60 ms·

My money is on Epstein Barr causing it. Even acutely, many are faced with intense fatigue.

rnk 3y ago
There are lots of articles and probably studies that seem to find it a lot. I agree it's pretty likely it's causing some of it at least. Someone in my family has cfs, unrelated to covid afawct, but no one has figured out any cause.
quickthrower2 3y ago
If so, since 90% of people have it [1], avoid it is futile (a bit like avoiding COVID). So the question is how to avoid it causing CFS, or how to get the body out of the CFS state. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559285/#:~:text=Epstein%20Barr%20virus%20(EBV)%20is,rare%2C%20but%20important%20to%20recognize https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559285/#:~:text=Epstei.....
- mschuster91 3y ago
  > If so, since 90% of people have it [1], avoid it is futile (a bit like avoiding COVID) It's not futile. Install proper HEPA air filters in trains and other public transit, provide actual ventilation in public buildings, mandate antiseptic (e.g. part copper) door handles, and especially: provide actual sick leave at work and mandate employers to send sick employees home (and while we're at it, the same for kindergartens and schools)... that would drastically cut down on all kinds of infectious diseases without forcing anyone to wear masks.
  - gmerc 3y ago
    EBS is called the kissing disease for a reason
    - mschuster91 3y ago
      I hope that mRNA technology will soon present a viable EBV vaccine candidate. EBV is implicated in a lot of immune-system-related diseases, but it's so incredibly infectious that it's impossible to get rid of.
    - hinkley 3y ago
      Unlacquered brass handles for all public spaces
cstrahan 3y ago
That’s my guess. Got EBV back in 2015, and spent about a year with debilitating photophobia, visibly bulging lymph nodes, along with a host of symptoms that still haven’t gone away: excruciating joint pain, muscle weakness, headache and brain fog, anhedonia, annihilated sex drive, etc. Trying to manage my symptoms, I got a hormone panel to compare pre-EBV. Testosterone and Estradiol dropped by about 65%, where it remained for 3 years until I convinced a doctor to take that delta seriously. I’m better on TRT now, but I’d say I’m at about a solid 65% of my former self. Joint and muscle pain is gone, but I don’t have the same drive and still struggle with anhedonia. Would love to try a cocktail of things — almost anything really — to feel more alive, but I don’t want to do antidepressants, and I don’t want to be branded “drug seeking”, so I just try to get by for now.
- nick_ 3y ago
  If you haven't already, you could look into trying daily Valacyclovir. Epstein-Barr is one of the HHVs, and may be helped by that drug.
mjhay 3y ago
There's nearly incontrovertible evidence that EBV causes the great majority of multiple sclerosis cases, so it would track.

rnk 3y ago

There are lots of articles and probably studies that seem to find it a lot. I agree it's pretty likely it's causing some of it at least. Someone in my family has cfs, unrelated to covid afawct, but no one has figured out any cause.

quickthrower2 3y ago

If so, since 90% of people have it [1], avoid it is futile (a bit like avoiding COVID). So the question is how to avoid it causing CFS, or how to get the body out of the CFS state. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559285/#:~:text=Epstein%20Barr%20virus%20(EBV)%20is,rare%2C%20but%20important%20to%20recognize https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559285/#:~:text=Epstei.....

mschuster91 3y ago
> If so, since 90% of people have it [1], avoid it is futile (a bit like avoiding COVID) It's not futile. Install proper HEPA air filters in trains and other public transit, provide actual ventilation in public buildings, mandate antiseptic (e.g. part copper) door handles, and especially: provide actual sick leave at work and mandate employers to send sick employees home (and while we're at it, the same for kindergartens and schools)... that would drastically cut down on all kinds of infectious diseases without forcing anyone to wear masks.
- gmerc 3y ago
  EBS is called the kissing disease for a reason
  - mschuster91 3y ago
    I hope that mRNA technology will soon present a viable EBV vaccine candidate. EBV is implicated in a lot of immune-system-related diseases, but it's so incredibly infectious that it's impossible to get rid of.
  - hinkley 3y ago
    Unlacquered brass handles for all public spaces

cstrahan 3y ago

That’s my guess. Got EBV back in 2015, and spent about a year with debilitating photophobia, visibly bulging lymph nodes, along with a host of symptoms that still haven’t gone away: excruciating joint pain, muscle weakness, headache and brain fog, anhedonia, annihilated sex drive, etc. Trying to manage my symptoms, I got a hormone panel to compare pre-EBV. Testosterone and Estradiol dropped by about 65%, where it remained for 3 years until I convinced a doctor to take that delta seriously. I’m better on TRT now, but I’d say I’m at about a solid 65% of my former self. Joint and muscle pain is gone, but I don’t have the same drive and still struggle with anhedonia. Would love to try a cocktail of things — almost anything really — to feel more alive, but I don’t want to do antidepressants, and I don’t want to be branded “drug seeking”, so I just try to get by for now.

nick_ 3y ago
If you haven't already, you could look into trying daily Valacyclovir. Epstein-Barr is one of the HHVs, and may be helped by that drug.

mjhay 3y ago

There's nearly incontrovertible evidence that EBV causes the great majority of multiple sclerosis cases, so it would track.