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Has anyone dealt with cytomegalovirus? 💊
5 months ago
Meow!
Sorry for bringing up a non-furry topic, but I wanted to ask if there’s anyone among you, my furry friends, who has also had to deal with something as unpleasant as cytomegalovirus (hhv-5)?
I first encountered it about two years ago, triggered by severe stress. Since then, I’ve almost constantly felt like I have a mild cold, with a light fever. It also caused a gradual drop in my lymphocytes, making my immune system way too weak, and I’ve started catching all sorts of viral infections really often. For example, a month ago I caught Covid, which turned into bronchitis that still isn’t going away. So just stepping outside these days feels like a lottery where I might “win” another cold >~< And don’t worry - I definitely don’t have anything serious like HIV!
I’ve already tried a lot of treatment plans: mainly valacyclovir + isoprinosine and immunomodulators. Besides that, I work out, stick to a healthy diet, drink lots of water and take vitamins. While I’m on antivirals I feel much better, but if I stop, the sickness comes right back ><
I’m so tired of this endless “cold,” and honestly, I’m exhausted from having to spend most of my income on healthcare every month -_- So I wanted to ask, has anyone else been through something like this? Were you able to beat it? How did you restore your immune system?
I first encountered it about two years ago, triggered by severe stress. Since then, I’ve almost constantly felt like I have a mild cold, with a light fever. It also caused a gradual drop in my lymphocytes, making my immune system way too weak, and I’ve started catching all sorts of viral infections really often. For example, a month ago I caught Covid, which turned into bronchitis that still isn’t going away. So just stepping outside these days feels like a lottery where I might “win” another cold >~< And don’t worry - I definitely don’t have anything serious like HIV!
I’ve already tried a lot of treatment plans: mainly valacyclovir + isoprinosine and immunomodulators. Besides that, I work out, stick to a healthy diet, drink lots of water and take vitamins. While I’m on antivirals I feel much better, but if I stop, the sickness comes right back ><
I’m so tired of this endless “cold,” and honestly, I’m exhausted from having to spend most of my income on healthcare every month -_- So I wanted to ask, has anyone else been through something like this? Were you able to beat it? How did you restore your immune system?
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases.....s/syc-20355358
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human.....ytomegalovirus
It's more or less a variation of the herpes virus, unfortunately.
Can't say I've ever dealt with it myself, but best of luck in finding some kind of relief from it.
Thank you for the links and for the kind words!
I wish I had a better answer for you, but the only thing known to nudge the virus into latency is to have a strong immune system. Eating healthy, frequent exercise, limiting substances that weaken the immune system's response like alcohol, smoking, etc, which it seems you already do. Stress plays a huge factor into hindering our immune response, but as much as doctors tell you to reduce your stress and life will be butterflies and rainbows, it's much easier said than done. Not really an answer or a solution, but I hope it gives you even a teensy bit of extra information.
I wish you all the best!
Last year I got 60 sick days and spent 5 salaries for my physical health, not to mention a mental one. So yeah, psychiatrist prescribed me antidepressants and tranqs, and psychotherapist gives me excercises and help to reduce stress, and solve old pains that still bothered me. And I quit the most stresful job I worked 12-16 hours per day 6-7 days a week, after I was hospitalized with pneumonia and heart inflare.
Needless to say I feel less sick and tired when became housewife (or househusband), yet I get sick from time to time
I will consider going to psychiatrist too, I have a sense that the primarily reason here is stress, too
If it helps more I could share my diet. It will most likely seem boring to most people though. I alternate between just two meals. One is a meat with vegetables. (Beef, fish, chicken... I hear pigs are a bit too much like humans to be having lots of pork. Veggies are usually the cheap bags of frozen veggies at the grocery store that I just throw into a pot.) I stick to just seasonings for flavour. Sauces usually have added sugar or other not nice ingredients.
The other meal is a fairly good sized bowl of plain oatmeal with plain yogurt. (Plain because otherwise once again there is junk added in the ingredients.) I use fruit for flavour and sweetness in the plain oatmeal and plain yogurt. (Once again the fruit is usually just the cheap bags of frozen berries/fruit at the grocery store.) Oatmeal is one of the biggest sources of prebiotics which works with the probiotics in yogurt. Which is just fancy words for: oatmeal is great food for the good bacteria in yogurt.
If I'm still craving sugar after all the avoiding sugar in those meals, I like to add a jam with simple ingredients to the oatmeal, yogurt and fruit, or pure maple syrup or natural honey.
