Hi, I am 25 year old female, and have always been healthy and luckily never suffered any health problems - that was until I caught this evil illness.(Sorry long post of my experience so far and other health problems I think have happened due to GF)
Back in October 2020 I had what I thought was an ear infection, when speaking to my doctor (over the phone because of covid) she asked if my tonsils were big and they were! They were huge! She said I had tonsillitis (which I was shocked about as I’ve never experienced tonsillitis, not even as a child) and to phone back if I see any white spots as I’ll need antibiotics. The next day I woke up with the worst symptoms I’ve experienced, severe sore throat, ear ache, high temperature, sickness, diarrhoea, loss of appetite and my tonsils were throbbing. I couldn’t even get out of bed as I was so weak, it felt like a sickness bug! I had white spots on my tonsils develop over the next few days so was put on antibiotics to clear up the infection, after 2 weeks I finally saw improvements and started to feel slightly better, that was until a few weeks later when I had a ‘flare up’ and all my symptoms came back again but just not as intense as the first time, I called my doctor and they said it was tonsillitis again and to rest and it will pass.
I had lots of ‘flare ups’ right up until Christmas, and at this point I was doing my own research as I felt like the doctors kept fobbing me off and not particularly listening or understanding my concerns. Glandular fever came up and all of the symptoms matched! Around November-December time I also developed a pain in my left lower rib cage which I now believe to have been my spleen enlarged due to glandular fever.
In December I wrote a list of how I was feeling and all my symptoms, and phoned the doctor and read out every single symptom to her - she said I bet you’ve got glandular fever! If it flares up again after Christmas you’ll need to come back for a blood test to confirm.
I felt incredibly unwell over Christmas and new year, and then January came and I perked up abit and thought i was finally coming to the end of it so didn’t book in for the blood test.
February came around.. the worst month so far. I started to feel a ‘fullness’ in my mouth and back of my throat, along with all the usual symptoms - A sore throat, feeling generally unwell, slightly nauseous and a new symptom - dizziness!
I was dizzy most days, and also having heart palpitations and struggling to breath (due to the size of my tonsils) I went to A&E as I was extremely worried and they confirmed from an ECG my heart rate was too fast but couldn’t find a reason why. When I was sent home I got straight on the phone to the doctors and booked a blood test for glandular fever (regular blood test don’t pick up the EBV so you have to be tested specifically for it)
I finally got my diagnosis on the last week of February having been unwell since October! Positive for glandular fever. My doctor sent me a link to the NHS website which said you’ll recover in 4-6 weeks! What a joke that is?! (This caused me a lot of worry and stress as it had already been many months!)
I noticed these cracks in the corners of my mouth in December which spread into a rash type, around my lips, my doctor said it was Angular Chelitis and prescribed me a cream but it didn’t go, last month I spoke to them again and my doctor said I could have a vitamin deficiency and can do a blood test if I wanted? (She wasnt overly fussed about me doing one) I pushed for the blood test and I’m glad I did! (Dr also said shes glad I did)! My test results showed I am now B12 deficient and I am on tablets to get my levels back up! (Having undiagnosed b12 deficiency can cause health problems if left untreated so push for that blood test!!) I do believe GF played a part in this! I’ve never had problems with vitamin levels before and haven’t changed my diet recently.
I’m now 8 months in, and feeling better than I was at first, but still incredibly unwell. I have lots of new symptoms like jaw pain on the right side, extreme fatigue, right side neck pressure, and pressure in my right ear which I’m not sure is linked but it can get very painful. I’ve also been told by a consultant that my tonsils are still very swollen and one is bigger than the other.
When I wake up In the morning my mouth and throat feels disgusting! Sooo dry and just not nice - even after downing water it’s still like it. The constant feeling of fullness in my throat and the bad taste I have in my mouth doesn’t go! I’ve had voice changes, my voice has been deeper and croakier than normal now for 6 weeks. I constantly feel bunged up and my throat feels really clogged! And my tonsils still being swollen after 8 months?! Is this normal? I can’t wait to feel better again! As you can tell it’s been a zig-zag recovery until this point! 1 step forward 2 steps back constantly.
I guess I just want/need some reassurance that things will get better and i will be back to good health very soon.
A few questions to anyone that’s come out the other side of this illness..
Did you have an extremely dry mouth and throat? And did it pass along with a bad taste in your mouth?
How long were your tonsils swollen for? Is it normal to have swollen tonsils for over 8 months?
Did you suffer any other health problems which you think were triggered by GF?
Thankyou to anyone who can help me!
List of my glandular fever symptoms.
•Sore Throat
•Ear Aches
•Swollen tonsils (8 months+)
•Dry Mouth
•Oral Thrush / White Tongue
•B12 Deficiency
•Nauseous
•Dizziness
•Eye Sight Weakend
•Painful Right Jaw
•Pressure in Neck and Right ear
•Extreme Fatigue
•Feeling of Fullness in throat
•Bad taste in mouth
•Extreme Health Anxiety
•Throat feels clogged and stuffy
•Croaky Voice