Two months ago I moved in with my mum and her boyfriend to save some money for a deposit for a flat. I was quite stressed at the time leaving all my friends far away and my independence and looking for a local job.
My first symptom was pain in my left ear and a puffy feeling in my left eye. That was fine I got on with my life running round to job interviews and starting a job doing lots of overtime. Then I got a brain fog feeling where I found it difficult to concentrate asking people to repeat themselves, lights were too bright for my eyes and looking at the computer screen made me feel sick. I remember going to an interview and having to excuse myself if I wasn't on top form as I wasn't feeling all that well. Running for the bus was harder than usual and my heart rate was way higher than it usually is for such an activity as I'm pretty active and fit usually. But I was still doing things, going to work, hanging out with friends, drinking alcohol.
When I first got sent home from work it was because after I'd eaten my lunch and ran up two flights of stairs I felt super dizzy and my heart was racing like crazy. Food seems to make it all worse for some reason. I was off for a week and tried to go back but after 4 hours it was too much and I had to go home again. I've been off ever since, it'll've been a month tomorrow.
When I was at my old place about 2 weeks before I moved in with my mum I had a bit of a tonsil infection with little white patches but not too severe. Over the period of time with this current illness the white patches have gone but my tonsils have swollen up huge, it hurts when I swallow on my left side mostly and inside my left ear. My lymph nodes on the left side of my neck are swollen up pretty big, from under my ear (I'm kinda worried about that one as it's pretty solid, I went down a health anxiety spiral of thinking it was Lymphoma but considering it's in the exact spot of my symptoms and hasn't got any bigger it's unlikely I guess) down the left side of my neck. My right side is a little swollen too but not to the same extent, and on both sides on the back of my head. As well as directly under my chin being swollen. When I eat my heart rate shoots up and I get lightheaded also my jaw area gets rather red and hot. This never happened in the past. I have a slight ache in my upper left abdomen which I guess could be my spleen but I'm not certain. Also my left arm and both legs are aching and cramping quite a bit.
The thing is when I usually have standard infections my lymph nodes don't noticeably swell. That and the length of the illness is what made the doctor do a blood test. Originally I rang up the doctor's surgery and the receptionist said all bloods were fine so I was like wtf. I went in to see the doctor and she was like "no, it says here that you tested positive for EBV, while the lab technician said it can't be causing your current illness because it's been in your system for more than 8 weeks (or something to that effect, I wish I knew the details of it, i.e. how precisely they can narrow down how long you've had the virus) I disagree because 8 weeks is around the amount of time you've been experiencing this and it can last a long time."
I asked her how accurate it was, as in, could I have had the virus for 5 years and it's irrelevant to this current illness, and she said, no it's a recent infection, 8 weeks. I guess with my anxiety brain I find it hard to believe because A: there's not certainty i.e. the lab tech and the doctor disagreed, B: it's mostly all on my left side for some reason for which she had no explanation for and C: I didn't have a 'classic' acute illness like I've read on the illness with having a high fever/flu. Also my tiredness doesn't feel like fatigue, I don't need to sleep extra hours, more just that going on a light stroll makes my heart race and I feel dizzy after it, rather than 'sleepiness'. The thought of going to my friend's child's birthday party tomorrow is awful, not because I'm too tired, but because I don't feel all there in the head to socialise and I'll probably feel wiped out with my heart racing and head going funny just getting the bus there.
The doctor asked me when I raised my doubts "What do you think it is instead then?" I didn't really have an answer, I said "maybe a chronic tonsil infection?" and she said "no the antibiotics would've made you better", she gave me a 10 day course with the blood test to see if I got any better. So fair enough I can't really think of another cause. But I just want to be better.
The thing is this illness is making me very depressed, I'm crying all the time, I can't go out with my friends, I can't exercise, I've had to put back my move back to my city as I'm not working and thus not saving any money. In fact I'm losing money as I still need to pay for food and bills such as a bank loan and my phone etc, I just see my money go down and down which is stressing me out. I'm just stuck in my room everyday. I receive a small amount of sick pay but nowhere near enough to live on. Also my mum's boyfriend treats me a liar, he thinks I'm lying about this illness and that there's nothing wrong with me, he's very cruel and leaves a room whenever I enter and if he walks past a room I'm in he'll shut the door, almost like to deny I exist, which I already feel like as I can't do anything. He's very childish and acts like I'm a piece of s**t on his shoe for no apparent reason, I'm clearly not choosing to be like this. So all that is stressing me out.
I'm trying to drink plenty of water, not drinking any alcohol (I tried a glass at christmas and it made me feel worse anyway), taking vitamin C supplements, eating pretty healthy yet there is absolutely no change. I'm usually such a sociable and active person so this is killing me.
I'd just like to know if any symptoms sound similar, and how long it took for you to get over it or feel a little better? I feel like I'll never be better and I'm just so down.