How did your CFS start?

[CantThink]

P.S. Meant to say also that looking back I had some weird symptoms developing from age 8 (2 years before I got sick), but it was in the January that I literally got struck down bedbound, and have been sick ever since.

 

[MeSci]

January 11th 1991 - believe that was a Friday. Started with fever, extremely severe diarrhea, swollen glands, sore throat, entire body swelled up, slept constantly, stiff joints, hallucinations, sweating etc was mis diagnosed with a virus and forced back into school very quickly. 9 weeks later doctor called my mum to apologise for misreading lab tests - I had glandular fever and she ordered me steaight to bed.

Glandular fever is caused by a virus - usually the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) - and is also known as mononucleosis. Some info here.

 

[CantThink]

Glandular fever is caused by a virus - usually the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) - and is also known as mononucleosis. Some info here.

@MeSci

When I said mis diagnosed above - I should have added... with an 'unknown' virus, to clarify that my issue was not the virus part... It was their interpretation of the type of virus, the severity of the infection and my body's response to it. They were telling my mother that there was nothing wrong with me other than an insignificant stomach virus and to put me back in school... She was following their orders and I was collapsing each morning at school and having to be brought home. When I wasn't being forced to school I was bedbound. I had to slide down the stairs on bum or crawl back up as I couldn't walk on the soles of my feet they were so swollen and painful. Had they read their lab test results correctly they would have presumably not advised my return to school and allowed me to rest and try to fight the infection, as this was the course of action once they finally realised their mistake.

I do very occasionally wonder if I'd been able to rest from the beginning and not been forced to school for that period, would my body have recovered... And not gone down the M.E. route.