The only craving that diet leaves me is a craving for potato chips. Which is solved with boiling a potato and putting salt on it. With that, despite how boring "same old, same old" it might sound, I don't really find myself wanting anything more.
Yeah I don't find myself having any desire for rice. I think the oatmeal counts as a grain. Other people could be different though. It is important to listen to what your body is wanting. Diets do have a lot to do with blood types and what your ancestors ate historically.
Somewhere upwards of 70% of all humans have it. So far, like every other human herpesvirus, it has no cure, even though six years ago there was a bunch of medical literature coming out about a potential cure for herpes.
It's probably much more profitable for pharma companies to sell antivirals on a lifelong basis than it is to provide a one-time cure.
Have you seen a specialist like in Internal Medicine or immunology?
The common theme that my coworker's daughter had was her contact with young children and poor living conditions. Don't get me wrong, her poor living conditions were not by her doing, but by the area of town she lived in, her daughter's long work hours, and, in general, her daughter's unwillingness to alter the long work hours. That all contributed to her body being constantly taxed to the point it could not always fight an infection from a small cut.
Does any of that help? According to the WHO, nearly 60% of ALL humans have HHV. A small percentage have the kind of effects you have described. Can you take the time to identify what all of your environmental challenges are? That might help!
I did have to deal with a surprise stress-related syndrome called Raynaud's about a year ago; that was beginning to cause damage to my fingers and toes. It took some serious evaluation of my life and priorities, values, etc. along with a little therapy and mental health medication(s) to get back to a state where I wasn't having a constant, quiet panic-attack of sorts that was causing my body to spiral into unhealth. I'm no health expert and it sounds like you're doing a great job of investigating options to manage the physical side of things; but I wonder if you might benefit from medical help in managing the sources of anxietyor stressors that could be triggering or compounding these issues.
Again, very different medical issue, but I mean it all to say that Yes, stress can be very destructive to our health in a physical, tangible way that people may not be aware of! We're often expected to just "tough it out" through very difficult things while also heaping all kinds of pressures on ourselves without fully realizing it. Thankfully it is possible to learn healthier habits for managing or even dismissing stressors. It sounds so basic to say it but in this day and age a lot of people never learned how to simply Feel Good, but that's something we all deserve.
tl;dr You could probably benefit from some stress counseling or stress workshops.
I am still dealing with these problems day to day. But some things that have helped make my life a bit easier are:
Magnesium complex supplement (basically a multivitamin including different types of magnesium. Magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate, magnesium malate and magnesium taurate). This supplement has helped reduce my pain, improve my sleep, and helped with with my fatigue as well as some stomach problems.
I also highly reccomend getting a vitamin D and vitamin C supplement. Many people are deficient in vitamin D, especially if you live in a country in the Northern hemisphere. Low vitamin D can cause many issues in the body. As for vitamin C, it is very beneficial for the immune system.
I understand that you already take vitamins. I too have tried many, many different supplements and vitamins throughout the 9+ years that I've been chronically unwell. But it's only recently that I discovered the personal benefits to me of the ones I listed above.
Finally, you might want to look into creatine. It's legal and safe sports supplement that has lots of studies that apply its use in different circumstances. I take it for more fatigue and it has helped a lot. It's also really improved my sleep.
Of course, always discuss things with your doctor prior to trying anything new. Don't just take my word for it and do your own research too.
Edit: fixed a typo. Sorry for any other errors.
I take D and C vitamins, but I will ask my doc about magnesium as well. Thank you for the advice!
I will just throw in that Nattokinase and Bromelain would be worth looking into, as well.
Might also be worth peaking at This Article
I really hope things improve for you <3
(I love garlic by the way haha)
I was 6-7 months sick, no breaks at all and after all that medications and getting sick right away after another one, left me with asthma.
I got covid, influenza B, tonsillitis, Inlfuenza A, tonsillitis again, bronchitis, and after this, asthma.
So my lungs got damaged after that round and my asthma keeps reminding me all the time, that it is there.
hopefully you get through this fast!
I cant exactly suggest ways to do that (Cause I have the same issues with Anxiety and stress XD) other than like...meditation while listening to something calming and blocking out everything else. I have this site thats just the constant sound of rain and a little rolling thunder for example.
Eh anecdote aside – only idea I have is to maybe further help your gut flora with some properly fermented foods / probiotika? (Not sure how good store-bought fermented food is though... :/ )