Extreme exhaustion, muscle pain (EBV, HSV)?

Hi all,

I have been doing really well (about 80% improvement with 3-4 years treatment) until recently when my kitten died and this caused me a lot of grief as I heard him dying and couldn't save his life. Added to this is a huge amount of unrelated stress and anxiety. After this event I have had a huge flare up of symptoms that I haven't experienced in a while - such as extreme fatigue, muscle pain, 2 cold sores on my lip, crazy mood swings (euphoria/mania and depression), etc..

I have a feeling that this is EBV, HSV, HPV virus etc all being re-activated as I tested positive for these when I was first treating myself. I'm taking lysine now, olive leaf, and astragalus, and hoping to knock back this flare up soon, as it's very debilitating and disconcerting. Do these symptoms sound like they could be these viruses (HSV, EBV, HPV, varicella zoster)?

Thanks a lot.

Thanks a lot dcd.

I'm hoping that it's not serious - although I'm sleeping most of the day at the moment and unable to work which is really tough after spending so long getting my life back into order. Hoping that its just a flare up and will go away soon.

Interestingly, I was cleaning mould I found in the corner of the shower and the following day my symptoms were greatly magnified. I wonder if this is related..

YES - Mold is highly suspect in the scenario you just described . “Extreme fatigue, muscle pain, 2 cold sores on my lip, crazy mood swings (euphoria/mania and depression), etc..” - these are all very common symptoms of toxic mold exposure. No need to share the details regarding the death of your kitten, but pets dying can also be a warning sign of toxic mold.

I moved a year ago into a house we had remediated. I got worse immediately after moving in. We confirmed mold came back in September, and it has gotten increasingly worse and scary. I have burning in my tongue and throat, anxiety, and irritability and mood swings.

I thought my poor old cat would have a chance to recover once we moved, but she got sicker and had to be put to sleep two days after Christmas. She was already dying. It was horrible. You have my deepest sympathy regarding your kitty.

That visible mold in the shower could be a sign there’s worse mold behind the shower. Get a good mold inspector in there pronto. Don’t get anymore pets until you have verified proof it’s a safe environment.

All of the above theories are perfectly plausible and worth considering, but how long ago did your kitten die? (I'm so sorry to hear that. I know how painful that can be.) The symptoms you mention can be just basic grief or trauma, especially combined with the other stressors you referenced. If it's been less then a month or so, then I would advise supportive supplements, good diet, etc. but mostly focus on being gentle with yourself emotionally and getting support if needed. You might be having a flare of those infections and mycotoxin illness, but maybe not, and taking care of your emotional health right now might be all that's needed.

One of my professional backgrounds is in trauma counseling, and most people dealing with grief and trauma have very real physical symptoms from it that do resolve with time and care.