How I Live With Chronic Fatigue/EBV

I was diagnosed with Epstein Barr Virus about 21 years ago, shortly after I had given birth to my son. Everyone has EBV dormant in their body, and it can come out anytime, due to stress, immune system factors and from having mononucleosis, which I contracted in college.

I was not aware at the time, that it lay dormant in my body, waiting to erupt. I was told by my doctors at the time of my diagnosis, that giving birth had taken out a lot of my nutrients, energy, and by not sleeping for the first three months took a toll on my body. Since my son was born in the winter, it was tough to get out, so that was a blessing in a way, as cold winters seem to flare up my symptoms.

I realized over time that rest and sleep were most important. Having a baby and EBV at the same time was not easy. I didn’t have much time to sleep as a new mother, putting her baby first was time consuming and draining my body of any energy stores I had.

Over time, I would get symptoms such as swollen glands, sinus congestion, body aches and pains, bad chills, etc. It felt like I had bad flu symptoms that occurred almost weekly. I went to many doctors that didn’t know how to treat me. I refused to take medication for symptoms they didn’t know how to treat properly.

I then found a holistic doctor that I went to years later that helped somewhat with vitamin drips, supplements and talking in depth to them. They mentioned a few things to change with my diet, which I did only partly, as being a busy mom, I didn’t have time. My symptoms subsided somewhat over time.

After giving birth to my daughter, almost 3 yrs after the birth of my son, my symptoms came back and worse. I was bedridden for about 2 months, not having the support from my husband that I needed, as he thought, I was making up this condition, as it could not be seen by the human eye or diagnosed properly by an MD at the time. I had to literally, drag myself out of bed each day, and take care of my kids the best I could, then go back to bed to rest.

After feeling so bad, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and did research on health and wellness for myself and my family. I never turned back since that day. I believe the more knowledge we have the more power we have for ourselves. I slowly started to change my diet. I eliminated refined carbs from my diet. That was not easy, as I loved to eat pretzels and thought they were supposed to be a healthy snack! I didn’t realize I was eating white flour or whole wheat and affecting my blood sugar for many years…

I noticed I felt worse before I felt better. I do remember, when I cheated after eliminating wheat products, that when I did have them, I was very fatigued and wanted to fall asleep immediately. I learned that this was a reaction and probably I was allergic.

Years later, I decided to try a gluten free diet. This helped me even more, as I would get so bloated from gluten foods, I would look like I was 3 months pregnant all the time, and even my primary dr. at the time, didn’t know the cause. (Bear in mind, not all gluten free food is healthy) So, trial and error it was, for many, many years.

As I developed more knowledge, I realized my body was lacking the nutrients it really needed. I was looking for quick fixes, quick energy, anything to keep me going so I could keep up with my growing high energy children. (I became a single parent when my son was 6 and my daughter was 3, which added more stress on my body and mind.)

After my son would get chronic ear infectons and several bouts of antibiotics, I was referred by a friend to go to a health food store in my area. I was lucky that day I went. A manager at the store, took me under his wing and taught me quite a few things over time about healthy eating and how I could help myself better. Since that day, I never shopped in a supermarket for years, except for paper goods.

Having that knowledge prompted me to go further in helping myself heal. I read consistently, I have done extensive research on health, and since being a personal trainer for years, the hardest thing for me, was to cut back on my own exercise routines, as it made my symptoms worse.

I started taking yoga classes when my son was 3 months old and it was the best thing for me. I haven’t stopped since! It helped my body relax, even tho it took about a good month or two to get there,as my body was always wound up and stressed.

Overtime, by changing my diet, and every seven years, as our cells renew and our body has different nutritional needs, I started to feel better. Do I still get symptoms? yes, when I tend to do too much, exercise too hard or when we have harsh winters such as the last two years. So, that is when I am mindful, back off of everything, I rest, or at least try to, (as my mind and body like to keep busy always), breathe deeply and do my yoga practices more and incorporate meditation.

If you suffer from EBV/Chronic Fatigue, please contact me to set up a free 30 min consultation to discuss how I can help support you in keeping your symptoms down to a minimum.