Glandular Fever anyone?

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merlin6014
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Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby merlin6014 » Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:44 pm

Anyone had this? After spending a week in bed and then 2 weeks of generally feeling crap I finally went and had a blood test which confirmed Glandular Fever (I'm in my early thirties btw).

So I haven't been able to get on the bike or lift weights for 3 weeks now and I'm going crazy (normally exercise almost every day).

Doc said it can take up to 2 years to get better! though more realistically a few months from what I have been reading.

Obviously this sux, I worked so hard with training to get my riding to where it is and I'm basically going to lose all my fitness and muscle mass and be a total noob again. I tried a ride on the turbo trainer the other day then spent 2 days in bed as a consequence...

Anyway needed to get that off my chest and wondering how long it took others to get back on the bike?
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familyguy
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby familyguy » Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:09 pm

I wasn't riding much at the time I had it (I think I was 19), but I was playing basketball twice a week and training once a week. I didn't play at all for something like 5 weeks, and didn't play at full capacity until probably 14-16 weeks after being diagnosed via blood test. It can really knock you around.

Apparently you can be contagious for up to twelve months after you've had symptoms :shock:

Jim

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elantra
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby elantra » Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:33 pm

merlin6014 wrote:Anyone had this? After spending a week in bed and then 2 weeks of generally feeling crap I finally went and had a blood test which confirmed Glandular Fever (I'm in my early thirties btw).

So I haven't been able to get on the bike or lift weights for 3 weeks now and I'm going crazy (normally exercise almost every day).

Doc said it can take up to 2 years to get better! though more realistically a few months from what I have been reading.
Have you had a sore throat ?

The chances of anyone getting acute glandular fever in their early thirties is low.
Look it up on Wikipaedia, it is the KISSING DISEASE.

As familyguy reports, it is typically contracted in your teenage years.

You should also note that THE BLOOD TEST CAN STAY POSITIVE FOR LIFE.

Where i work i see a lot of glandular fever and most cases are well and truly recovered in less than 2 months.

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winstonw
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby winstonw » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:05 pm

don't push it. there's a lot unknown about how Chronic Fatigue Syndrome develops from viral illnesses.....and CFS is something you don't want to get. It can hang around for decades, and totally shatter your meaning of life. CFS tends to hit driven people, who push the limits.

merlin6014
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby merlin6014 » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:48 pm

elantra wrote:
merlin6014 wrote:Anyone had this? After spending a week in bed and then 2 weeks of generally feeling crap I finally went and had a blood test which confirmed Glandular Fever (I'm in my early thirties btw).

So I haven't been able to get on the bike or lift weights for 3 weeks now and I'm going crazy (normally exercise almost every day).

Doc said it can take up to 2 years to get better! though more realistically a few months from what I have been reading.
Have you had a sore throat ?

The chances of anyone getting acute glandular fever in their early thirties is low.
Look it up on Wikipaedia, it is the KISSING DISEASE.

As familyguy reports, it is typically contracted in your teenage years.

You should also note that THE BLOOD TEST CAN STAY POSITIVE FOR LIFE.

Where i work i see a lot of glandular fever and most cases are well and truly recovered in less than 2 months.
Yes i tested positive to both IgG and IgM meaning acute gf infection 100 percent unfortunately. My liver results are also off the charts. Actually i am kind of happy in a way. Its better knowing what your dealing with than going undiagnosed and worrying about what it could be.
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merlin6014
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby merlin6014 » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:49 pm

winstonw wrote:don't push it. there's a lot unknown about how Chronic Fatigue Syndrome develops from viral illnesses.....and CFS is something you don't want to get. It can hang around for decades, and totally shatter your meaning of life. CFS tends to hit driven people, who push the limits.
Yeah CFS is really scary stuff, i do worry about that, hope i can get on the mend soon and not let it get to that.
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby moosterbounce » Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:00 pm

I remember having this years ago and I was acute and nasty!! Throat was so bad I could barely eat baby food. I ate very little for 10 days, then my throat started clearing up and I was able to start putting back on the weight I'd lost. After that it was building up to a normal life. Exercise was out as just walking to the letterbox was exhausting initially. Once I started gaining my strength back, I improved quickly. I was diagnosed in January and resumed hockey in feb/march for pre season training.

