First post here, and an immediate cry for help!
(Ok that’s me overreacting).
Long story short, 2 weeks ago I was diagnosed with EBV, and besides its funny nickname (the kissing disease), I’ve sadly come to realise it’s more serious and a longer healing progress then what I would have thought it would be.
Little bit about me for a quick intro: Women elite cyclist road, train about 10-16hours a week whilst working.
The symptoms itself have been ok-ish, besides the first week of fever and flu like symptoms. I’ve been reasonably ok. What’s left now is me
Being a bit more tired than what i’m used to, and my throat feeling like it’s being stabbed.
According to the doctor it’s been in my system for a couple of weeks, but it was at its “peak” when I consulted her. (At least i’m peaking this season😂).
I’ve been off training since the first of Jan and was advised by my sports doctor to lay off until the end of the month!
Now to the question, who else has experienced this? Any tips? Supplements? How long did it stayed in your system?
I know it’s different from everyone, but every bit of help is welcome.
I had it in high school and I was pretty run down for about 3 months. I would randomly fall asleep in class, didn’t really leave the house on weekends except to go to work, etc. I was also playing tennis during this time and my performance suffered a lot.
After that point, it probably took another 6 months to go from 85% to feeling 100% again.
I’d recommend listening to the doctor and just resting during this time.
Different people have different experiences, When I was at university I caught it and was bed bound for 6 weeks, then it took me a long time to come right, whereas a friend of mine had a week off work and was fine again… go figure!
I’ve had it (around age 17). It’s also called “Mono” in the US, and “Glandular Fever” here in Australia.
I’m 38 now and I’m sure it still contributes to added fatigue when I get run down and sick. Took about 12 months to get over to the point I could resume normal exercise and activities.
Best advice - don’t overdo it. Listen to your body very acutely. It can turn into chronic fatigue if you’re not careful.
Suffered with lethargy and chronic fatigue for months after a virus. Went to the GP, ran bloods, etc. etc. and the only thing that showed up was the EBV marker. She suggested Glutamine to treat, claimed she tells “all her patients”, blah, blah.
So yep, 1 week later (continuing to train through) it had already worked, was bouncing up the walls and full of energy. So my n=1 study says this is a winner. Even if it is a placebo, I’m carrying a full distance training load now without hassle. Just went with the Musashi brand, 1 teaspoon with water in the morning.
There was a word of caution, apparently as this plays a part in cellular regeneration, if there are any cancer signs (blood in stool, etc.) stop taking immediately. Other than that, give it a shot - only have $20 to lose!
Do some research on Monolaurin. Some studies have shown promising antibacterial and antiviral properties and it has specifically been tested in laboratory settings for usage against EBV, amongst many other viruses and bacteria.
I also went through a bout (8+ years) of chronic fatigue syndrome. In about 40% of cases, childhood viruses like EBV and roseola can re-activate. Doc put me on an antiviral (for 13 months), and supplemented with Inosine (at 1500mg I think); also did glutathione
Hi, I would like to share my symptoms… i got it almost 6 months back… still suffering…
major symptoms i faced are Body pain and that too sharp pain all over the body… mainly shoulder, back of the body, collar bone area… also sharp pain over throat area (not sore throat… i never had it), tongue sores - this really scared me. it comes and goes. initially tongue got whitish… later it got better, but followed by mouth sores. also couple of times tounge was swollen… the other issue was underarm bumps (lymph nodes and pimples) and also painful lymph nodes under the chin… still i am suffering… either of these issues keeps on coming and disappearing… initially i did all the test and all results were perfect… i googled and learned about this virus… then i went for ebv and Cytomegalovirus test and got +ive for ebv…
i learned that it manifest differently on individuals… to be honest i am really scared…
I had the 2 most awful months of my live going through it. Because besides the physical pain, the self isolation gets you down as well.
However, i’m hoping I’ve got some good news for you.
