serious question

[celica]

A friend of mine is a female 26 yrs old 5'3 170

she has been dianosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and epstein barr virus.and she has been running low fever 99.5 for 6wks? any idea what she should do or take?

 

[Joester]

Celica
There is no treatment per se for EBV infection, often the cause of infectious mononucleosis, other than treating the symptoms[fever control, proper nutrition, rest, etc]. The course of the clincal picture usually runs around 3-4 months. CFS - being very ambiguous, is another tricky creature, since there are several etiologies - infectious, immunologic, psychiatric, among others. Tricyclic antidepressants and SSRI's tend to be the common route of treatment for CFS patients.

Hope I helped.

 

[bigstve12]

joester hit it on the head. Sorry if you covered this already, been away for a while, what line of medicine are you in joester?

 

[Joester]

Steve
I'm a GP, from Mexico. I was working in research here in the US while I jump thru all the hoops for entering residency program in the US system. I do read a lot and know a thing or two about sports medicine. Would love to enter that here in the US. I see many weightlifters can benefit from a sports oriented doc, more than just straight medicine. We'll see.

 

[dixiechic]

A friend of mine is a female 26 yrs old 5'3 170

she has been dianosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and epstein barr virus.and she has been running low fever 99.5 for 6wks? any idea what she should do or take?

Nurses and doctors don't usually worry about a temp or even consider it a fever until it reaches 100.4 (it's not treated in most hospitals unless it reaches 100.4), but she should report it to her doctor anyway.

 

[bigstve12]

Good luck to you Joester...It's good to have a professional on the board. Sports medicine is a great field and we can all definetly benefit from your help.

 

[bigstve12]

Nurses and doctors don't usually worry about a temp or even consider it a fever until it reaches 100.4 (it's not treated in most hospitals unless it reaches 100.4), but she should report it to her doctor anyway.

EBV is a virus, and viral infections are not usually acompanied by a fever like bacterial infections are

 

[thrashersf]

Many viruses are accompanied by a fever. A fever acts to raise the body temperature to such a degree that it would kill whatever is causing the illness. Of course a virus is not actually a living organism, however you still have the same reaction to being sick, whether it is a virus or a bacterial infection and your body will try to raise it's temperature. EBV in particular has that symptom and is often accompanied by a sore throat which most people describe as being worse than that experienced during strep throat. Most of the population is actually infected with the EBV, otherwise known as mononucleosis, aka mono. It is just in a dormant state. Like most viruses it can remain in your system and in times of stress, when your immune system is low, it can flare up. That is why many people who have experienced mono worry about a relapse. Mono is usually seen in people in their late teens to mid twenties. Hope that helps, a little after the fact, but if anyone else is curious about this I hope this is a little more explanation.

 

[buffut1]

Joester is correct. EBV virus can be long lasting, from weeks to a few months. Low grade temps are very common place. The best overall thing she can do is get plenty of rest. If however, her temps get in the 101 range or she develops any other symptoms.. then get back to the doc.