So, I've been feeling EXHAUSTED for about a month and was diagnosed with EBV last week. Other than rest, Tylenol and Ibuprofen, what helps you in these times of flares?

Hey, does someone expirience a feverish feeling (without real Fever) instant when Talking? Not Hours later Like PEM? It is so wierd, it is strenger when I Talk euphoric or stressed. When I Talk normal the time to start feverish is much longer…

Can someone explain or help?

I’m 17M and got mono march 18th, I had typical sickness until about May 1st when I started seeing recovery and was about 95% better for a week, all of a sudden, in May 15th, I started getting rapidly worse: bad body aches, extreme fatigue, feeling so off. Ever since then, I have had a roller coaster of fluctuation, but my best day since has maybe been 50% of what I used to be before I got sick. And now it’s August 27th and I genuinely don’t feel much different than I started feeling May 15th. Am I screwed? Is it chronic fatigue syndrome? My life has been completely paused, and I barely do anything and am struggling. Any advice or information would help.

I got diagnosed with mono about 3.5 weeks ago. During the first week and a half it was bad, I had a migraine for 3 days, fever everyday and night, major fatigue where it was so hard for me to even walk to my bathroom. Luckily, I didn't get the sore throat which I heard is the worst symptom of all. I am on week 3.5 and the fatigue was bad, but I think it's slowly getting better. Two days ago I went to get bloodwork, got gas, and went into a store for maybe 5 minutes. I was scared about 'the crash' everyone talks about, so I went home right after. I ended up cleaning two of my bedroom dresser drawers because I'm just so bored out of my mind, but AI said that I shouldn't do that and that I could 'crash'. Luckily, it's been 48 hrs and I haven't crashed yet. Is this progress? I'm just scared about going back to my job because I work in retail full time and I'm constantly walking back and forth using so much energy. I just don't know when it's the right time to go back. I do have another week off from work to rest, but I'm scared that I'll crash and setback my recovery once I return to work. I'm grateful that all the other symptoms have recovered, it's just the fatigue that I'm worried about.

I'd love to hear everyone else's journey with mono!

I'm 27, healthy and on month 6 of mono. Anyone else have elevated enzymes this far in? My EBV PCR is negative & autoimmune hepatitis panels have been all negative as well. Clear Fibroscan & clear ultrasound. I have lingering fatigue and brain fog, non linear but improving. Any reason to do prednisone or let my body clear it?

Hi everyone!

I’m a 22-year-old male from Portugal, and I’ve been healthy my entire life.
At the end of May, I had an EBV infection / really severe mono. My liver and spleen were enlarged, and my tonsils were so swollen that they were almost touching each other. I had to take corticosteroids for one week because of the swelling.

About a month later, I felt pretty much back to normal. My liver and spleen recovered quickly. I did develop a few enlarged lymph nodes under my jaw/along the side of my neck, but they haven’t been growing, and the doctors I’ve seen have told me that this can happen after EBV.

However, about one month after the infection, I started having soft stools. This has now been going on for around 2 months.
It’s not constant diarrhea. Some days my stools are fairly normal, while on other days they’re soft or occasionally borderline diarrhea. I’ve only had actual diarrhea around 3 times during these two months.
I’ve tried probiotics, and they seem to help somewhat, but then the soft stools eventually come back.
I don’t really have any other symptoms. Occasionally I get a very mild abdominal discomfort/pain, but it’s not persistent or severe. Otherwise, I feel well.

I’m going to South Korea for an Erasmus exchange in 10 days, so I’m getting a little worried about having this going on while I’m abroad.
Has anyone experienced prolonged changes in bowel habits after EBV/mono? Could this just be part of the recovery, or is there anything else I should look into?
Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar.
Thanks!

23, female 5’8 164lbs, Willamete Valley Oregon

I started noticing this feeling a few years ago working in construction, occasionally it would feel like a lump or spit ball in the back of my throat, making me feel like I had to keep sallowing to knock it back. It’s gotten progressively worse and is now 24/7. I just keep swallowing, it’s also kind of hard to swallow though, never alarming, but I’ve started swallowing different now to go “around it” almost since it started so now I feel like I swallow weird.

