Re: Mono / Ebv for the second time -really bad! Anyone else have it more than once?
I am a 43 year old woman and have been diagnosed with mono again. I first got mono the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. I had it bad and was completely in bed except for my weekly trips to the doctor for 2-3 months.
I have not been the same since then.
Then, the past 6 months - a year, I have been very stressed and pushing hard at work and other things. I started getting more and more fatigued. I started having difficulties sleeping, heart racing at times ... I got worse and worse. I also had and still have the terrible brain fog, the dizziness and light headedness, even more extreme fatigue and weakness, loss of appetite, problems eating fatty or greasy foods, memory problems, sore throat, swollen glands, flu-like symptoms, body aches, complete exhaustion ... a few weeks ago, I had blood tests run, and they came back with a diagnosis of chronic/reactivated mono.
Here are my numbers:
EBV Acute Infection Antibodies (EBV Ab VCA, IgM) ... 4 Negative (under 100 is negative.)
EBV Early Antigen (Ag, IgG) .... 134 High (again under 100 is negative)
EBV Ab VCA, IgG .... 3,166 High (under 100 is negative)
EBV Nuclear Antigen Ab, IgG .... 772 High (under 100 is negative)
I am going to try taking Vitamin B. I've also heard taking Vitamin C helps.
I have heard that some people are taking Valtrex or other herpes anti-viral's and say they get better faster and don't have as many reactivations. Has anyone heard anything about this???? Others have also reported taking Famciclovir, Valcyte, Monolaurin??? Some have also reported taking collodal silver and garlic. Anyone with any knowledge of any of those or anyone try any of those???
Wow, it seems to me that the doctors I have seen don't know much about mono/glandular fever/EBV, especially when it is recurrent. Anyone know any clinics, doctors, specialists in this area? Any research in this area???
I am just not getting better, but seem worse even, but I haven't really been resting either. I hate to take off work much, but I may have to.
Re: Mono / Ebv for the second time -really bad! Anyone else have it more than once?
Hi All,
I am a middle-aged woman who's had several bouts of 'mono' like symptoms (high fever, sore throat, extreme fatigue) since last summer. Since my doctor kept dismissing it as a regular mono (spot test was positive) and nothing to worry about, I started researching about it myself. After reading many medical papers onlline. I am suspecting that I have Chronic Active Epstein Barr Virus infection, or CAEBV. Believe it or not, my own doctor refused to run additional tests I wanted so I could confirm or dismiss my suspicion. I'll be seeing another doctor soon.
From what I've read, CAEBV is a relatively newly recognized disease and more cases have been reported in Japan and Korea than the rest of the world. I don't mean to scare anybody here, but it is supposed to be very rare and when children get it, it is often fatal. For severe cases, chemotherapy and bone marrow (stem cell) transplant are used as treatment and the success rate is about 30%.
Here are some criteria for diagnosis of CAEBV:
1. chronic or recurring mono (IM)-like symptoms that last over 3 months;
2. Abnormal EBV antibody level (high VCA IgG and positive EA antibody or EBNA antibody negative);
3. history of sensitivity to mosquito bites (30% of patients);
4. increasing quantity of EBV-DNA in the peripheral blood;
From what I read on the net, I am starting to suspect that CAEBV is much more common than the medical professionals believe. I'll report back when I have my final diagnosis.
Re: Mono / Ebv for the second time -really bad! Anyone else have it more than once?
My son caught it in preschool when he was 4. Once you have it you have it for life...it hides in the body until you have some episode to bring it back to activity. Stress, or some other illness happening in your life. It never goes away. And each episode is pretty much like the the others...extreme tired and very low energy with other things of course. I would be very careful not to spread it to your children or husband and hoping you are not kissing on them when you are active....They told my son is not to share his toothbrush and eating utensils. He gets sick now and then but lives a normal life and is currently in the military.
