A "nasty strain" of Glandular Fever - General Health Message Board

felixcat · 11-12-2008, 06:07 AM

I've come to this site in dispair and lonliness to be honest. I am 16 years old and have been diagnosed with a nasty strain of glandular fever, it may not sound like much but I feel so lost and hate being left at home all day.
I am in my third week off school and it is likely I will not beable to go back for sometime, I have A level exams in January.
I just wondered if anyone had any stories on how they coped with Glandular fever, how long they were off collage/work.
I am lucky in that my Glans havn't swelled up, I have sore throat, headache and extreme fatigue.

bethsheba · 11-12-2008, 11:54 AM

Felix,

I am so very sorry about how very sick you are...but because you are posting from the UK, because you are young, and because of your symptoms, I am going to suggest the possiblity that you may have something else. The symptoms you describe are often some of the first symptoms people experience when they have Lyme Disease. Based on my two years of reading, many, many posts coming out of the UK have similar themes...and yes, Lyme is in the UK...they've found it in the parks in London so I would suspect it may be very common over there.

I would encourage you to do some serious reading on the Lyme Boards. IF you have Lyme, you can be treated with special antibiotics and many/all of your symptoms will go away and your condition won't get worse.

If it is indeed Lyme, and you do not get treatment, your condition could get very serious...so again, do some reading on those Lyme Boards!!

And last but not least, very special doctors are needed to diagnose this condition as the tests are very unreliable...so don't assume your doctor has ruled everything out!! They just don't have good tools to do so.

Good luck, sweetheart!

Bethsheba

aether4 · 11-12-2008, 03:50 PM

bethsheba - I know you mean well. But if the person was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus it was likely through a test checking to see if the virus was active. This is what it does to someone when it's in a chronic active phase.

felixcat - Have your doctors considered the chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis since the fatigue has lasted so long? Epstein-Barr is considered a likely trigger/cause for this. There are some CFS (I think it's called ME -myalgic encephalomyelitis over there) treatments that are being tried now that could possibly help.

bethsheba · 11-12-2008, 04:34 PM

Hello aether,

I am very aware of what you are saying about EB as I have/had it...and I am aware of the complications as was hospitalized once as a result of those very complications. And I want to say that I appreciate the information that you shared about it!

There are many conditions that cause the above symptoms and EB is only one of those conditions. Lyme is another. And others who post will mention more...it is not practical/possible/wise for one person to mention every possibility. That is why others can and should post as everyone's experience and knowledge is of value and as I have often said, time and time again, "no one has all of the answers". This board is effective because it has the potential for the exchange of many opinions, many experiences, many analyses, many thoughts. The value of this board is synergy...the information amassed here is of more value in total, than it is piece by informational piece.

Given the number of posts coming out of the UK with similar symptoms/concerns, and given the fact that other posters will offer their own insights/experiences/thoughts, I felt that it was important to mention Lyme because if left undiagnosed and untreated, symptoms can compound, diagnosis can become more difficult, and treatment can be challenging. If the symptoms don't abate, best to rule it out/in right from the beginning. My opinion,

.

Bethsheba