Treatment post viral fatigue?
The NHS and beyond...
When I first became ill I felt so bad that my gut reaction was to visit A&E at my
local hospital. The did some standard tests but all they could find was my temperature
slightly raised. They suggested that I probably had a virus and that I should visit
my GP.
The same day I managed to get a telephone appointment with my GP, she said absolutely
nothing to worry about, just a virus which was going around at the moment, worse
case scenario it would be gone within a couple of weeks. This put my mind at ease
however I couldn't help wondering if she was right or not.
Two weeks passed and no difference in my symptoms, I phoned the surgery again and
asked for an appointment. This time she said I may have a touch of post viral fatigue
which usually clears up within a month or two. To be safe she arrange blood tests
and a chest x-ray. The blood tests were:
- Full blood count (FBC) - looks at the blood cells (red and white) for abnormalities
- Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) - measures the 'stickiness' of your blood,
if you are ill with virtually any illness the blood becomes more sticky
- Urea and electrolytes (U+E) - Checks your kidney function and the level of various
salts in your body
- Liver Function Test (LFT) - Measures various chemicals associated with liver and
gall bladder disease
- Thyroid Function Test (TFT) - Measures the activity of the thyroid gland
An important point here, all tests normal. It is a known fact that post viral fatigue
is undetectable by any current medical test
Another two months past and a felt my symptoms were getting worse, there were a
couple of occasions when I had almost fainted which was a very frightening experience.
After visiting my GP again she referred me to a general medicine consultant at the
local hospital.
I waited 3 months for an appointment and was then told the day before my appointment
had been cancelled and I had to go back on the waiting list which was currently
2 months. I asked if I could see him privately and got an appointment 2 days later!
I visited him and he gave me a full medical examination, he could find no abnormality
and he wrote back to me GP asking for the standard blood tests to be repeated. While
he could find nothing wrong he felt that I did not have post viral fatigue as the
main symptom of fatigue wasn't present. For this 20 minute consultation I was charged
£170
The standard blood tests were repeated at my GP and again came back all normal,
I visted the consultant again for a follow up appointment. He decided the best thing
to do was to refer me to a neurologist and also send me for an MRI brain scan.
Comments on this page
mark newcastle
3/28/2010 6:47:31 AM
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hi guys i have been to a walk in centre cause i felt like my body was shutting down they did the diabetes test i was fine but for a long time i have felt like this so tired all the time sometimes i can sleep sometimes i cant cause when im hot im very adggitated and cant relax. i sweat a lot at night times i ahve been like this for quite a while finally got my blood tests on tuesday 1st march and im scared guys but im more scared that they wont understand whats going on i need answers. i have looked at thhis web site as the walk in centre said i could be post viral i didnt understand but at least i will find out soon. mark xx
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sam
3/23/2010 3:42:35 PM
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is there anything that can be given to my daughter who seems to have all these symptoms and has done for 8months?
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Gerard Farrell
3/22/2010 9:20:42 AM
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I first got a stomach bug in late January of this year. It seemed to come and go. After going back to work I was hit by the overwhelming fatigue, nausea, stomach problems, spaced out feeling. My doctor merely told me it's post viral syndrome now go back to work and don't be defeatist. I have been back 2 and a half weeks but am off sick again as my energy is gone again. I was making progress but think that full time was too much. Even the works doctor said I was still fatigued, peekey, and had some stomach pain. My own G.P seems to think a pep talk will simply be enough.
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Michele
2/19/2010 11:21:02 AM
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By boyfriend was diagnosed with PVFS about 3 years ago. It has been really difficult since then because for months he would feel horrible, followed by months of feeling normal again and working. This gave us false hope that he was getting better. What has been more difficult is finding practitioners that know enough about PVFS to suggest treatments (other than "waiting for it to pass"). Are there any specialists out there?? It is so frustrating that so many people suffer from PVFS and don't know who to turn to other than their GP.
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d fraser
2/8/2010 6:57:10 PM
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wow it's absolutely astonishing how many of our stories are the same, I can relate to the headaches, the chills, the tremors, fatigue, sleep problems, you name it. I have good days, bad days ...good weeks bad weeks, good moments of a bad day, this thing, can make you lose it. try to stay in control and journal. I am on the fence about the exercise because after 3 days of consistent exercise I usually crash, I am reserving my energy for work, and light house work, and being with my kids. ( i long for the old days, spin classes, drinks with friends, taking the kids out without my husband, cause who knows when the dizziness will pop up. this thing really sucks and there should be some concrete help for this.
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richard forrest
1/29/2010 8:43:42 PM
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have had various viruses latest glandular fever, have been referred to psycologists
as though i was imagining it ,now suggestions of brain scan, medical proffession seem to imply its depression or imagination, blood pressure often very low,pressure in head ,i forget things ,feel really ill ,blood tests say normal, i sat uni paper with temp 102, felt i knew answers but couldnt translate to paper, thought i.d failed but had passed B+ im 26 and feel my life is spoiled ,i have most of the symptoms of post viral syndrome.