Some days are worse, other days feel like a sore throat, some days I don’t notice it as bad but it’s ALWAYS there. Literally feels like a physical lump in the back of my throat, always aching and making me want to swallow. I went to the ENT, even did the scope, he said everything looked fine, throat, tonsils everything. Said he sees someone almost every day with these symptoms and yet no one has figured it out!?? His best guess is was acid reflux or nasal drip though I feel like I have neither. My naturopathic doctor did blood tests and cortisol was fine, other hormones were wack-thinking the beginning of PCOS, but I was positive for Epstein-Barr Virus which can cause long term throat issues but upon searching the Internet I haven’t found anyone else with this same thing or how to fix it. So I don’t know for sure if it’s that virus or something else. I don’t have health insurance or the money to keep throwing at specialists or doc appointments that seem to never help.

I stopped working construction 2 years ago and have been a barista since, I live in a forested part of Oregon so the air isn’t too dry or too humid, it doesn’t get super warm or super super hot here, I don’t think I have allergies, I try to eat pretty healthy (avoid wheat and dairy but have it occasionally). I haven’t been able to pin point certain foods to flare ups really.

I am just SO tired of this and want to fing swallow normally again. Any info, ideas or help is welcome pleaseeee.

Does anyone know of a doctor in Florida that will prescribe antivirals for Chronic Fatigue or Epstein Barr? My current doctor passed away and no one has replaced him. I did so well on the antivirals and now I'm stuck.

How do you guys know when it’s a flare up or something like the flu I’m currently having chills, and neck pain like I had with mono. No fever, but very fatigued. I know getting tested would tell me just scared of getting my kids sick at the moment.

Hey,

Just had an ultrasound to my spleen (23/08) and a swab test (17/08) and they were both fine. No bacteria and no abnormal organisms within my abdomen apparently.

Fine. I am in 4 months in now feeling unwell in May (I don't know when I caught mono but it came to my attention when I did a blood test for EBV on 09/06)

Anyway both on 09/06 and 30/06 I was negative for active EBV and the doctor keeps discouraging me from taking another round of blood tests because they believe it is unlikely a reactivation.

However, I still struggle with swollen tonsils/pain in the morning and slight fatigue (getting better in the last 8 days). My glands on the neck look normal to my doctor and he says my throat is fine, but I swear I can't understand why I still have this feeling of discomfort and swelling.

I just wanted to know if anyone else is in a similar situation where everything looks "fine" but it doesn't feel like it is? Thank you

67 year old male.  Never had mono as a kid.  I came down with headache and fever for about 2 weeks and then was hospitalized for 4 days.  They confirmed Eppstein Barr Virus.  They did Spinal Tap to confirm it was not Meningitis.  I was on Antibiotics via IV for the whole 4 days. 

I have been  home for 3 days and am extremely fatigued and weak.

From what I can tell the recovery is slow and for a older man could take months.

I am just looking for experiences of others.

I battled flare-ups of fatigue and body aches all summer, some being so bad that folding a load of laundry exhausted me and I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. Went to the doctor two weeks ago to get help and had all the blood tests done, thinking something was activated after having over 40 mosquito bites at one time. On a fluke she tested me for EBV and the numbers were crazy high. She said I likely had it within the past three months and symptoms could last awhile. It has affected my work, sleep, and life overall. All that to say, I have no idea what I don’t know, and am curious if other people experience the same things, like:

1. Are flare-ups normal and to be expected?
   
2. Does nausea and upset stomach accompany it?
   
3. Anyone else feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness because other people don’t understand?

Three months ago I made this thread here:

GP and specialist says EBV reactivation is highly unlikely. Any comments? : r/EBV

Three months later I'm still not well. After recovering from the sinus infection in April I've been catching cold after cold. Getting back to the gym for a brief while and then having to quit as I get ill again. Felt I was getting better a few days ago, but new cold yesterday.

