At 28, I was on top of my game. My career was going great guns, I had a jam-packed social life, and thanks to a gruelling training regime, I was the fittest I had ever been.
Illness strikes
I’d cut a 60-hour work week, wake up at 5.45am every day to work out, socialise four to five nights a week, and cram every hour of my weekend with exercise and social activities. I’m not gonna lie, I thought I was pretty perfect.
Only one Sunday morning, after a fairly tame friend’s birthday, I just couldn’t get out of bed. I had the sort of hangover you’d expect from a night on tequila, not just a few wines over dinner. The only relief from a blinding hangover is that you know it can’t last, but the thing about this hangover was that it hung around.
Weeks went by as I crawled between work and bed, exhausted from answering a few emails. The tiniest drop of wine made me violently nauseous, I had constant fevers, severely aching muscles, and headaches so bad I thought I had brain swelling.
From someone with a passion for kettlebell and HIIT workouts, I couldn’t even walk a few metres without feeling like I’d been hit by a truck.
In the dark
I have always been a bit pathetic when it comes to dodging medical appointments and blood tests, but after more than a fortnight of constant headaches, debilitating fatigue and fevers, I caved and went to the doctor. When the first round of tests revealed nothing, doctors reassured me it was simply a viral infection.
Another two weeks went by and there was no improvement. By this point I was taking painkillers three times a day just to function at work. The headache and fever were permanent features, my mouth was full of ulcers, and I was so tired I couldn’t be bothered to eat or cook. Fourteen-hour sleeps did nothing to improve the fatigue.
I pushed for more tests. The result? Glandular fever (otherwise known as infectious mononucleosis). Doctors were stumped – I was more than a decade older than the teenagers who typically catch the virus from pashing and partying, and I didn’t have a sore throat, a symptom considered characteristic of mononucleosis.
But although I may not have been the stereotypical glandular fever patient, turns out I wasn’t in bad company. A quick Google search revealed hundreds of busy, stressed adults who were battling this virus – from Swiss tennis pro Roger Federer to Ali Campbell of UB40.
Taking stock
Reading through the myriad of web pages and chatrooms dedicated to glandular fever, the ages – and symptoms – varied widely. But one thing seemed to be consistent in almost all cases: an overly busy, hectic lifestyle. Years of over-working and over-training strain the body and, over time, can weaken the immune system, leaving adults susceptible to chronic viruses like glandular fever.
The prognosis was good – doctors told me glandular fever symptoms usually disappear within one to two weeks. In reality, it has taken more than four months, and a significant reduction in exercise, social life and working hours to get some semblance of myself back. Four months after being diagnosed, I still experience fevers and headaches almost daily, and an afternoon nap has become an essential part of my daily routine.
My generous employer has allowed me to work flexible hours, enabling me to fit my work around my seemingly insatiable need for sleep. Weight training and Xtend Barre have been replaced with yoga, walking and pilates, and I’ve become very familiar with the takeaway menu from my local Thai, as most nights I’m simply too tired to cook.
For a single person, the significant reduction in my social and dating life has at times been challenging. It’s difficult not to feel like life is passing you by as you watch your friends out having fun and you are stuck in bed for yet another weekend. Illness gets boring very quickly, and I have come to hate being asked if I’m feeling better yet.
Answering no makes you feel like a flake or hypochondriac, particularly as one of the strangest features of glandular fever is that you don’t look unwell. Sneezing, coughing or paleness are tangible evidence of ill-health, but the headaches, fevers and exhaustion of glandular fever are much less visible.
But although the duration and severity of my bout of glandular fever has been tough, at least I know it will eventually pass. There are a large number of people battling chronic health problems that will never disappear, and this experience has taught me to really value my health. It has also taught me to slow my life down, and I have come to realise that downtime is as integral to a full life as work, exercise and socialising.
Ask the experts: Dr Cameron Schauer, GP
Glandular fever is a type of virus called the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is part of the family of herpes viruses. Ninety to 95 per cent of people are exposed to it at some point during childhood.
Many do not develop symptoms, and the virus remains dormant inside the body. The remaining people who are first exposed to the virus as an adolescent or adult are thought to develop a much more vigorous immune response and therefore have worse symptoms.
Symptoms usually begin to improve within one to two weeks, but they can remain for months, even years according to some studies. The majority of people recover completely without any long-term complications.
There is no scientific evidence that glandular fever is becoming more prevalent. There is a high rate of exposure of the virus in children because of the large amount of personal contact between them. There is a suggestion, however, that infection may be occurring later in life with increasing severity. I think it’s possible that our hectic lifestyles prevent faster and fuller recovery.
Ask the experts: Rene Schliebs, Nutritionist and Medical Herbalist ‘Rene Naturally’
Glandular fever is easily spread by kissing, coughing and sneezing. Stress and overloading the body with a poor diet can all reduce the defences and allow the virus to manifest.
It’s so important to listen to our bodies when we are run down. Illness is a way of our bodies telling us to slow down, and if we don’t, it can lead to further complications.
The dietary advice I give to my clients is to start drinking bone broths as these are rich in collagen and amino acids, which are very healing for the digestive system, the powerhouse of the immune system. Digestion is also best supported with fermented probiotic foods like sauerkraut, miso, kefir and yoghurt.
St John’s wort is a specific herb that is used in viral infections and it’s my go-to herb for glandular fever as it’s so restorative. Echinacea and andrographis support the immune system and I often pair them with St John’s Wort for recovery.
For more Kiwi stories, see the November issue of New Zealand Good Health Choices.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
