i havent read all the posts on here but i cant help but notice with the handfull i did read that most havent listed some of the symptoms i suffered from in my battles with the infection.
I wasnt diagnosed until 2 months after suffering from 'repeated tonsilitus', mostly through my own fault for refusing a blood test in my first appointment, (hate needles, but soon got over that), so u add that 2 months into the original 6 weeks of infection with no symptoms; i had G.F for over 3 months before anyone could tell me what was wrong with me. And it wasnt until after i was diagnosed that i connected all the dots about things i had simply brushed off, but were actually symptoms of the infection.
the first one i remember what a soreness in my armpits, the first time i thought it was cause i had fallen asleep in my bra (we all know this to be uncomfortable lol) but after it happened a few times i did get a little concerned n mentioned it to my mum. when i read about this in the list of clinical symptoms i thought well hold on, what else has been going on that i havent really noticed as such.
one thing i'm disappointed about is with all the website, none list anything to do with G.F messing up your emotions. and maybe it is just me (although i wouldnt like to know that, coz it hints at another problem) but i was soooooooo emotionally messed up its not funny. i would cry for no reason, or over tiny little things. in the early days of 'tonsilitus' the battery in my car went flat while i was at work because i'd be sitting in it in my lunch break listening to music. generally i would be like oh well, gona have to wait for the roadside assist guy when i knock off n laugh. but i was furious, i went storming all around the supermarket/hardware shop that i worked in at the time, askin everyone if they had jump leads in their car, when no one did and one of my good workmates suggested i ask the hardware guys or i might be able to buy some up there, i nearly blew his head off coz i 'dont wana buy f****n jump leads!!!!!!'. in the peak of G.F i used to pretty much live on the couch in the lounge n my parents n brother would just move around me. i once spent nearly all day crying over tv shows. couldnt stop. it was horrible. i started out watching the movie 'A Walk to Remember' bawled my eyes out at the end, then Oprah was doin a segment on the Tsunami survivors, bawled my eyes out, watched Aust Idol where they cut the top 100 down to 20 or whatever, never watched it before, but bawled my eyes out for these poor people. Greys Anatomy was on that night, it was the bomb series final, where that guy had a bomb in his chest n meredith had her hand on it or whatever, had only seen one or two episodes at the start, but i bawled my eyes out!!! and i would frequently swing from a good/ok mood to angry/pissed off/depressed for no reason, or jst over little things.
i was diagnosed with Hep B during the peak of my G.F and had to go back to the doctor for weekly blood tests - hence the getting over of needles, used to amuse me actually coz i was dehydrated so it was quite an effort to get my vessels up, i'd have a tournacay on each arm, bowls of boilin hot water to immerse my hands in, lol... but my mum was warned to watch me closely n if i started to look at all yellowish to take me straight to hospital, so she'd drag me out into all types of light tryin to distinguish if i was yellow or not, luckily it never got that bad. but i was unable to drink alcohol for 2months afterwards (it was only just over 2months until my 18th birthday at the time, & we wouldnt know unitl another blood test the week before whether i would be able to celebrate as traditional for an Aussie)
my throat glands swelled up so much i couldnt swallow my own saliva let alone the vitamin pills & baroca, and thistle milk my doctor had told me to buy for my liver, add to that the antibiotics i was prescribed before my diagnosis had given me thrush so i had that to contend with, some yoghurt stuff to try and replace the good bacteria in my system.
a month after my initial diagnosis my hands and feet started getting dry & itchy. at first i thought i'd had a reaction to washing up liquid that i'd used. but it turned out to be another symptom. it progressed from dry & itchy to being able to peel off entire panels of skin from the tip of my fingers to my wrist, and the top of my toes to my ankles. i think i peeled of 3-4 layers of skin over about 3 weeks. not pretty.
these are the symptoms i havent heard about from anyone else, i also experienced the complete exhaustion, the waking up being ok for 1 hr maybe 2 n then draggin ur ass back to bed to sleep for another 8 hours. the aches all over, sometimes i wasnt sure if it was from lack of movement of from the G.F, it took another 6 weeks from my dianosis before my doctor would allow me to go back to work. and only for 3hr shifts a max of 4 times a week.
that was over 2 years ago, and i've had one real flare up about a year afterwards, and odd days of a swollen uncomfortable throat that would go down in 24-48hrs. & ever since i would stress everytime i got a cold or started feeling a bit off that it was coming back. it was such a horrible thing to go through, i wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy, which is sayin a lot coming from a true Scorpio.
i'm pretty damn sure that i'm in the midst of another flare up at the moment. my throat is massivly swollen, but hardly sore at all which makes me certian that its not tonsilitus, which i had once or twice as a child and recall being very painful. but i also know G.F to be painful as well. but my glands are swollen in my neck, fuzzy head, unable to concentrate for very long unless i'm dosed up on nurofen - which has enabled me to write this. but the doctor refused to blood test & prescribe anitbiotics. so i'm giving them a couple of days, hopin that i'm wrong. but i dont think i will be, i know my body. i just hope its not as bad as last time.
i would love to hear if anyone else has experienced the extra symptoms i did.