So I thought I was going crazy being tired, etc., and especially annoyed by the ‘overtraining’ accusations, only to find out my “epstein barr virus level was high”
After some research I see they say 95% of adults carry this virus, but it primarily remains dormant in most people.
I wondered if any tri people are familiar with this and how it affects training?
I feel like I’m coming out of a 6 week ‘ass dragging’ feeling, just relieved I wasn’t crazy for being wore out & tired.
tnx for any info!
If it’s only the IgG it probably doesn’t mean much. You may still be overtrained.
DocFuel:
Well, it also listed the (EBNA) AB (IGG) level as being high, in addition to the IGG AB. I’m really not sure how to interpret. The IGM AB was “in range”
The thing was is I was going along since January training and a summarization of my training log, nothing jumped out as, oops, you jumped too quick or too much. the ass dragging all had a precise moment in time I could pin it to, especially following some whirlwind business travel…
I’ve started back up rather slowly after a week of doing nada & just sleeping…and am going to try to pay attention. just looking for any advice 
tnx!
Epstein-Barr is serious business… I had a case and tried to train through it. It got ensconced and it took me a couple of years to get rid of - like no energy/training for a couple of years. It was horrible.
This could indicate a relapse of a previous EBV infection. Most of us have had EBV in childhood. Cutting back on your training would, likely, still be the indicated course. There is no evidence that it causes chronic fatigue. The incidence of elevated EBV in people with chronic is not different than non affected folks. It’s not clear what ‘chronic fatigue’ actually is.
I have Epstein Barr. The virus is present in the blood stream and the test reveals the level of its activity. Everyone has the virus to some degree.
You can recover but it takes management and you will be taking it easy for a while. follow your doctor’s advice and take it easy. I find that stress can sometimes trigger it.
Increased EBV levels detected in the serum are usually a result a compromised immune system. Over-training can result in decreased immunologic function. The increased viral antigen levels may correlate to the amount of training for an infected individual. Just a thought. Nothing to be concerned about, except in rare instances, it has been shown that EBV can be tumorigenic (Non Hodgkin’s lymphomas) in patients with compromised immune systems.
thanks for the responses! I’ve been taking it easy, and do think that a combo of work travel and trying to get all my training in set me over the edge with stress.
I do feel as though I’m “getting better” as it were, as the start of symptoms I can pinpoint to April 10th, and have been reading symptoms can last 6-8 weeks or longer, but have to restrain myself from going all out. Did a short run this a.m., and was gonna go do a swim tonight, but decided maybe that wasn’t a good idea as i’d rather not have this thing linger on…
It’s just hard to not want to be out & active now that the weather’s changed, but I suppose me, a good book & a chaise lounge on the patio ain’t all bad either 
The antibody thing works like this: you can make antibodies against various proteins found in the virus. Two that are commonly tested are antibodies against the viral coat protein on the virus’ surface (aka the capsid) and the EBNA1 protein which regulates viral replication. There are a couple kinds of antibodies that you make - IgM antibodies are made during the acute infection, whereas IgG antibodies are made late in the infection and some can persist for a long time.
With EBV, you’d see IgM antibodies against the coat protein during an acute infection (aka mono). Given that your IgM levels were normal, this probably isn’t the case (not to mention anyone who’s had mono knows it often much worse than the symptoms you’re having).
IgG antibodies against the EBNA1 protein are usually found only in acute infections but in some people can persist throughout their lives. It could be that this is the case, but it does sound quite plausible that you’ve been overtraining a bit, weakened your immune system, and have a reactivation of a previous EBV infection.