Because I’ve been back training for 7 weeks now, and literally feel myself getting stronger. It’s like this 20kg weight that fell of me. My lymph nodes still get a bit swollen if there’s something ringing inside, but it’s a warning sign and I act up on it. I take extra REST.
What worked for me (and may not work for you, but worth a try: eliminated everything bad from my diet. No sugars, no unhealthy fats. Just veg, protein and some Carbs.
Supplements I took and still take are: Glutamine, probiotica, vit d, vit c, folic acid and b12(helps with the tiredness).
And I got a Whoop device, which helps me a lot with recovery and fitness.
Keep your head up, listen to your body. Worse days might come. But it’s a momentarily thing. You will get better and fitter than before. Trust me.
all these months i was only googling symptoms and complications of EBV and never thought of checking any forums discussing this issue. today i had a thought of it and searched for forums discussing this topic… and honestly today i felt a lot better. because today after reading others experiences i got that belief that this too will pass and i will recover…
Thank you for your concern, I had symptoms of EBV infection later May this year and it lasted only for one week , I recovered 100%.
Unfortunately similar and worse symptoms started 5months later after I went through severe stress and has persisted for a month now.
My current symptoms include persistent fatigue, myalgia and axillary lymphadenopathy.
Full blood count always show persistent lymphocytosis.
I am scared I may be having an aggressive formy of EBV infection.
Any suggestions and advice will be highly appreciated
Dennis
So I had covid earlier this year and it reactivated EBV. So a double whammy. It took me from early Jun when I was sick to November until i really started to feel good again. Like you i felt like I would never feel normal again.
My body couldn’t handle more than 30 minutes at a recovery pace on the bike. So I just took it really really slow for months, the only exercise I did was 30 minutes of riding at recovery pace or walking. I then added on a bit of body movement stuff. In October I was able to MTB again very slowly, but man did i feel to get out again. Finally, in November I feel like myself again and I’m starting to interval train again.
Just know that there is light at the end of the tunnel even if it doesn’t feel like it now.
My markers run consistently high and I can tell you that sleep and rest are the most important.
I’ve done every supplement, vitamin, holistic approach and diet under the sun. Eliminated eggs and other foods that are “triggers”.
The ONLY thing that works is never exhausting yourself beyond what you feel you can do. So ramping or increasing workouts has to be done extremely slowly and with minimal increases. Trust me b/c I didn’t do that and have been learning the hard way.
Now after getting COVID in early December and have been recovering from that, I’m truly going to be rebuilding myself from the ground up. I’m only doing short walks around the neighborhood and yoga right now.
There’s light at the end of the tunnel, I’ve seen it but wasn’t smart about continuing to listen to my body once I started feeling better.
Wow this is really interesting. I was diagnosed with EBV about 5 years ago after going to.the doctor to ask about persistent fatigue at work. I never had the full on symptoms I just kinda hit a wall at 3pm every day. About a month later my follow-up test came back with antibodies meaning that I was recovering but from then on everytime I’ve had a cold I have a repeat of about 4 or 5 days of fatigue after I lose the cold symptoms. A doctor told me that it might be EBV but this is the first time outside that consultation that I’ve heard anyone share similar experiences…
Because we’ve been in lockdown of some form or another here in London for almost a year I haven’t had a cold or a real relapse for ages…I hope it helps in the long term…
Hey, ive read a book called medical medium by Anthony Williams. In short food that cause and aggravate EBV are:
Eggs ( the worst)
Pork
Wheat
Corn
Shellfish
That’s why very healthy people also get it. It’s so in many different strains like HPV, and he says that ober 90 percent of cancers (not what you habe- the kissing diesese or Mono) are caused by the virus. Hence why healthy people get sick young.
He suggests doing a cleanse which diesnt involve not eating, jist eating the right food and taking herbs and celery juice plus more juices as part of a lifestyle to rid the body kf the ebv.
