Seeking advise for supplements/vitamins/etc to help resolve a sun sensitivity issue. I caught Epstein-Barr Virus about 9 years ago when I was about 39. I guess it was a relatively mild version in that I did not get sore a throat or 'cold' type symptoms (so not mono I guess). It came on slowly about 2 weeks after I had been involved with a girl who must have had it. For about 1 week I felt like my system was agitated and like my heart was beating heavier than usual. Then I started getting weird mental effects like vertigo feelings, very weird dreams, and then started having a very hard time sleeping. I figured out that to make this go away I had to avoid the sun and eat extremely carefully (no sweets, no fried foods or junk food, no alcohol, no marijuana, or even coffee -- I could literally only have good nutritious wholesome food). If I did that the symptoms would all clear up within a few days and I would feel totally fine. But then if I would go out in the sun -- even for literally 2 or 3 minutes -- EBV would come back, and my system would again feel very agitated and I would have a hard time sleeping. If I had been in the sun just a few minutes my mind would be agitated and racing but I would eventually get some light sleep after a few hours, but if I had been in the sun more like 5-10 minutes I would not sleep at all the entire night and feel like a zombie the whole next day. So each time the mono/EBV symptoms went away I would then be very careful to stay out of the sun, first I avoided it for 2 weeks, then was out a few minutes too long and the symptoms came back. So next I went a full month with no sun, then was out in sun maybe 5 minutes and again, back to square one. Finally after multiple repeats of this and almost 1 year later I stayed completely out of the sun for 3 months straight and only then did it FINALLY go away.
But even then I had to continue to be extremely careful for another year, always wearing a hat and sunshirt when outside, and if I got more than maybe 10 minutes of sun it would agitate my system and I would sleep very poorly that night. But at least by that point the EBV did not reactivate, so it was just an issue of a little lost sleep here and there. (Interestingly, the lost sleep was not in any way because of feeling sick -- the sun would actually give me a lot of energy and I would feel great the whole rest of the day, and be very productive but then by about 3am I would still just not be the slightest bit tired mentally even though my body felt like it needed rest.)
In 2012 I started seeing a naturopath who cleaned up a few things, and then about 6 months later she had me do a 10 day cleanse where for the middle 3 days I ate nothing but green vegetables. 2 weeks after that the sun sensitivity was gone! So from 2013 until a few months ago I could work for hours outside doing gardening, construction, etc. with no issues, though I would still wear a hat and sunshirt if I was out in the hot sun for hours.
I did confirm originally with a blood test that it was EBV, though no doctors at the time had any clue what might have caused sun sensitivity. At the time it was not clear if that was associated with EBV or just coincidence.
This February I was doing a lot of work outside in the sun, and maybe was not taking the best possible care of myself or eating as carefully as I should have and had a lot going on, and EBV reactivated. It took me a few days to realize it, and I had forgotten about the sun sensitivity issue, so after a few days I was in bad shape, very very agitated nervous system - I thought I was getting encephalitis or something and was very close to needing to go to the ER. But then I realized it must be that EBV had reactivated, so I took some antiviral supplements, Vit. B supplements, Vit. C, calcium, etc. and felt significantly better within a few days. I then saw my NMD who gave me a couple more antiviral supps (Monolaurin, Nattokinase, Transfer Factor) and ran some blood tests. The monolaurin seemed interesting as it's also anti-fungal, and candida/fungal/etc stuff has been a minor issue for me (dandruff and brain fog if I eat even relatively small amounts of starches or sugar too often), so I started on 1 monolaurin the first day, 2 the next, and 3 the next day and apparently that was too much as I had a fungal die off the 4th day and the EBV came back in full force. But since that setback I'm now feeling fine, however still have major sun sensitivity. I was in the sun for literally no more than 3 minutes a couple days ago, with only my face and hands exposed, and did not sleep well.
I read that there may be a connection between Vit. D and EBV and sun-sensitivity, though cannot find any real detail on it, just a few studies on other things that mention it as an aside. I started taking 1000-2000 IU of Vit. D-3 a couple weeks ago but may need to increase that. Obviously sun exposure is not an option. The lab tests I did a couple weeks after the EBV reactivation showed 44 ng/mL Vit. D which is considered 'optimal' at > 30 ng/mL and within the reference range of 30-100 ng/mL. Prior to then I had not been taking any Vit. D but was typically in the sun at least 10-15 minutes per day. All other lab tests were within normal ranges (Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Immunoglobins, Lymphocyte Subset Panel, Sed. Rate, CBC, C-Reactive protein, Anachoice, DNA antibody, various other immunology tests, though Rheumatoid factor was 14 right on the edge of the reference range of <14 IU/ml which I'll be rechecking).
