Glandular fever! Who as had it???

[pinkpiglet]

I'm intrigued to figure out wether having quite severe glandular fever in my late teens could play in part in the reason for my anxiety or low moods.

Aged 18 I was diagnosed with glandular fever following months of tests. I had been experiencing dizziness and headaches and eventually I started passing out all the time. I had severe pain in my neck and head and more significant than anything else I was contantly drained and exhausted. It was only when I began to black out and experience pains in my left rib area did I get tested for glandular fever, but even then there was a blunder with my test results and it was another month or so before I was finally diasgnosed. I had to have constant bed rest and was off college for 4 months. Infact all I seemed to do in this time was sleep and I cant remember much else. I recall a nurse saying that I was lucky my spleen didnt rupture and was told that I would almost certainly have lasting damage to my spleen (although i dont know why, or what the spleens purpose is, apart from to do with blood).
Fast forward 16 years and all I have ever experienced since then is fatigue, bouts of anxiety, low moods, lack of lustre etc etc etc.
My mum blames all this on the Glandular fever, insisting that before GF I was a different person, full of life, energy and vitality. I agree that I have never really returned to this state since then and it as made me a weaker person. I tend to agree with her but just wondered wether there is a link with glandular fever and anxiety and can it life long lasting affects??

How many of you have had it (or family/friends) and how as it affected you???

[Emira7]

Hi there

I had glandular fever when I was about 15 years old, it really disrupted me, I could not manage school, and when I did go back could only do 1/2 days. it was hateful.

its an interesting point your Mum makes about the long term affects. Glandular Fever does seem to have an air of mystery surrounding it as well doesn't it.

x

[smudger]

Wow you u had it much worse than I did. I just remeber crash dieting eating 650 calories a day when I was 17, then pow, gf hit me coz my immunity was low due to lack of food n nutrition! I kept falling to sleep in class n having repeated sore throats. Went to docs 3 times with sore throats n tiredness b4 they decided to test my blood, by which stage I got over it! Hard to prove whether it caused my depression or not. Interesting thought though!

[amandathepanda]

My daughter had glandular fever at 16, and has never been the same since. She seems to catch every virus going, and is nowhere near as active as she was before it. She is now 19 and is convinced it was having glandular fever that has made her feel like this.

[Jo3016]

I had GF when I was 19 and at University. Was really poorly for about 2 weeks with symptoms and then drained for about 3 months after that. I am 38 now, and ever since then, I always get swollen glands and a sore throat if I ever get run down or get a cold. It certainly stays in your system and is known to cause long term affects especially if you got it badly originally.

[annethelma1942]

I had gf really badly when I was 21(Now 67). It took about 2 years to properly recover but have had no lasting effects apart from a neck gland that never went down properly.
You can feel ill and weak for months after this illness.Just look afteryourself well by eating properly and getting enough rest and you should reover completely with time.
Hope you soon feel much better Anne

[Route]

Hi,

I'm 18 and I caught glandular fever about nine months ago, and my life has been awful since. Glandular fever is the reason I developed panic attacks, because I was always so worried about how glandular fever was affecting me. At first I could hardly get out of my bed, but now I just constantly feel tired and grumpy. I can't physically and mentally do what I could do before I contracted it as everyday I feel unwell, and the number of times I have panic attacks have just increased.

I'm hoping that glandular fever will disappear soon but I'm not so sure of my prospects :( x

[saz2121]

I had Glandular fever when i was as young as 9. And looking back, my anxiety started right there. I was off school for 6 weeks and since then, i'm now 24, i have been plagued with fear, health anxiety, tiredness etc. I believe the bad experience has mouled us somewhat.

It seems every time i become ill, my anxiety starts or rather, gets worse....

Thing is, and we all know this deep down, that our bodies are wonderful things and we really don't give them enough credit. If there was something wrong, they give us appropriate warning. It's our minds that need fixing in the majority of cases!

[zippy]

I had glandular fever when i was 19 and i now have cfs and fibromyalgia and health anxiety.

[MightyPC]

They can only diagnose GF at a certain point by blood test, that was what I was told back in 1988. The Dr said he believed I had it. I never recovered properly and was then diagnosed as ME in 1992, caused by the GF. Then one day in about 94/95, I woke up and felt fine and perfect. But I recall having a bad period with glandular swellings in 02 that lasted for about 4 months and I am going through a very rough patch at the mo.

[Jannie2948]

I had glandular fever many years ago, I was ill soon after I got married (divorced many years now!) and after a few months had a blood test done and said I had glandular fever and I felt ill for months. I have had anxiety, for what I now believe, most of my life but it only really came to a really bad point late last year. Never ever thought that it could be anything linked to glandular fever, but who knows. Have had panic attacks in my life but never ever realised what they were until about 6 months ago...!! and I thought I was going to blooming die. Feel much better now though, thank goodness.

[jaded jean]

Hi .
I had GF when I was 12. I was very ill. I had laryngititis .pharyngitis. I had to sleep downstairs so members of the family could keep an eye on me. I lost my voice for 2 months . I think it took about a year to get back to normal. the exhaustion was incredible. But someting else was going on -my family were starting to split up so, I could say that was the catalyst of anxiety for me. My sister told me I swelled up (glands?)
I am 52 now and every illness has a degree of anxiety attached to it
Jean