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Glandular Fever, virus or stress?

Three weeks ago I had really swollen tonsils & just felt really tired. Basically I'm still feeling the same but I'm also getting headaches everyday which at first was earache (actually referred pain from my tonsils). I went to the doctors and had a blood test for glandular fever, which came back negative. I've heard lots about false negatives as the test was taken at the wrong time or whatever.
The dr just said it was a virus and didn't think it was worth redoing the test. I've never had a virus for this length of time though.
Everyone seems to think I'm faking it (I don't have a snotty nose or cough so therefore 'I'm not ill') and that I'm only saying that I'm ill to get extra time or compensation for my exams. I genuinely feel really rotten and tired and tearful, but with all this doubting I'm starting to worry if it's all in my head/ it's just stress/ I've developed depression. My parents don't even believe me and my mum is convinced I'm going to drop out & not take my exams. My friend keeps trying to 'one better' me over the whole thing by saying she's had a headache all week but'struggled through it' blah blah.
I am really worried about my exams as because I've been ill I haven't done nearly enough work and even before the swollen tonsils I was feeling very tired throughout the holidays. ( which makes me wonder if it is a false negative). I seem to have lost motivation to work as I have so much to do, which makes me wonder if I am depressed, as I also want to sleep all the time (which is another symptom of depression).
I guess I just wanted an opinion on what this sounds like, I do have a lot of exams (8) because I need 3 a's to get into my uni of choice (atm I'm on bbc) so maybe it is just stress but it sure doesn't feel like it. Thanks for reading and I hope I posted this in the right place! X
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Avatar for Fuzzpig
Fuzzpig
16
I've had this :s-smilie: I ended up in hospital receiving emergency treatment for meningitis at one point. It turned out it wasn't that but the emergency blood results came back fast and registered an infection of some sort... Well that passed with the antibiotics and I continued to feel rough for a while. Went to the doctors again and had clear bloods.

Well for me at least I was sure that at least some of it wasn't in my head, and my doctor did say that I clearly had something that needed investigating. They tried looking for things like Crohn's disease too.

It seems to have passed by now after about 6 months. I have been taking 1000mg a day of Vitamin C, although I'm aware that the effect could well be placebo, it seems to have made a difference!
Sore tonsils would suggest tonsillitis not glandular fever which would result in swollen glands normally in neck (my neck literally merged into my head). Virus will last a lot longer often if you're stressed especially during exam times as you're eating less healthily, getting less good sleep and generally not feeling great! Even if it is glandular fever there's nothing you can do but rest so best to try and take things as easy as you can and keep fluids and vitamins up. There's a possibility it's something more but more likely than not it's just a virus which is lasting longer because of the exams.
hi :smile:

I had the same thing a few months back. Unfortunatly, all you can do is wait for it to pass. Drink loads and rest. Also, maybe consider having a day off of achool to rest. I know having time off near exams doesn't sound like a great idea, but trust me, it's better to miss one day and feel better through exams than to soldier through school but feel rubbish in exams.

If you're really worried though go back and see another doctor and explain your worries and that it's close to exam time. I had it for about 2 and a half months and the nurse I saw dismissed it as a cold (I hadn't been able to eat for a week at this point!) but then again, I have asthma and the infection got onto my chest so that really dragged it out.

You could maybe try going to the chemist and asking if there's anything that they could recommend you take to feel more like yourself?

sorry you don't feel well, get better soon :smile:
x

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