up until a year ago i was fit, doing a lot of running and cycling. i ran competitively (and was training for the london marathon) and cycled on and off road, enjoying sportives and enduro events alike.
i went down with a viral illness last feb and i have struggled with fitness and battled with fatigue since. Seen by gp – a few times in the immediate aftermath but nothing abnormal detected except for a low white cell count (in line with a viral illness). now whenever i do moderate exercise i become very tired a day or two later and my uvula (dangly bit at back of throat) swells and rests unpleasantly on the back of my tongue.

getting really fed up with the whole saga.
any helpful advice or anecdotal remedies wouldbe appreciated, thanks

You’re not the only one so you don’t need to suffer in silence…

http://http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/post-viral-fatigue

Have a read through that for some inspiration and reassurance that you’re not as on your own as you might think you are. There’s a few of us that have been struck by very similar illnesses and have shared or experiences, good, bad and ugly on that thread.

My email is in my profile if you wanted to contact me personally re anything I’ve written. I can’t profess to be an expert, but I know what has worked for me personally when dealing with chronic fatigue…

Good luck!

thanks a lot, mboy.

unfortunately the link is not working for me.

Oooops, one too many http’s… Try now…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/post-viral-fatigue

You didn’t leave the medical help at that did you?

What does your GP suggest you do or are you needing more tests?

thanks for your replies. Helpful and somewhat reassuring that it is a sbstantial and common phenomenon.

GP – like many experience, if tests normal and not ‘ill’ then little to do.

just really frustrating . i don’t tolerate sitting around very well.

In my search, i note NZCol used some sort of herbal remedy. I’d be interested to know what that contained.

I had very similar. Gp put it down to depression when I really felt it was more physical. I do get depression, but this was different. They did a number of standard tests but also found nothing but low white cell count. They refused to test in relation to glandular fever or lymes disease. In the end, my mental health did suffer, body and mind are inextricably linked in health and wellbeing, but I believe it was more a consequence of an undiagnosed, untreated physical illness causing a low mood. I ended up off work long term and ‘cured’ myself by taking total rest for about a month and a half and building up mentally and physically again veeeeeerrrry slowly. A kind of ‘graded exposure’ approach. Part of it was a shift in mental attitude, becoming positive that I would recover if I was determined to, and partly by stopping from being over- sensitive to symptoms. Eg another cold/flu was just another cold/flu, back off a bit for a week or two then carry on building up, and not a sign that I was never going to get better. I stopped ‘training’ and just did physical stuff for the pleasure. No other goal than enjoying myself. It took about a year in the end. Good luck.

even cavendish had something similar few years back remembering reading it in his biography boy racer, chin up m8 and a speedy recovery