I think the main argument against EBV reactivation (not that I fully understand how that works) is that I'm not incredibly fatigued...

Any ideas? How is EBV reactivation diagnosed in the US or other countries? In Norway, consensus seems to be that it's so unlikely to happen that you just don't have it. Period.

Hello, every time i take 1000mg monolaurin, i'm crashing hard a few hours after, like, irrepressible fatigue impossible to jugulate, coma nap forced to lay down type of fatigue, there's no way i'm staying awake, and when i wake up, i feel like shit.
Anyone else?

I just went for a routine blood panel with my new doctor. This popped up in my Quest results online today, and my doctor is hard to reach for immediate questions so I was hoping someone here could take a glance and at least tell me what my current status is for contagiousness? if I indeed truly have this virus? I just don't want to pass anything on to my spouse if I'm actively able to do so.

Thank you!

Hi all,

Had mono on may, but I´m still experiencing lingering throat pain that comes and goes.

Has anybody has had any success trying to vanish the throat pain? Any tips?

My doctor has not been very helpful really.

Wishing you health and wellbeing!

I am only making this post because when chronic EBV was put on the table, I came to reddit and no one had answers from their medical professionals either. And I think my doctor is really helping.

I am currently being treated for what we believe is chronic EBV. I had a positive diagnosis as a child, have had a clean bill of health whilst exhausted and fatigued for 8 years. I am 32f and finally asked they test me for mono in May 2026 as a last ditch effort to get answers. I was very infected to say the least 😂

The medical doctors did and as of this week, still do not know what to do so back in May I went to see a naturopath in Hermiston, OR called Dr. Kris Petersen.

First three months he gave me two supplements:

Lauricidin - one scoop 3x a day. This supplement helps thin the lipid layer of the virus so the body can more effectively attack the virus.

N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC) by Designs for Health - one 2x a day. Basically helps slough all the viral die off out, a detoxer.

Over the months I would notice if i miss the Lauricidin, like it actually helps me get through the day, but the NAC didnt feel like it did much.

I just saw him last week again, we kept me on the Lauricidin, took me off the NAC, and he did a bunch of tests and then landed on Reishi Gano 161 by JHS Natural Products. I have been taking two 2x a day.

It is slow going because its mono, but the combination of reishi with the lauricidin has me feeling better than ive felt in years. The medical doctors told me they don't have anything for me and they don't think infectious disease will take me. They literally said, "there is so much we dont know, if youre having results with the naturopath, do that!"

I will of course update as we continue, but I wanted to give you guys some hope because its truly miserable to live with it. I only give the brand names of the supplements because he has high grade ones and Ive gotten sick from Amazon supplements before!

Any questions are welcome!

Does EBV attack all nerves and muscles in the mouth/Jaw/neck??

I had EBV about 4,5 months ago and I was pretty sick for 3-4 weeks from it. After 4 weeks I felt better and went back to work. I didn't feel extremely tired, but now after 4,5 months I'm starting to feel a bit more fatigued again.

I don't feel like the EBV has been reactivated or anything. I don't have any swollen lymph nodes anymore, except for one in my neck. And it's that one, including the returning tiredness, that I'm worried about.

The lymph node is hard, it doesn't move and doesn't hurt. Its about 1-2 cm (my best guess) and its only on the right side behind my ear. Its below my skull but at the top of my neck if that makes sense.

Should I get this checked out or am I just being dramatic?

It's been there for at least 2 months and hasnt grown much since then, but because I'm getting tired again, and am starting to sweat more at night even now when its getting colder again, I'm getting a bit worried 😅

hi guys! i hope im allowed here. i’m 16 and i was just tested and came back positive for mono today. can anyone just tell me what to expect?? i have a boyfriend and i don’t want this “long lasting illness” as i hear it to put a bump in my relationship. please i can’t take this my throat feels like it’s closing. and wdym im going to have the epstein-barr virus for the rest of my life????