If you take time off now and rest properly, you'll be able to start rebuilding sooner. Take 2 weeks completely off, then try a light trainer session. You'll know pretty quickly if you are doing too much. I say 2 weeks off, but that's just my experience, and I'm not a doctor, but if you are as ad as I was with my throat, 2 weeks won't be long enough. (by "bad throat" I mean scrambled egg looking disease ridden tonsils - took me months to look at scrambled eggs as tasty food :( ).

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby gabrielle260 » Sat Mar 16, 2013 4:01 pm

Good luck Merlin!
I got glandular at 28 and it took me a full year to get rid of. Initially when i was diagnosed, there was talk of hospitalising me as i was so bad.
I also had a good friend get CFS and it completely changed her life. She was a cyclist and triathlete who was a partner in a vet practice. She had to give all of that up.
As others have said, don't push it... Listen to your body and be quite conservative as trying to speed up your recovery can backfire badly.
Andrew

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby merlin6014 » Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:21 am

moosterbounce wrote:
If you take time off now and rest properly, you'll be able to start rebuilding sooner. Take 2 weeks completely off, then try a light trainer session. You'll know pretty quickly if you are doing too much. I say 2 weeks off, but that's just my experience, and I'm not a doctor, but if you are as ad as I was with my throat, 2 weeks won't be long enough. (by "bad throat" I mean scrambled egg looking disease ridden tonsils - took me months to look at scrambled eggs as tasty food :( ).
Yeah just trying to rest/sleep at the moment and recover. 4 weeks off now and getting real bored at the lack of exercise (still working full time though ) but might try a light session this week after work.
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby merlin6014 » Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:27 am

gabrielle260 wrote:Good luck Merlin!
I got glandular at 28 and it took me a full year to get rid of.
Wow a year - pretty bad! Surprised the potential impact of GF isn't more known about seeing its apparently very common though admittedly not for people over 25. Doc told me there is no treatment but rest but I was reading about a anti viral drug (valacyclovir) on the net that has shown success in fighting it and speeding up recovery so going to ask my doctor about that on Monday (Not sure how well that conversation will go down..."hey doc the internet told me your wrong...")
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby sogood » Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:58 am

merlin6014 wrote:Wow a year - pretty bad! Surprised the potential impact of GF isn't more known about seeing its apparently very common though admittedly not for people over 25. Doc told me there is no treatment but rest but I was reading about a anti viral drug (valacyclovir) on the net that has shown success in fighting it and speeding up recovery so going to ask my doctor about that on Monday (Not sure how well that conversation will go down..."hey doc the internet told me your wrong...")
There indeed are many wild and pseudo claims on the Internet. The criteria of any good doctor is to do no harm and not accept any easy claim without good reference under strict criteria. Further, all drug therapies carry adverse reaction risks and cost. As such, advice and decision on commencement of a therapy is not a simple case of reading a positive research report. Choose wisely.
Bianchi, Ridley, Tern, Montague and All things Apple :)
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.

Venus62
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby Venus62 » Sun Mar 17, 2013 1:45 pm

It's also not currently licensed under the PBS for treating glandular fever, so unless you or your doctor want to pretend you have herpes simplex, shingles, or HIV, you won't be eligible.

moosterbounce
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby moosterbounce » Sun Mar 17, 2013 2:21 pm

Thanks to Wikipedia:

"The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), also called human herpesvirus 4 (HHV-4), is a virus of the herpes family, and is one of the most common viruses in humans. It is best known as the cause of infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever). "

Michael Rogers was diagnosed with this a couple of years ago and it took him about 12 months to recover and be able to race again.

Also, don't underestimate the power of a simple walk to assist recovery and strength building. It mug be worth including a walk in your day as nice slow exercise. Just don't overdo it Merlin.

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matagi
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby matagi » Sun Mar 17, 2013 2:54 pm

Venus62 wrote:It's also not currently licensed under the PBS for treating glandular fever, so unless you or your doctor want to pretend you have herpes simplex, shingles, or HIV, you won't be eligible.
It also requires an authority to prescribe and I doubt any doctor would lie to the PBS in order to prescribe it - assuming merlin6014 only wants to pay the PBS price that is.

As far as I am aware, it can be prescribed as a private prescription as long as the individual is prepared to pay the full price of the drug.

And unfortunately, antivirals are only of benefit in treating oral hairy leukoplakia - which is associated with Epstein Barr Virus infection. Antivirals can also reduce viral shedding but do nothing for the clinical course of the condition itself.

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby AndyTheMan » Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:42 am

I had glandular fever when I was about 19.

