Chronic fatigue or EBV

I had EBV twice last year - Feb and Sept but felt ill all year.
Since September I have been overwhelmed by fatigue, sore throat, ear ache (stabbing pains). My scalp is sore to the touch in certain areas and I have shooting, stabbing pains and headaches as well. I don't feel like eating and have to force food into my system. I can't train and wake up tired every day.
I have had a hard painful lump in my neck, left side below my ear, since September.
My muscles take turns to ache and I just don't feel like doing anything or being social - I am usually a very social person.. I have partially lost my sense of taste and smell and detect only certain tastes and smells - this since mid December.
Please help with any advice, is there anyone out there experiencing the same. I am sick of being told after yet more bloods that I have EBV and must rest - surely these symptoms and hard lump should not persist??

[9DodgeFan]

Hello, sorry to hear you're feeling so bad!  To answer your question, in short, EBV symptoms can persist for quite a while (a year in my case).  Taking steps to help your body fight off the infection (main thing being get LOTS and LOTS of rest) is really the only "cure" for EBV.  As far as your lymph node(s), I actually know people who still have swollen lymph nodes from when they got mono, many years ago.  They no longer have the symptoms (Thank God!), but they do still have the slightly swollen nodes.  Most of your other symptoms fall in line with typical EBV symptoms (fatigue, sore throat)... the only thing that sounds a little strange to me is the scalp issues, but then again, I've heard from other people here on Medhelp that they have had rashes, etc. from EBV, so I guess every person's body reacts a little differently.  One other thing, you mentioned having EBV twice... actually what happened was that you had EBV, then later a relapse ("re-activation").  While this doesn't happen in the majority of people, it's not rare by any means (happened to me, actually).  EBV re-activation can be brought on by many things such as high stress, other sicknesses, and so on, especially if you're not getting all the rest you need.  Unfortunately, once you're "better", the EBV stays dormant in your body for the rest of your life; so there's always the possibility of a re-activation, so we need to do whatever is in our power to make try to make sure that doesn't happen!  I hope this helps; don't be afraid to ask any more questions!