But I've learned that if I make myself do things like that I'll be ill. I'm conscious of pacing myself. I take vitamin supplements and I listen to my body, that's important for anyone with ME.

"If you only do a short walk instead of a punishing regime at the gym, it's better than nothing. When I had ME I forced myself to get up and get dressed."

She says modern life doesn't do our bodies any favours. "We're poisoning the environment; we fill our food and water with chemicals, what we consume isn't natural, it puts our bodies under stress."

Touring with a rock band isn't the healthiest lifestyle but Karen's determined to stick to her organic diet.

"It's not all junk food in the tour bus, we've been having some lovely home-cooked food," she says. "I have to look after my voice and body, it's like being an athlete. When you have a show that night it's all you think about all day, the nerves are always there. That puts a strain on the body.

"I try to get as much rest as possible. When I come off stage all I want to do is fall into bed - there's no after-show partying for me!"

Karen's debut album, Bringing Me Home, was released last year and is being re-launched in September.

As her profile increases, she's aware of the responsibility that comes with being a female singer. "If you're a role model to young girls you have to take it seriously," she says. "The size zero debate has gone crazy, it's putting pressure on girls. I'm a size 12/14 and not by any stretch of the imagination am I fat. I'm just normal.

"Women have much more to offer than conforming to society's idea of what's attractive. I hate seeing little girls dressed as adults, it's disturbing that musical influences are making children aware of their sexuality."

Named after her heroine, Karen Carpenter, her musical influences include strong-minded female singers such as Dusty Springfield, Tina Turner, Ella Fitzgerald and Amy Winehouse. Karen's own gutsy determination has helped achieve her goal of becoming a singer.

"The place I'm most at home, where I truly belong, is on stage," she says. "When I step out into the lights and sing, something magical happens."

Last year Karen supported 2005 X Factor finalists Journey South on their UK tour, which came to St George's Hall. Now she's on the road with Simon Webbe. "He's lovely, so supportive," she says. "I love singing live as much as being in the studio because I work with so many musicians and learn from them.

"Life is great now and I'm reflecting this in my music. I've left behind the big emotional ballads and gone more uptempo. Music is a great healer, you only have to put on a record to instantly feel better. Music got me through my darkest hours."

• Karen Louise supports Simon Webbe at Harrogate International Centre on June 5. For tickets ring 0845 1308840. Her new single, Falling, is due out on June 15.