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Graham
12/22/2009 6:01:08 PM
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This story seems to be cut off. Was there meant to be more?
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Tim S
12/10/2009 6:28:42 PM
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Jo... your story is heart breaking. Mostly because I have been right there with the same kind of thing. I am 23 and first got my CFS/PVF three years ago. I got 90% better as well then, but with a bout of H1N1 and a very stress filled first year of teaching I have relapsed. I am on the upswing after 5 weeks but it is tough. I also find exercise to be helpful but also have the tendency to push myself to hard. I'd like to pass on some advice my MD gave me: START EXERCISE SLOW, DO 80% OF WHAT YOUR BODY CAN HANDLE. Do not push your body too hard or it will just deplete itself again. Take care and God bless. -Tim S
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Jason Shiers
12/3/2009 3:06:39 PM
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Hi all have just been diognosed with PVFS,i hadent been feeling well at all recentley and have had numoures blood test.
My initial reaction was ive never heard of this.
After doing some reading on the net its nice to know im not alone.
I was in work today and had a really bad dizzy spell followed by breathlesness has any one else had any thing like this?.
Also would like to add that people are very suspect towards me over this illness allmost like they dont believe me.
Oh well what do they know im sure its going to be a long road to recovery but i will bounce back one day.
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louise
11/11/2009 2:20:18 PM
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Hi i am 30 years old and have been diagnosed with CF. It started last xmas time felling really dizzy, exhausted and severly bad headaches. I put up with this as i thought it was just the stree of home and work getting to me. However it carried on into the new year, it started to affect my job. I felt lonley because nobody understood how i felt and found it difficult to explain. I just kept going back to the doctors they did blood tests and told me it was a virus and stress. Why does everything get blamed on stess or a virus theses days? I ended up blacking out and nearly collapsing after exercise one day, I had really bad palpatations and felt really strange. The doctors just looked at me and my partner like we were aliens when i described what had happened. This got worse i ended up in bed for months, it had taken over my life. I have two children who i couldnt look after thank goodness my partner was there for us. I felt as thoughi was going round the bend. Then finally breakthrough my partner really stressed to the doc that i was getting worse and wanted something done. I got taken into a nurse practitioners ward and was diagnosed with CFS. Finally i wasn't mad there was something wtrong. I was really fit and healthy previously. I used to fell walk a lot even climbed Snowdon and wanted to climb Ben Nevis for my 30th but never did as this illness took over me. I am getting better if i pace myself and i am back at work but not full time. I Still have really bad days/weeks even but i am determined this isnt going to defeat me even though i feel like giving in at times. I have an appointment with a CFS clinic next week. See how it goes.
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Jo
10/15/2009 10:02:18 AM
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I first started with what I now call chronic fatigue syndrome 4 years ago and I feel compelled to write here to give you all hope. You can recover and I did, it took me 2 years to be able to do all the activities I could before my illness. I dont want to give you false hope as I never reached 100% of my prior health but maybe 90% and that is such an achievement....im sure if you are reading this you would give anything to even reach 90% of previous health! It is a battle and you should never give up, you must set yourself a plan of exercise and make sure you do it. As you know fatigue doesnt go with rest I found that if I slowly did a little more then over the months/years I could do more. It is a slow recovery and at times you want to give in but I managed it I pushed myself to do swimming, walking, yoga and cycling (please I hope you all understand this took years not days and you have to do it very slowly building on a few minutes at the beginning) I am telling my story for 2 reasons the first is because I read on here that so many of you have been off work for months I firmly believe and have proven that some work is good for you and you must push yourself and if you stay sat at home you are giving into this disease and you wont get better. The second reason is quite sad, like I said I recovered to 90% of my original levels and even managed to go skiing last season however I pushed myself too hard and have relapsed right back to square 1. Like you right now I can not move from my sofa and can not make it into work, can not even walk to get to work! However my first step now is to put together a plan to build myself up slowly....i just hope it doesnt take another 2 years!! Im 29 and have already given most of the best years of my life to this illness.....let the battle begin!!
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jonny b
10/8/2009 8:58:49 PM
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Its an awful thing to get, you never feel quite right energy and concenration levels are always up and down its hard to predict how your gonna feel from day to day. Ive had it for months now and just want it to end proper sucks!!
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richard grant
8/7/2009 4:11:01 PM
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I have been off work since March 4th When I was at work I went faint had chest pains , boiling hot Legs ache,headach and was very tired . I had 8 weeks off 3 weeks later back on the sick Same problems. Went back to work feeling ok but 2 weeks later some again Always got a bad headache Feels like fireworks in my head And always tired been 5 months now Work doctor said it might be post viril fatigue Which could last months I have seen doctors many times but still feel the same. Had personal problems as well So now they calling it stress
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