The plague that never ends

August 20, 2019 4:56 PM

YANMD. For over two weeks now, I've been totally knocked down with some kind of crud. My doctors have done a ton of tests and I've done a course of antibiotics, so my doctor thinks this is viral. That theory makes sense to me, but I'm wondering how common it is for a virus to last this long? If you've experienced it, can you tell me more?

My main symptom is an all-consuming, barely-leaving-the-house exhaustion. My dr did a full CBC, including thyroid and anemia panels, a Lyme test, and a mono test. I did a course of antibiotics without results, so my doctor thinks it's viral. Never a fever. In addition to the exhaustion, I've had a few instances of almost passing out while sitting down and feel all smeary-headed most of the time. (I was so tired I took a nap on the exam table while waiting for my doctor.)

My doctor's theory that this is a virus makes sense to me, but I've never had a virus last over two weeks. I'm curious how common it is for a virus to last this long, and what the timeline has been like if any of you have experienced this misery.

posted by mermaidcafe to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

That's entirely possible.

Mononucleosis is a viral illness, for example, that can last for weeks. There's also a slew of mononucleosis-like illnesses (that is, not caused by the Epstein–Barr virus that causes mono) that have similar symptoms and course of illness.
posted by Jahaza at 5:09 PM on August 20, 2019

I once had an illness whose only real symptom was a week-and-a-half of overwhelming fatigue. The other sign that that's what it might be was, due to my IgA nephropathy (an autoimmune condition) every time my immune system's been fighting off an infection I get visible amounts of blood in my urine. And that was happening after a couple days of fatigue.

Afterward I brought the incident up with my doctor who agreed, yep, probably some virus or another. She said there are zillions of them, poorly characterized to science, and some can give you that lineup of symptoms. I suspect (not being your doctor, or any kind of (medical) doctor) your experiences are also in line with that possibility. Somewhere there will be a line where you doctor gets worried enough for more tests, but if they aren't there yet I don't find that surprising.

As for my experience, I was actually happy that fatigue was my only symptom since I've had illnesses last that long that were much more hellish to get through. Since it was during grad school, I was grateful for the excuse to take some rest! And afterward I recovered gradually but without complications.
posted by traveler_ at 5:22 PM on August 20, 2019

Any possibility of hepatitis A? Fatigue is a landmark symptom, and it's often not thought of first by patient or clinician. It can spread by water contaminated feces, like a toddler's dirty diaper or a diaper-changer who doesn't wash her hands well. (A friend who splashed in a public fountain in Italy got it and was flattened by fatigue. At least that's the only thing she could think of when she was diagnosed.)

Also notoriously spread by food handlers who are infected and don't thoroughly wash their hands after using the toilet. Street food vendors without hand-washing sinks or even produce harvesters could spread it if consumers don't wash their produce well. Symptoms vary quite a bit, so someone, especially a child may have very mild symptoms and not realize they are infected.

Testing is simple and can easily confirm or eliminate infection.
posted by citygirl at 5:28 PM on August 20, 2019

There was some kind of gross crud going around last year; I finally called my doctor's office in week 6 only to be told that most people were lasting 8 or even more weeks. So yeah, it's possible, but do follow up if you aren't seeing improvement.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:11 PM on August 20, 2019

I was very fatigued by a 2-3 week virus myself recently. But I also wonder...could you have seasonal allergies? The late summer/early fall seasonal allergy season is upon us. For me it definitely causes tiredness. Loratadine clears it up for me, especially Claritin-D when it’s a high pollen count day.
posted by dog-eared paperback at 7:49 PM on August 20, 2019

My entire family has been sick for, oh, two months. I was looking at my annual two-week intensive choir rehearsals, wondering how I'd survive, and visited Urgent Care twice for 1) cough that disrupted sleep and 2) chest heaviness and less-deep-than-usual breathing (though being a singer, as I mentioned, plays into that). At that point I got a nebulizer treatment, then a chest X-Ray and an inhaler.

So things were going okay until the day of my first concert, and then right after that weekend I got walloped. I was anxious about taking a flight to Las Vegas, Home of Blasting A/C and Dryness, at the end of the week, and I was STILL snorting snot like mad.

So I went BACK to Urgent Care, for a THIRD time, and he told me that if I felt better and then things came back, it was probably an ENTIRELY NEW viral illness! Lovely.

I feel ya.
posted by St. Hubbins at 1:01 AM on August 21, 2019

I had CMV (cytomegalovirus) in my 20s that did this to me. It lasted a couple of months. If you have abdominal pain or digestive issues, you might ask them to do a liver panel, I had liver inflammation with it and needed to be careful for awhile.
posted by wellred at 5:13 AM on August 21, 2019

In January I saw my doctor with a cough I'd had since the week after Thanksgiving, along with some fatigue that would go away for a few days and then come back. He did blood tests, then called me back in. On the second visit he handed me a printed report from the first set of tests, with stuff circled in red marker. He listed all the things the first blood test had eliminated as possibilities based on whatever presence or absence of antibodies and said, "you've got a virus, and it's bad. It mimics AIDS, but it's not AIDS. None of these tests tell me what it is, just what it isn't. It explains the cough and the fatigue, though. I'm gonna have you do more tests today, and if they don't get better I'll call you back in again." If it was the same thing the whole time, it did last about two months.
posted by fedward at 2:40 PM on August 22, 2019