Post Viral Fatigue ? is there life after ? how....

[sarahkeast]

So I am just back from the Dr, another round of bloods ordered and a week off school.

Feel like cr@p still, after 4+ weeks of weird symptoms and no energy. Fortunately a lot of the symptoms are gone [splitting headaches, spots in peripheral vision, racing heart for no reason] but still unable to do any exercise [I usually ran 4-5 miles before school and often climbed or mountain biked after, plus all sorts of weekend silliness] Walking 2 miles was exhausting last weekend.

My diet is good; vegetarian for 25+ years, mostly organic, stress levels are pretty low, life is usually good etc.

Anyone else suffered from this, or got any tales of encouragement ? I have researched it on the 'net and am a bit scared of tales numbering in years, I am still thinking in weeks !

And any suggestions for things to try for remedies etc ? Not a natural supplement taker, but have been having a multi vit etc tablet when I remember, 3-5 a week ? since all this kicked off.

Thanks

[oldjerry]

Sorry to hear you're feeling so crap.Don't take too much notice of what people put on line,I've got Crohn's and to read what some people have written about it I might as well have topped myself 20yrs ago! You've obviously got a massively healthy lifestyle(to be honest,just reading your normal exercise regime left me feeling knackered),people will have better advice,but mine would be to be positive,and ignore the desperatelyill .com sites. Hope you feel better soon(sports day's a pain in the bum anyhow).

[demi]

I had glandular fever when i was younger. i was off school for 2 months, I remember i missed my birthday and christmas because of it. My mum told me recently that they didnt know what was wrong with me and they though it might be lukimia! Thankfully it wasnt, but it took me a long time to recover fully. I was still feeling really drained of energy even after i started back at school.

I think its best just to rest and give your body time to recover. Dont try to do too much if your not ready for it. You already have a healthy lifestyle so i think just some good rest should help you. Go back to your docter for advice if your not improving, maybe there could be some other underlying issue making you feel shitty.

Hope you feel better soon. :)

[boboff]

Have lots of Baths & early nights.

Won't make you feel better but you'll be clean and rested!

Hope you feel better soon.

[Zech]

Accept that it's going to take a while - weeks is probably optimistic, but it might be months rather than years. Don't push yourself too hard. A gradual increase in exercise is the way back to your old levels of fitness. Try to avoid exercising until you feel exhausted, even if that's much less than you feel you "ought" to be able to do. Be gentle with yourself. Don't rest completely but stop exercising when you feel a bit tired. Accept that your body is a bit fragile at the moment and gradually nurse yourself back to health. Good nutrition is obviously important, but I doubt there's a remedy that will offer a quick fix for you. If your diet was lacking something, you'd surely have noticed it at some point in the last 25 years.

I'd like to be able to offer further reading, and the source of this information, but it's years since I went through this. I did do a lot of internet research at the time, though, and this is based on what made most sense at the time.

I know it's hard to accept, but this will be a slow process. If you push yourself too hard you're more likely to have setbacks, so try to come to terms with the situation and allow yourself recovery time. You will get back to where you were

[trinder]

I don't want to sound contrite. But whenever I get Thwarted I try to look for an opportunity to do or learn something else. Something good can come of this, you just don't know what it is yet.
Last time I had a big operation and couldn't ride I discovered the equivolent to self sufficientish in the horse world. Until that time I had been going along with the way to manage horses as directed by BHS and other such respected organisations.
I discovered an underworld of people who quietly went about questioning all the ways that we manage horses and instead asked what would the horse choose if given a choice? Now my horse happily lives in a family group that never alters, none of them wear shoes or rugs , none get shut into stables or get their coat clipped off. None wear restrictive contraption to make them work in the correct "outline" nor tight nosebands to stop them opening their mouths to avoid harsh contact.
I could go on, but hope you get the gist and good luck in whatever you find to inspire you in the short term, until you return to full health.

[Deblah]

I had glandular fever a few years ago, so I hope I have a vague idea of what youre going through - doctors were as usual rubbish and told me 'i might have glandular fever'

Nevertheless I found the best thing was to rest, I know it sounds hard (especially as you usually do so much) but unfortunately your body is telling you it cant cope so listen to it! I literally was awake for about 4/5 hours a day and still felt exhausted, but because I listened to my body and slept when it told me I wanted to, I got better in approx a month (although I did have to take it easier than normal for a couple of months) I must admit the main reason I did rest this much was because of the scare stories that if I didnt, the glandular fever could develop into ME, and I really didnt want that - and Im sure you dont either..

What Im trying to say is that its not all doom and gloom! Take it as a chance to slow down and have some 'me' time, as Trinder said, see if you can discover a new hobby! Really get back in touch with yourself, maybe write down all your aims and ambitions and try and work out ways to achieve them :) after all, it could be fun.

Take care of yourself, and Im sure I speak for everyone when I say 'get well soon'
-x-

[diggernotdreamer]

I had this and got better. I read a book called why ME which was helpful, there may be other books out there now. I cut things out of my diet such as bread and mushrooms as yeasts and fungi apparently cause the body to fight the off these organisms and also sugar as you can have an overgrowth of candida from the bowel and sugar feeds yeasts. You need to sleep when you feel tired and not feel guilty about it, listen to what your body wants I also spent two weeks in Portugal in the good weather which seemed to help a lot. Magnesium is supposed to help with muscle fatigue. I don't think I would have been able to walk 200 yards when I had ME, so a two mile walk is a long way if you ar fatigued. I also suffer with a rare condition which affects my nerves, this is the herpes virus which most people have in their bodies, but instead of getting a cold sore on my mouth, it seems to stay in the ganglion and causes pins and needles and paralysis in my legs. I get about six bouts of this a year and take anti viral drugs now at the first signs. Viruses are weird and cause lots of different symptoms in people. Hope you feel better soon, it is annoying and usually it is the busiest and most motivated people this happens to.

[trinder]

Diggernotdreamer you clearly have a real understanding and having been there your response will surely be of great value to Sarahkeast.
Deblah ( love the name and also loved Gavin and Stacey) thank you for your acknowledgement of my contribution. On a funny but connected note, I recently posted this picture of my cat. I won't bore you all with the actual content but someone genuinely offered that maybe the cat was having a pee in the sink. My reaction was a quiet smile but underneath I questioned "does anyone who owns a cat not know it's posture when having a pee?
Back to Sarahkeast these are the kind of things that fascinate me, how can anyone live with a person or animal and not ever see the world through their eyes ? or at least read simple body language.
I am the lazy tick who walks the dog and knows that it would be better for me if I kept up a good pace and my cardio vascular exercise would benefit so much, but like the post where someone saw two Otters in their garden, you would never see any wild life if you went stomping about at great speed and loud puffing breathing.
Slow down you'll see so much more.http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... ew&id=1971

[the.fee.fairy]

I had the same thing during my GCSEs. Sadly, I did it the wrong way and battled on! I had no choice - it was take the exams or leave it for a year.

Just be convinced that you *will* get better, you will get back to what you were, you just need time to get through it. Rest when you feel tired, be lightly active when you're feeling energetic and don't overdo anything.

Good luck x