Long nasty virus or post viral?

[Norma123]

Just wondered those of you who have/are suffering from that lengthy virus how long did you take to recover? I'm on week 6 now and still far from back to normal.. Not sure if I'm post viral or others can relate x

Hi! Sorry for my delayed replies, every time I sit down I either get interrupted or fall asleep at the moment How is it going, has the panicky feeling subsided? It's horrible. If you've got a 2.5wk supply you should know by then if they're having a positive effect but I reckon you need to be on them for at least a month to really feel it. 20mg is generally a min dose so least you know your doc isn't totally drugging you up! The shaky off balance feeling def sounds vestibular - I've always been quite blocked in my right sinus/ear (got a deviated septum) and I know if I lie on that side in bed for too long it feels just like that. I hope you can get your doc to pursue that if it doesn't resolve. Hopefully the homeopathic stuff will help - I'm always in two minds about homeopathy. I went to a homeo clinic years ago when I had ME and their potions really sorted my allergies. But then when u think about it scientifically you're like "eh?"! But it is good to seek out alternatives and find something that works for you. I'm going to bang on about ferritin again ... You're iron stores feed your circulating iron so you can have normal iron levels but increasingly low ferritin levels. So your doc might be fobbing you off slightly though of course your ferritin could be absolutely fine! The lowest mine has been is 8, with normal blood iron levels. I think there's a few threads on here about it, low ferritin can def make u feel very unwell, it should be 70+ in women. Anyway, enough of my google medical knowledge I used to take St. John's wort! It really helped. I took it the first time I came off antideps, in my thirties and it really helped. I've been seeing a herbalist since I had my son (after which my hormones went a bit haywire), she's got me on borage, ginseng, thuja & beth root tincture just now, all mainly for liver and adrenal support. I really think it helps, apart from the blips I get! My partner works away a lot and has done since we had our son so I think I tend to get run down now and then. I think looking after another human being 24/7 can be wearing, I'm sure you know if you're looking after your dad. We recently moved closer to my family and it's been non stop family dramas of divorce, death, illness etc so I know I've def been stressed and run down! Give me an update when you can, if you don't hear back for a couple of days it's just my addled brain. I see everyone else in the world is still ignoring our thread lol... Xx

it's the tablets but I felt absolutely shocking this morning! really panicy etc, guessing it could be a side effect. Yeah I still think the labryinthitis is very much present. Completely agree! it's like as soon as they hear/see 'depressed and anxiety' on your records they start putting every symptom down to that, which as you say bit of a cop out. Yes exactly, atleast they'll take what I'm saying more seriously once I say I've taken the antidepressants. I'm on 20mg, have about 2 and a half weeks supply, so not sure where I'll go with them after that. Umm, I seem to have the same physical symptoms that just cling on, ie the shaky feeling inside, off balance and light headed. I visited a homeopath at the weekend, and he was saying how some parts of the virus can get locked in cells.. he's sending me a remedy that he thinks will get rid of it, worth a try if nothing else.
Oh I did follow your advice and ask about ferritin levels, the doc said she didn't test for them but my iron levels were all normal so that would mean my ferritin levels are fine..
I'm helping look after my Dad but still mainly my mum that's doing most of the work to be fair. Haha I know the feeling, although I spent so many days on the bloomin couch I just associate it with illness now ha. Oooh the elusive period finally arrived then! :) I had started thinking my periods had stopped for good ha. Hehe I know the feeling, although I'm sure they won't start again after your period. What herbs are you taking? btw have you tried St Johns Wort before? I brought some before I started on Fluoxitine as I thought they might have less side effects, however decided in the end I'd probs just aswell start the dreaded Fluoxitine. Hope you enjoined your weekend in the sun :) was nice n sunny here also xx

