Glandular fever at 19, very worried!

Hiya,

First off don't worry about anything and come to this forum for any support. So i'm into my 4th week now and will be a month on monday.

To start off with, i had the swollen eyes and it was mainly from lying down. They went after 5 days i think but i found that the gravity made them worse if that makes sense. So sitting up straight would make them normal and lying down would make them more swollen like from sleeping they would be awful. So try sit up.

For the headaches and temperature just take regular pain killers. It doesn't get rid of it but it does help ever so slightly.

For the sore throat, I ended up going to my GP which they gave me a numbing spray which helped to numb my throat for a little while so i was able to eat much better than without it. Which is great because with GF eating the right foods is key. And this may sound silly but icecream and ice lollies helped me so so much! But no one can tell you you cant ay.

With the fatigue mine got worse and had now died down abit. But for me and many others it has been the symptom taht has stuck the most.

What I did to make myself better/ am currently trying to do was that i got multivitamins as suggested by this forum which helps to give your body any vitamins which are missing. Eat the right foods to make yourself healthy such as your carbs and proteins. And I didn't really try this but having less sugar will help as it's almost like a fake energy source which will make you feel like your better when really your actaully not. 

Make sure you drink enough and stay hydrated. To start off with i started drinking the fizzy flavoured water but that was no good for when my throat started to hurt which was my last symptom. So i found that flavoured water was the best because I honestly don't get how people can drink pure water!

You HAVE to give yourself time to heal. Bed rest is key but not complete bed rest as that actually slows down your recovery. Basically i mean dont be in bed 24/7, make sure you do try get up and move around as much as you ca. Sleep when you can as that's when your body heals the most. But don't push yourself to go out as in the long term which i've just found out, isn't the best thing to do as now my body aches. DONT PUSH YOURSELF.

Don't worry yourself as every symptom and feeling is normal. Just keep thinking it's the GF. And remeber that your health must come first. And that will mean having a break. Just remeber you WILL get better.

Im only 15, so i know it's different for everyone but I too am worried about my job and GCSEs etc. But luckily my work are understanding and ill have to take everything  as it goes. But you have to remeber that your health come first because if im right damaging your spleen will affect your immune system and i really dont want a bad immune system for when im older. 

So basically what i'm trying to say after the long winded explanation is..

Stay hydrated, sleep well and enough, move as much as you can but not a lot, eat well (right foods and vitamins), take pain killers, dont worry and know that YOUR HEALTH COMES FIRST.

But do go to the doctor if you have any concerns because they will help and so does this forum as it did for me.

Sorry its very long winded but i hope it helped a little.

jess x

Hey Holly,

Sorry to hear that you have got GF, really empathising as it's such a horrible virus and all these symptoms you describe sound familiar sfrom when I went through it too. Everyone seems to be different with the virus, hoping that you not having much fatigue means that this won't be a symptom affecting you badly, but do remember to get plenty of rest too especially at this stage because sometimes as you say maybe the fatigue can hit afterwards if you try to do too much in the acute stage.

For a few weeks at this stage if you can (I know it's not easy with life stresses, etc) live a boring life, rest lots and don't put any pressure on yourself - allow your body time to recover. I know it's hard if you have just got a job, please do put your health first though and don't overdo things.

Taking vitamins and herbs really helped me with recovery, including a good strong multi-vitamin per day, B complex (good for energy levels and nervous system), high doses of Vitamin C (1000mg-3000mg per day) and immune boosting herbs like siberian ginseng / echinicea.

Take care and hang in there - and remember that this does get better and you will get through this.

Craig