I originally got over EBV/mono in late 2011, but the sun sensitivity did not go away until April 2013. (Prior to 2011 I used to be in the sun a lot, I would usually go on my deck in the morning and have coffee and sit in the sun for a half an hour wearing only shorts. So I definitely should have had high Vit. D levels then.) I'm hoping to figure out how to make it go away faster this time as it definitely sucks to have to stay inside most of the day. The level of sensitivity is pretty amazing. It seems like if I stay in the shade and just get brief periods of sun for 10 seconds here and there I'm fine but if I actually stand with just my face in full sun for 1 or 2 minutes then I have plenty of energy for the entire rest of the day -- so much so that I can't go to sleep and even 3 or 4 hours later only then get very light sleep. Whereas if I get no more than 1-2 minutes of sun I always sleep totally fine that night.
If anyone has experience with possible solutions please let me know. I will try going up further on Vit. D-3 maybe gradually to 5000 IU/day since I'm obviously not getting much sun. I will also be doing some more lab tests in a month or two so maybe there are some other things I should check? Health otherwise is fine. I used to get migraines from 2012-2019 but have not had anymore after cutting out potato, turnips, corn, and tapioca and couple other similar things. And I have some other food sensitivities: gluten, eggs, and oats will give me a regular headache (not a migraine). I'm fine with all meats, all other veggies, rice in moderation, most beans, and with dairy. These food sensitivities started around 2014, probably because I used to eat at restaurants a lot who were all undoubtedly using the cheapest possible ingredients, GMO canola oil, etc. Since going all organic things have improved though, I can now do dairy again which used to cause acne-like symptoms and I have much less brain fog than in previous years. (My NMD gave me a few digestive enzymes and various things to rebuild the GI lining which seem to be working slowly but surely.) I eat pretty Peaty, zero PUFAs other than 1/2 avocado per day, well cooked veggies, no processed foods, 98% organic. Fresh fruit, gelatin, plantains. We almost always cook at home, stir fry veggies with turkey, pork, or beef. Occasionally fish such as Mahi-Mahi or Halibut maybe once per week.
Also I'm not sure which Vit. D supps might be the best since there seem to be different forms and combinations. Or maybe the issue is that somehow the EBV causes something in my system to become overly sensitive to Vit. D or its precursors. Why would a couple minutes of sun give me so much energy that I can't sleep for 12-18 hours? Maybe there is some other supplement that could counteract whatever this process is. And it would probably help to do another green cleanse which seemed to help in 2013 though that could have just been coincidence. Thanks for reading and any tips, David
But even then I had to continue to be extremely careful for another year, always wearing a hat and sunshirt when outside, and if I got more than maybe 10 minutes of sun it would agitate my system and I would sleep very poorly that night. But at least by that point the EBV did not reactivate, so it was just an issue of a little lost sleep here and there. (Interestingly, the lost sleep was not in any way because of feeling sick -- the sun would actually give me a lot of energy and I would feel great the whole rest of the day, and be very productive but then by about 3am I would still just not be the slightest bit tired mentally even though my body felt like it needed rest.)
In 2012 I started seeing a naturopath who cleaned up a few things, and then about 6 months later she had me do a 10 day cleanse where for the middle 3 days I ate nothing but green vegetables. 2 weeks after that the sun sensitivity was gone! So from 2013 until a few months ago I could work for hours outside doing gardening, construction, etc. with no issues, though I would still wear a hat and sunshirt if I was out in the hot sun for hours.
I did confirm originally with a blood test that it was EBV, though no doctors at the time had any clue what might have caused sun sensitivity. At the time it was not clear if that was associated with EBV or just coincidence.