Hey! haha that's okay, I feel ya. I'm soo tired this week! one of those things again where it's like is this just how I'm feeling anyway or is it the tablets... still feeling pretty bad tbh, I'm almost tempted to go back to the docs before the supplies out, but then I imagine I'll just be told to continue with them and sent on my way : s did your antidepressants suppress your appetite at all? I barely had one before starting the tablets now it's basically non existent.. I've read Fluoxitine can do that though.. deffo not ideal when you're already starting to look a lil on the skinny side.
Yeah it definitely seems vestibular to me, I'll have to push with that when I do go back to the docs.
Oh did you have M.E, how were you diagnosed with that? I just received my tablets from the homeopath today.. the dosages are slightly peculiar, I'm to take one tablet every Saturday untill I go again (in 3 weeks) and the other tablet every Tuesday and Wednesday.. I'm definitely not expecting too much from them but we'll see.
Ahh okay, you know your stuff when it comes to Ferritin! hehe, I had no idea about it so just took her word for it.. really think some more tests need to be carried out as it's gone on for so long now. I appreciate your medical knowledge as I have literally none haha :)
Oooh did you, did you find it helped more or less so than the antidepressants? I know it's supposed to be quite mild. Part of me wishes I'd opted for that over the flu, but I wasn't sure it would be strong enough or how seriously the doctors would take me if I went back and I still wasn't trying the antideps. Ahh okay, making me think a herbalist should be my next port of call hehe.
I know how you feel, it never rains but it pours eh! had a lot of stress in the last couple of months with my dad being ill, worrying about my mum and relationship issues.. happy days haha, not what you want when you're trying to get over the plague ha. Hehe don't worry about it, just reply when you can. I hope you're doing alright now lovely! it is funny isn't it when so many people were posting about the virus in previous threads from just a couple months ago, but nobody's feelin' this one haha xx

Hi! I made it back! How are you feeling? Think citalopram affected my appetite the opposite way tbh, one of the reasons I dropped the dose was weight gain but yes, I think they can interfere with your appetite for sure, anything serotonin related will affect your gut. Hope you've been able to eat, you don't want to end up underweight! Hopefully it will be a transient side effect, most of them are. How is your mood, are you still feeling shakey? I was diagnosed with ME when I was about 18, I think it was a time when they didn't really know much about it so any fatigue or recurrent infection stuff just came under that banner. I ended up at the Homeopathic hospital ME clinic in Glasgow, they did different stuff with diet etc, and of course homeo meds which I really do think addressed my allergies. I still think there's something to the homeopathic thing, just not sure what! So def worth a try! I'm beginning to think there's some hormonal constituent to my physical state, I feel pretty crap after my period and my muscles are aching again! Son has got a cough and my nose is stuffed up too so we may be in for another round of something Take cover!! I'm stuffing vitamins down my throat every five minutes.
The St. John's wort was a lot milder but it def took the edge off, I would definitely recommend it (tho obv not while you're on anti deps). A good herbalist could be a real help to support your system, I'm all for it! Something to think about once you feel you've taken the GP route as far as you can. You sound like you have had a lot of stress in your life, I'm thinking no wonder you've had this blip! I really hope things are settling for you so you can concentrate on feeling better . It's taken me about two hours to write this with interruptions from tantrumming child. I think I need a panic room. Let me know how you are when you can. Judging from the last few days of active mumsnet threads we are definitely the least interesting folk on here! xxx

