Glandular fever - faster recovery?!

[Missscentsation]

Hello! My 15 year old DD has this after a month of tonsillitis. Symptoms - huge infected tonsils, rash top of her mouth, swollen glands all over, are going down after (a long) 10 days.

my worry is the fatigue that can last for months. Several people i know had it turn to ME.

id love her to fully recover now to avoid the months (I don’t know if this is realistic!). To help she’s on probiotics (the post antibiotics ones as she had anti bis for tonsillitis. Also giving her sambucol which boosts the immune.

she seems to be doing better, maybe going back to school after half term but I don’t want to go to far too soon and end up making the recovery longer.

has anyone any experience or advice? please!

You just have to wait for the body to bring the EBV infection under control. Most of the symptoms (tiredness, fever etc) are caused by an over-active white blood cell response to the virus. This takes time and has to happen naturally. If you look at the natural history of glandular fever, after 3 months most teenagers feel fully recovered. Developing post-viral fatigue is more likely in children who have severe glandular fever (ie hospitalised).

I had EBV as a student and seemed more prone to tonsillitis and sore throats for a good year afterwards, but the tiredness went after about 6 weeks.

Hopefully your DD has had the normal advice about contact sports - no rugby, karate etc til any spleen swelling has gone.

I hope your DD feels better soon. Better to get EBV this time of year than the middle of exam season.

Couple of years ago I had a blood test (I am 49). The results showed i had antbodies to the virus that causes glandular fever. I said but "I've never had glandular fever". The GP assured me I must have done and asked me if I got tonsillitis a lot - i did in my early 20's, every month (after a run of my monthly 4 x night shifts). She said that would have been it. Other than a couple of years of recurrent tonsillitis that culminated in them being removed I didnt suffer any adverse effects.

Rest, healthy eating, more rest, hydration.

I had glandular fever when I was 11. Our doctor at the time was an idiot. He told my parents to force me to continue to live a busy life. He reckoned rest was unimportant. I was never the same again, developing M.E at 11. (My mum was so upset when she realised many years later that I should have been resting.)
Also try to keep homelife calm and happy as stress can make things worse. Easier said than done, I know!

I’m not sure how to help but much sympathy to your daughter. It’s not a nice thing to have and the tiredness is very hard. When I had it, I had a bit of time off school and then went back in. I was 16 and had a Saturday job, so I did school, homework, Saturday job and the rest of the time I slept. I was better in time for my GCSE exams though.

I had glandular fever as a teenager, which developed into ME. What I was told at the time by medical staff was that trying to get back to normal life too quickly was the most likely cause. Glandular fever can also impact the liver and spleen.

Ignore school telling you to get her back in as soon as possible. Not allowing proper recovery time will often lead to more time off school, with recurrent flare ups quite common. Ask school to let you know what topics they are covering while she is off, and send copies for her to catch up on when she is able to. School work can be done as and when she is feeling well enough, but I found I could only do an hour or so then was completely wiped out.

Socially, I felt really isolated. Having a friend over for an hour or so tired me out but made me feel better. These days I guess keeping in contact is easier!

Plenty of sleep and rest and don't worry too much about anything else!

Thanks so much for the replies. I’m glad to hear that full recovery could be possible after 3 months if we take it easy now. It is hard, she does feel socially isolated and is keen to get back to life! The experiences here show how important the rest for recovery is. I’m really hoping the time resting will mean quicker recovery in the long run. It’s such a nasty virus.

I had it at around 13, I remember being off school for quite a few weeks, I had regular tonsillitis for a couple of years after and still get a bout every few years but otherwise fine

She has always suffered with tonsillitis, seems there’s a string link. Is it worth getting them removed?

There’s not really anything you can do to help recovery aside from ensuring that she rests as much as is humanly possible, eats healthily and drinks plenty. That gives her the best chance of a faster recovery, but even then it can be luck of the draw, and she could be one of the unlucky ones who struggles with it for years. Make sure she sleeps and rests and does as little as possible, and when she eventually goes back to school, start her off on a reduced timetable for a few weeks.

Thank you for replying. We live in a world where we are so use to having a medicine to fix everything. She is resting, we are refocusing on a healthy diet and trying to get her to drink! She’s feeling much better, but she’s also bored so I’m not sure if she’s talking it up. I just want to ensure she has the time to rest now. You’re right, we don’t know the full impact and will just have to tread carefully.

Best of luck with it. I have had life long issues from glandular fever at the age of 18, and my son had it at 15 and is still struggling 18 months on (although much improved). It’s such a nasty virus.

So sorry to hear that. It is a nasty virus! Yiu and yout son take care. X