I reckon before I got it that I was probably the fittest and strongest I had ever been in my life. I didn't drink (was on other medication which prevented me from drinking ) and was eating well, exercising a bit etc. So I fell ill whilst being super fit.... which I thought would give me a decent chance of getting over it quickly...

How wrong I was

It took me a good 3 or 4 months of recovery (maybe even longer) - literally had no energy to do anything. I was sleeping an immense amount of time - I watched a lot of Oprah and Days of Our Lives and literally lived either in bed, or on the lounge for months on end!!

It seriously knocked me about and I recall at one stage I was sleeping for something like 20 hours a day.

My advice would be to REST and DO NOT RUSH recovery. Eat well, drink lots of fluids, take multi-vitamins, get youreslf some sun, sit around and wait to get better.

Don't make the mistake of thinking you feel OK and then going for a run.....

I made the mistake of thinking i was 'better' about 8 weeks in. I felt OK, and went on a bus trip with some friends to see a play (it was a shakespeare thing somewhere in Sydney, but I can't recall where). I lasted that one day of feeling OK then went back to another month in bed....

It seriously knocked me about like nothing else.

The doctor told me that once you have it, you can have re-lapses. He particularly noted that if you have the flu, or you are very tired/worn out etc, that glandular fever can flare up again.

I'm mid 30's and I've never had any relapse, despite having other illnesses along the way as well as periods where I am really tired/worn out from sporting events etc.

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby im_no_pro » Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:52 am

AndyTheMan wrote:I had glandular fever when I was about 19.

I reckon before I got it that I was probably the fittest and strongest I had ever been in my life. I didn't drink (was on other medication which prevented me from drinking ) and was eating well, exercising a bit etc. So I fell ill whilst being super fit.... which I thought would give me a decent chance of getting over it quickly...

How wrong I was

It took me a good 3 or 4 months of recovery (maybe even longer) - literally had no energy to do anything. I was sleeping an immense amount of time - I watched a lot of Oprah and Days of Our Lives and literally lived either in bed, or on the lounge for months on end!!

It seriously knocked me about and I recall at one stage I was sleeping for something like 20 hours a day.

My advice would be to REST and DO NOT RUSH recovery. Eat well, drink lots of fluids, take multi-vitamins, get youreslf some sun, sit around and wait to get better.

Don't make the mistake of thinking you feel OK and then going for a run.....

I made the mistake of thinking i was 'better' about 8 weeks in. I felt OK, and went on a bus trip with some friends to see a play (it was a shakespeare thing somewhere in Sydney, but I can't recall where). I lasted that one day of feeling OK then went back to another month in bed....

It seriously knocked me about like nothing else.

The doctor told me that once you have it, you can have re-lapses. He particularly noted that if you have the flu, or you are very tired/worn out etc, that glandular fever can flare up again.

I'm mid 30's and I've never had any relapse, despite having other illnesses along the way as well as periods where I am really tired/worn out from sporting events etc.
+1. Had it when I was 14, missed an entire term of school. 17 odd years later I still have times when I get fairly tired fairly easily but have never had a full relapse. Above all else, the golden rule has to be take it easy & try not too push yourself too hard too early as tempting as it may be.

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby winstonw » Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:59 pm

BTW, there's a recently new physiological marker being used to identify when an athlete is overtraining, and risking weakened immune response.
It's called heart rate variability, and to my knowledge it's an earlier indicator than reduced performance and elevated cortisol.

A measure like this would be great for shift workers, or stressed workers of any description, let alone athletes.
I think there's lots of fit recreational athletes, who are only marginally avoiding compromised health.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate_variability" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby JD the Viking » Sat Mar 23, 2013 6:30 pm

I was diagnosed with GF this time last year. I have only just started to feel as though my body is resembling any kind of normality again. I wasn't overly ill with flu like symptoms but lethargy and head spins derailed me. I then started to struggle mentally as I would get frustrated about not beng able to do things with mates, and found social outings too much. My GP told me my liver levels were throu the roof, and all my glans were up.

I'm now 25 years old, and 24 was a complete write off for me.. I'd work but then come home straight to bed to try and recover for the next day to do it all again.

Before I got it I was superfit playing AFL at a reasonable level and cycling around 500kms a week, running 3kms in 10 mins... I now run 3km in 13 minutes. My fitness is zero, and have to start from scratch again.