Haha good to have ya back :) I'm not tooo bad.. I'm always wary of saying that incase I jinx myself haha. The same ailments are there but I don't seem to feel as bad. The sunshine is probably helping.
Sounds like I should have been put on Citalopram! I have been able to eat some more in the last couple of days though, fingers crossed it stays that way.
My mood does seen to be a little better I think. The shaky feeling is still there, it's very strange.. it's almost like that feeling when you're cold and your teeth chatter.. it was the first symptom I got of the virus, almost as though the virus effected my nervous system or something. It's frustrating because I know if I mention it to the doctors they'll just assume it's anxiety related, which it isn't.
Ahh okay, one of the doctors I saw weeks ago mentioned M.E to me and I did just think surely there should be more tests carried out etc before quickly labeling that diagnosis.
That's good the homepathic thing helped in some way, I've made a start on my tablets but haven't noticed any benefits just yet, but obviously it's very early.
Oh really!? perhaps it does have something to do with hormones then.. do you think you'll go back to the doctors and mention it?
Oh nooo! that's the last thing you need. If it's just a cold I do find Vicks first defense works pretty well, although only in the very early stages. The irony of me being cautious of catching a cold and religiously snorting first defense only to get landed with this bloody thing! haha.
I hope it's nothing much, yes keep downing those vitamins like no tomorrow ha.
How did you find your herbalist? I'm guessing I'll just be able to google some local ones. I'll definitely be giving the St Johns Wort a try at some stage, I'm not sure if I'll stay on the antidepressants or not, see how I feel after I've finished this course and been back to the doctors.
Thankyou, same goes for you! I'am feeling less anxious than I was so that's good.
Haha oh the joys! bless you, a panic room sounds like it would do the trick.
Hahaha it's certainly looking that way! I'am surprised nobody else has cropped up at all, we must scared them off.
Let me know how you're feeling :) xxx

Hi hi! The child has been off school sick! I will reply this weekend!! Hope you're ok! So many exclamation marks!!!...

Oh noo! bad times... I hope he's recovering, and you've managed to dodge it : s gosh I miss the days when illnesses were over in a week! xxx

Hello! How are you feeling? Surviving here! The lurgy is trying to take hold but feel not too bad, it's not a bad one but when son is coughing in your face you know you're not going to avoid it! He had a few days off school which translated into party time for him hehe and Lego everywhere. And it's a school holiday tmrw so no rest for the wicked as they say. I started taking black garlic supplements to stave it off and I think they really work (big fan of garlic here) but boy, they make me fart like a hippo ! Is your mood still on the up? I been thinking of your shakey feeling, anxiety does do strange things to your bod but that really does sound like there's something else going on, must be very distracting. How long since you had the labyrinthitis diagnosis? I'm sure they're related (she said, in a non-doctor way). I think an ME diagnosis for you would be way too hasty, it used to be the go to bandwagon that docs jumped on but think there's a bit more insight these days and you must always trust your instincts with these things. It would be horrible to have a diagnosis like that and be left to get on with it when you know there is something underlying that needs addressed. I think my hormone theory would meet with a disinterested GP! I'm just monitoring myself, I do know from dr Google that a lot of my symptoms are 'peri menopause ' and I periodically get scanned because I have a fibroid in my uterus and occasional cysts on my ovaries but they never find anything sinister and aren't particularly interested in the rest! Which is fine. I have to see doc soon to get my citalopram prescription renewed so I might have a chat then. I suppose I could still technically be post viral too, still feel like I've taken a bit of a beating! Can't all be hormones.
Think I will def return to St. John's wort if I come off the citalopram, have already spoken to my herbalist about it... I go to one in Glasgow, it's a wee clinic and I've been going for years (used to get acupuncture there) and started with the herbalist just after I had my son. She's great! I think just noodle about online or ask around for a recommendation in your local area, I'm sure you'll find a good one. I think if you've had health issues that you've hit a brick wall with it's good to find an 'alternative' therapy that works for you and provides some support - if you get a good practitioner, you'll also feel listened-to.
Waiting for the sun to come out here ! I tell ya, blue skies make me feel SO much better. Hope you're continuing on the up, when are you back at your GP? Will be interesting to see what they say about your shaky feeling. And you can always ask about citalopram. Though maybe fluoxetine is working for you! Let me know how you're doing. Is there a messaging service on mumsnet? Maybe we should use that instead! Xx

Hope you're ok! X

Hey lovely! had a pretty rubbish week, hence the late reply. I'll private message you as suggested xxx

Cool, I'll see you there! X ( not cool you've had rubbish week, obvs)