Recurring glandular fever / possible chronic fatigue syndrome
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi everyone. I was wondering if there was anyone else who has had a similar experience as me
I was diagnosed with glandular fever aged 14 and spent around a month severely ill and pushed myself to get back to school/live a normal life again. Because I never allowed my body to recover, I spent the next 5 years catching every virus I came into contact with and experiencing symptoms of CFS/ME (but I am not diagnosed with CFS).
I am now 19 years old and I believe my glandular fever may be recurring. I feel the exact same levels of exhaustion, swollen glands lymph nodes, sore throat, sleeping for 12 hours at a time, brain fog as I did after first coming into contact with GF. Its as almost as thought when I catch a normal cold/flu virus (which on average will be once a month), I also get symptoms of glandular fever which flare up. I have visited GPs throughout the 5 years and have mentioned the possibility of CFS but it seems doctors do not want to acknowledge it. I've had multiple blood tests done over the years and more so recently which do not show any signs of abnormality.
Its got to a point where my exhaustion and constant flu like symptoms have got in the way of my uni work and I have been off now for a significant amount of time. I've spent the last month in bed and when I have pushed myself to go out I get more ill. It's making me very depressed and have little self worth as I'm not able to live my life the way people my age do. Not having a firm diagnoses has also affected the way people react to my illnessess- often not believing me or assuming im just lazy/dont get enough sleep at night.
If there is any one who has had a similar sort of experience after glandular fever please get in touch. I want to know what exactly is wrong with my body and what is the next steps I can take. It would also be helpful if anyone had any tips for dealing with GF or getting GPs to acknowledge my possible CFS 
0 likes, 3 replies
craig07920 georgie111999
Posted
Hi Georgie,
It is nice to hear from you and really sorry to hear you have been struggling with glandular fever again after having it 5 years ago. It really is such a frustrating virus, like you I had spells in the first few years afterwards where things would flare a bit but then it did settle down again after that. I really hope that is the case for you too, I really believe you will get well again and don't have CFS or anything like that, you are young and have lots of healthy happy times ahead. Taking vitamins / herbal supplements over a consistent period may help keep your immune system a bit more balanced if not already doing so. Also just managing your activity and just taking rest in down spells is key too, I know that's frustrating, but remember this won't last forever Georgie things will get better again - they really will. Hang in there and trusting God to bring complete healing to you.
Craig
katie73730 georgie111999
Posted
Hi Georgie
I am in exactly the same boat as you are. I was diagnosed with having glandular fever around 5 years ago i was really poorly for a month or two and i've never felt like I've made a full recovery. I used to do lots of running and compete in competitions, I can no longer run or do any cardio in fact, because when I do i get ill with really bad colds and viruses. I've had to completely change my lifestyle take vitamins daily, no exercise that raises my heart rate too high, if i have a boozy night out I pay for it bigtime. It really does take over your life and I completely understand your frustrations, with it being invisible to others i've found certain people think i'm lying or that i'm over exaggerating!!
Unfortunately i've not found a way around it as such, as I write this i'm having a "relapse" myself and searching for info and answers, i've been to the doctors on numerous occasions but gave up in the end, they didn't seem to think there was an issue or want to listen to me either!
I find the best way to live with it, is listening to my body, rest when I need to, don't drink too much alcohol too often, eat well, exercise when I feel well, don't exercise when I'm not so good! it's horrible I totally understand where you're coming from it takes me weeks and weeks to get over a virus so I try my hardest to avoid getting poorly. If i succeed i can go long periods of feeling good. it affects my private life, work life all manners of things.
When I got married i took satchets of Lipsimol Vitamin C which is a really high strength Vitamin C that is given to patients with cancer etc, i was really worried i'd be poorly on my wedding day - that helped but it's expensive.
I've followed the conversation in hope that someone can shed some light on the matter for us.
Take Care
craig07920 katie73730
Posted
Hi Katie,
So sorry to hear you've had this awful time over the last 5 years with glandular fever. So many people don't understand how horrible this virus affects you, it has been 12 years since I had the the virus and thankfully have been well the majority of the time, but I definitely feel better now than I did those first few years so there is still hope that as time goes on things do get easier - you're right that you just need to listen to your body and not overdo things or drink much or anything like that.
Hoping for an upturn in your situation, still believing you can get back to full health where you down that these down periods, the more years you go away from the virus the better things can get that is true for sure. I hope that your wedding and everything went well despite these worries about glandular fever.
Take care and hang in there,
Craig