New to CFS/PVF

[Frugalnory]

Hi,

Like many others I was relatively active. I regularly played football, went running and biking up hills. Then in October last year I fell ill and ended up off work until very recently. Blood tests confirmed I had Epstein Bar (Glandular Fever) and was now suffering from Post viral Fatigue.

I had most of the symptoms that other people have mentioned, the most serious of which was extreme irrational anxiety. Even a trip down the street was to much to handle, particualrly in the dream like third person state I was perpetually in. So much so that at one very low point I considered causing harm to myself, something that the doctor quickly picked up on and helped me with (Thankfully). I have now returned to work, albeit on temporarily reduced hours.

It is hard to explain to someone quite how bad you actually feel when you look relatively ok physically on the outside. I am continuing to battle both my demons and the illness itself and thankfully have a thoroughly supportive wife and family. However I am keen to talk to others having the same experiences as me which is why I have signed up to the forum.

I am not allowed to call it ME or CFS yet until a specific time period has passed. Until then the condition I have is known as PVF (Post Viral Fatigue). However AFAIK they are one and the same thing?

[Init1972]

Hi There, Welcome to the forum!!

Yes GF seems to be the start for MANY in this forum diagnosed or not!

There is much debate over the name of the condition - mostly it starts off if GF (or another trigger) has persited longer than 2 weeks as Post Viral Fatigue (PVF) and if that continues after 6 weeks then it is classed as Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS) - they then say that after 6 months it becomes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Myalgic Encephalitis (ME) - the medical peeeps in the UK prefer an umbrella term for the entire thing called CFS/ME.

The time scale they use to diagnose is 4 months For Children & Teens and 6 Months for Adults - some GP's/Specialists (YES there are some out there!!) call it earlier so they can get on with trying to treat a patient with CBT, GET etc which works for some and not for others - it can make some worse.

How long have you been ill GF?

We also have a totally private group on Facebook if you are on there https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/107949012612338/ so please do come and join us for chat, jokes (sometimes lol) and if you need to SCREAM somewhere cos no-one is listening to you!!

Les <img src="images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" alt="Big Grin" />
<em>edited by Init1972 on 1/18/2012</em>

[Frugalnory]

Hi, thanks for the wecome. I have been ill since October last year so I still have some symptoms of GF such as sore throat etc. But primarily it is the fatigue that has completely floored me.

Thanks for the link, I'll defintely get signed up to the FB page <img src="images/smilies/smile.gif" border=0 />

[pete]

Hi thanks for the welcome guys.
i became ill in december last year, sore throat & ear ache. thought nothing of it as i`m a keen mountain bike rider, just put it down to the cold weather.
my symptoms cleared up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, then BANG felt awfull, again i thought i had a cold, found it hard to play my bass guitar, my co ordination when playing was way out & couldn`t remember songs.
So off i poped to my gp, & fell asleep as he was talking to me & here i am today.

[Tallypop]

I was a pretty stable person before PVF, now I spend allot of my time worrying, but I think its slows down recovery so I'm trying to think positive, hard though isn't it?

Its such a gradual improvement, but were lucky that recovery is not only possible but likely, oh I got told to go for a jog by a friend, people don't really get PVF, especially when we can look well on the outside.

Take it easy

Tally x