This February I was doing a lot of work outside in the sun, and maybe was not taking the best possible care of myself or eating as carefully as I should have and had a lot going on, and EBV reactivated. It took me a few days to realize it, and I had forgotten about the sun sensitivity issue, so after a few days I was in bad shape, very very agitated nervous system - I thought I was getting encephalitis or something and was very close to needing to go to the ER. But then I realized it must be that EBV had reactivated, so I took some antiviral supplements, Vit. B supplements, Vit. C, calcium, etc. and felt significantly better within a few days. I then saw my NMD who gave me a couple more antiviral supps (Monolaurin, Nattokinase, Transfer Factor) and ran some blood tests. The monolaurin seemed interesting as it's also anti-fungal, and candida/fungal/etc stuff has been a minor issue for me (dandruff and brain fog if I eat even relatively small amounts of starches or sugar too often), so I started on 1 monolaurin the first day, 2 the next, and 3 the next day and apparently that was too much as I had a fungal die off the 4th day and the EBV came back in full force. But since that setback I'm now feeling fine, however still have major sun sensitivity. I was in the sun for literally no more than 3 minutes a couple days ago, with only my face and hands exposed, and did not sleep well.
I read that there may be a connection between Vit. D and EBV and sun-sensitivity, though cannot find any real detail on it, just a few studies on other things that mention it as an aside. I started taking 1000-2000 IU of Vit. D-3 a couple weeks ago but may need to increase that. Obviously sun exposure is not an option. The lab tests I did a couple weeks after the EBV reactivation showed 44 ng/mL Vit. D which is considered 'optimal' at > 30 ng/mL and within the reference range of 30-100 ng/mL. Prior to then I had not been taking any Vit. D but was typically in the sun at least 10-15 minutes per day. All other lab tests were within normal ranges (Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Immunoglobins, Lymphocyte Subset Panel, Sed. Rate, CBC, C-Reactive protein, Anachoice, DNA antibody, various other immunology tests, though Rheumatoid factor was 14 right on the edge of the reference range of <14 IU/ml which I'll be rechecking).
I originally got over EBV/mono in late 2011, but the sun sensitivity did not go away until April 2013. (Prior to 2011 I used to be in the sun a lot, I would usually go on my deck in the morning and have coffee and sit in the sun for a half an hour wearing only shorts. So I definitely should have had high Vit. D levels then.) I'm hoping to figure out how to make it go away faster this time as it definitely sucks to have to stay inside most of the day. The level of sensitivity is pretty amazing. It seems like if I stay in the shade and just get brief periods of sun for 10 seconds here and there I'm fine but if I actually stand with just my face in full sun for 1 or 2 minutes then I have plenty of energy for the entire rest of the day -- so much so that I can't go to sleep and even 3 or 4 hours later only then get very light sleep. Whereas if I get no more than 1-2 minutes of sun I always sleep totally fine that night.
If anyone has experience with possible solutions please let me know. I will try going up further on Vit. D-3 maybe gradually to 5000 IU/day since I'm obviously not getting much sun. I will also be doing some more lab tests in a month or two so maybe there are some other things I should check? Health otherwise is fine. I used to get migraines from 2012-2019 but have not had anymore after cutting out potato, turnips, corn, and tapioca and couple other similar things. And I have some other food sensitivities: gluten, eggs, and oats will give me a regular headache (not a migraine). I'm fine with all meats, all other veggies, rice in moderation, most beans, and with dairy. These food sensitivities started around 2014, probably because I used to eat at restaurants a lot who were all undoubtedly using the cheapest possible ingredients, GMO canola oil, etc. Since going all organic things have improved though, I can now do dairy again which used to cause acne-like symptoms and I have much less brain fog than in previous years. (My NMD gave me a few digestive enzymes and various things to rebuild the GI lining which seem to be working slowly but surely.) I eat pretty Peaty, zero PUFAs other than 1/2 avocado per day, well cooked veggies, no processed foods, 98% organic. Fresh fruit, gelatin, plantains. We almost always cook at home, stir fry veggies with turkey, pork, or beef. Occasionally fish such as Mahi-Mahi or Halibut maybe once per week.
Also I'm not sure which Vit. D supps might be the best since there seem to be different forms and combinations. Or maybe the issue is that somehow the EBV causes something in my system to become overly sensitive to Vit. D or its precursors. Why would a couple minutes of sun give me so much energy that I can't sleep for 12-18 hours? Maybe there is some other supplement that could counteract whatever this process is. And it would probably help to do another green cleanse which seemed to help in 2013 though that could have just been coincidence. Thanks for reading and any tips, David
Last edited:
