I’ve been on and around this forum for many years now, and credit it with getting my health back to what it is today. So having exhausted other avenues I’m posting on here for some advice for my teenage son.
He suffered from extreme fatigue and low wbc at the end of last year/beginning of this despite being asymptomatic for months prior. He was nauseous, dizzy, lightheaded and permanently shattered. Bloods revealed the low wbc count. GP refused to test for glandular fever as she said if he hadn’t been ill recently with flu like symptoms, it couldn’t be that. (I know from others that it could well have been that, but nevermind)
He’s a very fit lad and trains regularly, so we stopped everything until he recovered which he did by early Feb. Been fine since until Sunday when he complained of being cold, dizzy and tired. He went to bed and we just expected some other symptoms to appear like a cold etc.
But it hasn’t, so I’m fearing it’s post viral fatigue again. I’m almost certain he’s had GF at some point, otherwise we can’t explain the low white cells. And to have another bout of fatigue with no other symptoms now, I suspect that’s exactly what it is/has been.
So I’m after some advice from some of the very wise people on here. His thyroid function was tested along with the other bloods at the end of last year and all was well. I checked with my own eyes!
I’m guessing many people on here had GF at some point - how did you cope! What did you find worked best? Things to avoid:things to do?
He trains 5 times a week at quite a high level in his chosen sport, so I’m aware that we need to avoid burnout. Any tips?
Thanks - sorry for the really long rambling post!
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Murphysmum
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Yes, it is. And my father had type 1 diabetes so I’m well aware that the genetics aren’t on his side!
I did contemplate doing a private blood test, but last time when he had gp bloods done it was first thing, and they looked well within ranges so I’m not overly worried that it is his thyroid at this point.
What does worry me is the possibility that it may become an issue. We hear lots about chronic fatigue and GF and later life thyroid problems - does one necessarily have to become the other?
I can understand how concerned you are. We went through something similar when my son was a teenager. He's so fit and athletic too and lived for rugby.He spent 14 months on a part-time timetable with school and 3 years under Alder Hey children's hospital. We never did get to the bottom of what caused it but it went as quick as it came.
The chronic fatigue he was suffering was unreal. He was virtually bedridden. He'd suffered with a lot of throat infections over the years had just been referred to the hospital for this when this utterly debilitating fatigue happened. I had taken him to the gp numerous times before resorting to A&E both local hospital then Alder Hey.
I still feel cortisol/ adrenals played apart on it all. He also had episodes of fainting when given local anesthetic.
He's now so fit and athletic, pushing himself constantly as sport and fitness is his life and career.
All that it's all just a distant memory but in the back of my mind I still worry that I've passed on whatever to either of them, you can't help it.
I assume from your post that you aren’t able to get the antibody test for GF (ie, EBV)
I can say that it probably doesn’t really matter if you can’t… an inordinate amount of people have had it. My teenager included.
I did get her EBV antibodies tested and it did confirm that she at some point in the past had it, but the test can’t tell you when (unless your son has it right now… but sounds like it was probably in the past year if at all.)
Was informative regards to that long knock on effect of viruses in general.
Here’s my experience- I’m still kind of in the middle of it all, so this will be somewhat helpful to you… but I hear that familiar worry that us moms have when it comes to our kids and the unknown.
As sparkly said well - who among us isn’t sad/terrified to think that we passed on thyroid problems to our kids and they will one day have what we have.
Well… I’m here to tell you one thing… these teenager’s bodies are in a tremendous state of flux.
For the past year +, I’ve been getting my daughter’s blood taken regularly in response to her fatigue and brain fog. Recently even her thyroid numbers were awful. People on this board talked me off the ledge from just putting her on Levo.
They told me … wait. Test. Optimize vitamins. Wait. And test again.
I thought - but shouldn’t I treat her now! If any adult on this board had her bloods, I know the responses might have been different. Her TSH was rising up towards 4. Her Free Ts were dismal. Although she has never had Thyroid ABs. Her vitamins were low and her iron/ferritin were almost non-existent in the single digits. Also incidentally her cortisol test was fine, although her DHEA was low (but she’s a 17 year old girl so who knows how volatile that is…) The issue wasn’t that she was deficient… the question was WHY.
Well…
A year later, iron supplements, b12 and b complex, magnesium, and D loading/maintenance doses…
And just a couple weeks ago she said she actually feels “better.” Like she’s coming out of a tunnel. Her fatigue and brain fog are measurably improved. I watch her and she’s stopped complaining about it. I see her sleeping less.
So.
Your son might have had EBV. And I think with my daughter, who really knows, maybe one day she will “have what I have.”
But someone on this board said this in their reply to me when I was scared and panicking! They said - optimize her vitamins. You have to give her body a chance, you have to give her thyroid the environment it needs to function.
So… I would ask… have you gotten your sons vitamins and iron/ferritin tested.
While he waits out the ups and downs of what very well be the long term effects of a virus… there’s no doubt that optimizing vitamins is a wonderful and effective way to use this time.
That’s my story with my daughter, and my latest conclusions on the whole thing! Even if it is “to be continued”.
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