Elevated EBV-going on 3 months

[AllergyNerd]

I've been having strange symptoms since the middle of August.  I got really sick at first, all started with a sore throat, which I thought, oh another sinus issue is coming (I have allergies and take zyrtec every day).  A week later I felt like complete crap:  could barely get up to get a glass of water, super dizzy, lightheaded, diarrhea, etc...  I ended up going to the ER and everything was 'normal' except for the CT scan showed a cyst in my sinus cavity.  The dr. said it was nothing to worry about.    

I have a good friend who had had similar symptoms at the same time as I was having, but was across the continent.  She found out she had mono and told me I should also get tested.  My monospot test (or whatever the mono test is) came back negative, but 2 parts of my EBV test were elevated, I know one showed acute, so the Dr. said I had mono.  This gave me a ton of relief because I finally had an answer.  I am wondering if I could have gotten it from my friend because we had seen each other in May and I know we shared a drink (but I think that is longer than the incubation time period).  I also did a rotation in a skilled nursing facility this summer and so I was around various medical issues...

Towards the beginning of this all, after my horrible week, I had a week where I felt great and was biking, swimming, joined a gym etc... Then it came back again.  Was I pushing too hard and now my body is taking forever to heal?  A couple weeks ago I had 2 good days also.  

My main complaints/symptoms are dizziness/brain fog and fatigue.  I have also been very anxious and worrisome.  The more research I do, the more I worry and question everything.  I also think the ER visit was traumatic because now I find myself feeling lightheaded when I see blood etc... so weird because it never bothered me and I am in the medical field. I also notice every little thing on my body that I never noticed before... I don't know how much of what I'm feeling is anxiety?  I also have pretty bad tmj, so I am used to constant headaches etc...

This is all affecting my life so much and I find myself feeling depressed.  

I am a doctorate student and graduate in December, and I already have a job lined up, I have a great boyfriend, etc... so I do feel lucky, but I haven't been myself the past few months and am scared I'll be like this the rest of my life?  I'm in my last rotation in a local school system and I'm scared they think I'm making it all up and it's been a struggle to try to pretend like I feel okay.  Basically I go do my rotation and then come home and sit around and watch netflix etc...  When I'm working, I can't wait to come home and lay down.  

Is it all the EBV/mono and it is just taking me a loooong time to get over?  How do I not worry about lyme disease, cancer, etc...?  I have been drinking a ton of water and orange juice.  I also eat a little virgin coconut oil with honey every day and take a prenatal vitamin every night.  I don't know what else to do.  Any advice or insight?  Thanks so much for reading this, it would help to know I'm not alone.

[AllergyNerd]

Yeah, I am so glad that I advocated for the lyme testing, otherwise, I would probably go on forever thinking I had mono and get worse and worse... scary.

[9DodgeFan]

Lake32, have you been able to find any answers yet for your situation, from your testing?

[9DodgeFan]

Glad to hear you got an answer and can start working on getting better!  Also, sorry I haven't replied to your other post in so long, but I've been VERY busy lately!  Perhaps you won't want to listen to me now since I thought your problems were caused by EBV (which, in my defense, you did admit to having high results on your test), but to my knowledge, EBV and Lyme's are not related.  My guess is that you already had EBV, then you contracted Lyme's (although it could be the other way around... impossible to say now), and the 2 have been having a heyday ever since, at your expense!  I think the lesson to be learned here is that testing is very important in determining what someone is dealing with... and even then, you may test positive for more than 1 thing (as you did).  It's nearly impossible to make a diagnosis on symptoms alone, but everyone here is trying to do just that, based on our own experiences... that's actually the whole point of these forums!!  Again, glad to hear that you're making progress, and hopefully in the future you'll be able to help out someone who's in the same boat you've been in!  :-)

[AllergyNerd]

I am wondering now if elevated EBV numbers can be related to the lyme's and that I don't have mono?  My monospot was neg...

[AllergyNerd]

How is what transmitted?  EBV?

[bomber18]

I passed via all of the interesting post. My question is that how is it transmitted?