Really struggling with post viral fatigue, will be grateful for any replies/suggestions

Hi everyone,

I am new to posting on here, a friend suggested that I should try and find a forum to speak to people going through a similar thing to hopefully find some comfort. Really hope that this will ease the mysery I am currently experiencing.

Over the past 12 months I have had glandular fever, recurrent tonsilitis, B12 and folate anaemia and have undergone a tonsillectomy. I had hoped that the tonsillectomy, B12 injections and folate tablets along with the various other vitamins and supplements I have tried would mean i'd be feeling normal again by now. I have been diagnosed with post viral fatigue syndrome and I am currently signed off work again. I am finding it incredibly diffuclt to deal with, I'm constantly frustrated that I cannot do the things I want to be doing and I am feeling increasingly lonely and isolated the longer I'm off work attempting to rest. I'm suffering with this horrible horrible fatigue unlike anything I have ever experienced before- my eyes never feel fully awake, my brain feels clouded like I have so much going on in it but I can't make sense of any of it because I don't have the energy to attempt to think straight, I feel like i'm constantly shuffling around unaware of what is going on around me because i'm just too tired to take notice and concentrate on anything. Being in work has been especially difficult, there have been times were the fatigue has made me feel so dizzy that I felt like I was going to faint and have had to sit in the toilets with my eyes closed and head in my hands. It's this indescribable feeling of not being able to function but also not being able to sleep, just sitting here in limbo wondering what the point is. My arms and legs feel so heavy as though weights are tied to them and whenever I feel this fatigue they ache as though i've ran a marathon carrying weights. I think the stress of having to be off work and feeling like I'm letting people down combined with the fear that I'll never be able to function properly again is probably making my symptoms worse, any suggestions on how to deal with the feeling of frustration/fear would be really appreciated. I'm starting to feel a bit resentful or envious of others who can go about their daily tasks, however mundane or menial they may seem to them, without this constant fatigue and brain fog. I feel like I really took for granted all of the time I spent doing things and being fully there, alert and awake. Now everything I do is a constant blur, unable to even hold conversation fully because I'm just too drained. After a day at work walking to the bus stop five minutes down the road feels literally impossible, like I'm trudging through mud up to my neck, every part of me aches, my whole body feels completely depleted of any energy and I also look very pale and rundown. I constantly have ulcers in my mouth, swollen glands and a sore throat despite having a tonsillectomy in July.

I'm 23 and I am trying everything I can possibly imagine/have read about to try and get better. Every day I'm taking a multi vitamin with iron, cod liver oil, Co enzyme Q10, L Carnitine, D Ribose, Magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin B Complex, Manuka Honey, Organic apple cider vinegar, a probiotic and my diet is the best it has ever been - lots of lean meats, fruit and vegetables and a measured amount of dairy and wholemeal produce. I no longer drink alcohol as I end up really run down and ill after a night out and I don't smoke. I don't drink fizzy drinks so my drinks throughout the day consist of water and herbal teas. I have tried having more sleep at night, less sleep at night, sleeping in the day, not sleeping in the day, resting when I need to, pushing myself and resting only at the end of the day. I have tried all of these in measured periods of time to see if any of it makes a difference. I have tried a sort of graded exerice were I walk for ten minutes one day and increase to maybe 15 the next day. I have tried mindfulness meditation and various relaxation techniques which I find help at the time but can't see much lasting impact. I have tried various bath soaks etc to try and help the aching none of which seem to help. I have tried pacing in the sense that I'll get a shower and then rest and then do something else little and then rest, and this doesn't seem to have helped but I'm unsure if i'm doing this right.

I would be really really grateful if anyone could get back to me and share how they feel day to day and how they cope with it and the feelings of frustration. At the moment I'm also pretty sure this is going to cost me my job, how have other people managed this illness with work? It's so difficult trying to explain to people how I can get up and shower, and this will then completely wipe me out for the day. I'm so scared that people think this is laziness and I know they don't understand, especially my employer. I was never ever like this before having glandular fever, I finished University and went travelling and have always had a really normal level of energy that allowed me to do everything I wanted, but I have spent the past 12 months feeling completely usless and fearful of the future. So any advice anyone can provide would really help.

Thanks! (Sorry for such a long post, felt like it helped a little typing it all out)

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