Post Viral Symptoms Since January
Posted , 2 users are following.
Hello, I'm new to this board and wondered if anybody has any advice here for me. I've been suffering from fatigue, aches and pains, and general malaise since I had an attack of flu last January, it happened to coincide with a stressful time and it took ages for me to shake the illness. Since then I've rarely felt well to be honest, if it's not one ache it's another (limbs, head, chest), constant fatigue, and if I get a common cold it knocks me for six for ages.
My doctor first put it down to my arthritis which I've had since I was 26 but I've never had these symptoms before and my arthritis is in my lower back not my arms where I get a lot of pain. Now she says it's just a post-viral thing and it'll go soon, but to tell the truth it seems to be getting worse not better, she doesn't seem that interested in it at all and I feel fobs me off a bit. She's a good doctor and I like her but I wish she'd take this a bit more seriously, it's affecting my life. I'm not working anymore due to the arthritis and Ankylosis Spondylitis which was diagnosed around 8 years ago (I was a horticulturalist which I miss), which is probably a good thing really because I spend as many days in bed with fatigue as I do pain, how could I hold down a job!
Thanks for reading this long post anyway, I hope it doesn't sound too whingey :-).
0 likes, 2 replies
jackie00198 lisa_-_jan28383
Posted
Sadly, your story is a familiar one--especially for those of us with ME/CFS. Onset of this illness from a flu (as happened with me) is very common. Disregard and not being taken seriously by doctors is very common. The first thing you need to do is to have bloodwork done to rule out other illnesses. The main red flag for ME/CFS is PEM (post-exertional malaise). In other words, when you do an activity, do you get fatigued way out of proportion to the activity? If the answer is yes, you may well have ME/CFS. Go to the "solve me/cfs initiative" website and see if the symptoms resonate with you. The best advice for dealing with ME/CFS is to pace yourself and get plenty of rest. Do not try to push through the fatigue, as this can make you worse. If your GP is not knowledgeable or sympathetic, see a ME/CFS specialist. Also, I highly recommend seeing the documentary "Unrest," about Jennifer Brea's struggle with this illness.
lisa_-_jan28383 jackie00198
Posted
Hi Jackie
Thank you for replying and sorry I took a week getting back to you! I had some blood tests a couple of months ago to test for low iron and B12 as well as thyroid, everything was fine there, I was perversely wanting something along those lines to be out of whack to be honest so at least the doctor could do something. My doc said there is "a lot of this post viral thing around at the moment" which shows she is aware of it, I suppose I'm in hope of her saying it's something definite, it's all so vague. Thank you for the name of the website and the film (I've heard of it).
Yes any exercise or physical effort knocks me sideways for the next day or two although I feel fine-ish at the time, the last couple of days have been a sleep-fest for me after walking quite a bit at the weekend doing errands for a sick friend. Today my whole body aches like I have a flu coming on but with no other symptoms, and I just have no energy to do anything, not even cook a meal so it's bloody cereal again. I'm seeing my doc again on Thursday and I'll try discuss things again with her, I'm going to lie down now, the Christmas wrapping can wait!