Be wary of mental demons which are associated with it. I struggled mentally sometimes (aswell as physically) but feel as though I am a better person for it. There ar always people that have it much worse than you...

Advice would be not to push yourself. Rest and relax and maintain a healthy diet. I did no alcohol for the majority of the year.

I'm fine now and back on the beers and bike again. If you have any questions feel free to hit me up.

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby mick243 » Sat Mar 23, 2013 8:53 pm

I had it when I was 16 - ended up in and out (mostly in) of hospital for the best part of 3 months - and I agree with JD, I didnt "feel" particularly unwell, I just kept having massive head spins and blackouts. took another 6 months or so to fully recover.

then when I was in my mid 30's I ended up with ross river - you dont want that either the nearly killed me, gave me a severe bleeding disorder, took a year to recover.....

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby London Boy » Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:01 pm

winstonw wrote:don't push it. there's a lot unknown about how Chronic Fatigue Syndrome develops from viral illnesses.....and CFS is something you don't want to get. It can hang around for decades, and totally shatter your meaning of life. CFS tends to hit driven people, who push the limits.
This.

Except CFS is not the only complication.

I know someone who was 16 years old, got glandular fever. A rare complication is transverse myelitis, which she of course suffered. She is still in a wheelchair 35 years later. She is an extreme case, most people who suffer TM get most sensation and motor control back. But don't push it. Do whatever the doc says.

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby BianchiCam » Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:15 pm

Interesting topic as my wife is suffering from GF right now.
She is 39 had been quite fit and on the go as we have 3 kids 9,4 and two.
Beginning of the month she started feeling achy and had a sore throat, headache.
Off to the doctors on the Monday. Suggested it was tonsillitis which she is susceptible to. Antibiotics advised and rest.
By Weds the headache was so bad she called herself an ambulance! This is a lady that had 3 kids with no pain relief so it must have been something painful.

Anyway fast forward.
2 days in casualty
2 weeks in acute Med Unit
Lumber puncture, neurologist examinations.

Works out she not only had or has, meningitis, ultra high liver levels (with possibility of failure at one stage)
GFever, oral thrush.

Her discharge papers look like a dam phone book!
She is getting blood test twice a week and could sideline her for 6 months or more!

Is home now but is in bed a lot. Up for a few hours, then tired but the headache stops her sleeping properly.

The thing is, it's viral so as someone mentioned earlier here is little you can take to rid yourself of the illness. Such a pita!
Luckily my work has been great and I have been off most of March. Getting help from my mum for April but who knows how things will be after that?

Some days she says she has more energy and does stuff around the house, other days she is just a wreck and gets too tired and lightheaded.
It's a sucky illeness and I've no idea how some of the other members managed to work as well. Having said that she has had the full Monty of extras included at no extra charge!

Cam

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby newie » Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:51 pm

A few too many horror stories here - so in the aim of providing a bit of balance....

When I was 16, after a few weeks of my mum insisting there was something wrong with me and I needed to go to the doctor, and me insisting I was fine and didn't need to, mum won the battle and a blood test found glandular fever. A week or so off school and a few weeks off netball and taking it easy, and I was back to normal. No long term consequences. Apart from the humilation of having to inform a couple of boys I had pashed at parties. :oops:

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby tubby74 » Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:34 pm

I got this whilst I was 25 and in otherwise very good health, it knocked me about for about a month but was certainly not the very long recovery that many experience.
First showed up on long flight, went to first day's work and was not well. Then was basically in the hotel for 10 days before they decided it wasn't going to get better and I went home. 2 more weeks at home before returning to work, then decent recovery after that.

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matagi
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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby matagi » Sat Mar 30, 2013 4:45 pm

I got it in my mid-20s and was out of action for about a fortnight.

My husband on the other hand, had it at the age of 16 and missed an entire term of high school.

It really is a variable condition, but the best advise is to take it easy and rest, for however long it takes to recover.

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Re: Glandular Fever anyone?

Postby casual_cyclist » Fri Jul 12, 2013 3:49 pm

Any updates on this merlin? I had glandular fever or cytomegalovirus (cmv) a couple of years ago, followed by post-viral fatigue. Besides feeling tired all the time and just wanting to sleep, I found this really affected my capcity to exercise. I had to start at a basically zero base and build up very slowly in terms of returning to exercise. I found if I did too much I would spend the next day or two in bed recovering. I hope you are ok and it doesn't get that bad for you.
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