Hello yall! I havent written on here in a hot minute, but felt like I really needed to during this part of my journey.
2020 has been tough on all of us for various reasons. In June I started to feel a small amount of fatigue creep into my training.
Since hiring my run coach in January 2020, I had been in a nice routine of training and feeling healthy and faster than ever! Everything was just CLICKING!!! I was well on my way to that BQ I had my sights set on in December of 2020. It was almost like nothing could go wrong.
In July I started to notice I couldnt finish my daily training load or a normal pace felt REALLY tough. Which are tell tale signs of your body asking for rest. It was a strange feeling and I knew my body was trying to tell me something so I backed off the weekly mileage and adjusted accordingly.
I began to takes 2-3 days off at a time then jump back in feeling better but not great. It became a viscous cycle.
Rest.
Run.
Rest more.
Run less.
Rest even more......
Stop running??
By August my fatigue was SO BAD that I was stuck in bed for days on end. My parents would come over and take care of Caden while I slept and Chris worked. I could hardly muster up the strength to get up and go to the bathroom.. or scratch my face. It was SCARY.
My primary doctor ordered a bunch of labwork (vitamin deficiencies, thyroid, COVID antibodies, iron, white/red blood count, lymes, anything and everything they could think of) and everything came back normal except Epstein Barr Virus count. It was SKY HIGH! As well as a positive ANA test that is a very generic test for the presence of an autoimmune disorder. (basically doesnt say much by itself)
EBV is the virus that causes Mono. So it wasnt a huge surprise that my mono test came back negative, but my EBV was positive and high. Once you have mono, your EBV will always be positive because it stays in your system dormant forever. EBV resurgence can happen with traumatic events, high stress, etc. But the only "stressful" thing in my life was my training, but to me it didnt FEEL stressful.
So back to the numbers... A positive range of EBV is 22 (I forget the actual units) and mine was 600. So mine was positive and STUPID high. whoa.
Uhm what? Excuse me? Ok so obviously something is wrong here...
This called for a referral to a specialist aka Immunologist.
After more testing done by an Immunoligst (PCP referral) and no real answers I began a supplement and diet regiment recommended by the immunologist and from the research done myself.
I started to regularly take:
a multi vitamin (no i really never did this in the past... shame on me)
B12 supplement
Iron supplement (1 week every month)
Probiotic
I also completely shifted my diet to a vegan diet where I focused on LOTS of fruits and veggies and foods from the Earth. Which I LOVED!
I have been vegan for almost 5 months now and definitely will tell you I believe it has made a difference.
If this whole fatigue thing is just Chronic Epstein Barr (which seems to be the case SO FAR) then all I can do is stay consistent with lifestyle changes... No medicine, no therapy, no nothing. Unless someone out there knows something I dont!!!
I started to be able to get out of bed and play with Caden as well as do most daily tasks again after about a month and a half. I also was able to get a light yoga flow in at home a few times a week which kept me sane since I havent been able to run!
Fatigue struck again though....
2 steps forward. 1 step back.
Now it's December 2020 and I have no answers in sight. I am still not running. I am still struggling multiple days a week.
I will be seeing the Infectious Disease doctor for more testing and hopefully will be able to find some solutions to all of this.
I desperately miss running, but I also desperately miss feeling like myself. I miss the freedom of waking up in the morning feeling refreshed & ready to tackle the day with my trusty 4 year old sidekick.
I miss making memories at the park and playground and having the unlimited supply of energy to be a cool & fun mom.
Sometimes the Lord's plans are not what we want (like a quick fix), but they are greater and better. I am reminding myself daily that trusting in Him is sometimes all I have control over. Sometimes He wont move mountains we want Him to move. Sometimes we have to walk literally by faith and not by sight. And right now, this journey is 100% by faith.
I have appreciated the "slow down" this has all caused. I have less on my plate/schedule and I am way more grateful for waking up the next morning than I was previously. There are always positives in every situation if we look hard enough to find them.
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