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Does anyone have Valley Fever?
My son has had Valley Fever since he was 38yrs. old. He is 45 yrs old now. He is not getting any better because it has spread into many organs in his body. He is on a high dose of antifungal medication.
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Hello @misslauren
I am sorry to hear of your son's longstanding problem with Valley Fever. We have several members on Connect who have discussed this problem. Here is a link to all of the posts that mention Valley Fever.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/?search=Valley+fever
I encourage you to read these posts and to ask questions or comment on what others have said about this.
You say that it has spread to many organs in his body. Could you share what his most bothersome symptoms are right now?
Yes, his main problem is in his bones. He has alot of pain in his shoulders down to his wrists. The doctor is still running tests to see if his organs are involved. He also has pain in his back. Thank you for responding, sorry it took me so long but I'm suffering from Long Covid with many symptoms for two and a half years. I will look the link and read the posts and will give him the link. Thank you so much. Lauren
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2 ReactionsWell, I can relay my experience in case it's helpful in some way...
I got Valley Fever back in Dec 2022 and took Fluconazole every day for about 6 months. Despite the annoying side effects of Fluconazole (itching, dry skin, and dry everything), it worked for me and I was finally "clear" of VF by June 2023. I was 48 yo when I got it. I'm 51 now.
My VF stayed confined to my lungs, though I did have some pretty achy knees and ankles for the last couple months. The achyness really reminded me of when I had growing pains as a little kit. It was pretty bad.
I also had horrible flu-like symptoms, fever, fatigue, MASSIVE night-sweats, etc. My bone and joint pain were not due to it actually getting INTO my bones and joints though. More of a systemic symptom (if I'm remembering the docs explanation correctly). In that regard, I was lucky. Though rare, VF can indeed spread to things outside the lungs--like joints, bones, or the nervous system. I believe it can manifest externally on the skin too.
Most commonly though, it's a respiratory thing and people recover... sometimes very quickly, and some people deal with it for years.
Some people never even have symptoms, apparently.
Though I'm recovered, I have permanent "cavitations" in one of my lungs. They're stable, but could one day get worse or rupture. So, I have to get a chest x-ray yearly to ensure they're not getting worse. So far, they're staying stable, which is better than nothing, I guess.
I do still cough a lot, and am more sensitive now to any impurities in the air. Just something I'll have to live with, but otherwise I'm fully recovered and back to normal activities, exercise, etc.
It sounds like your son has what's called the "disseminated" version of VF. That's usually what they classify any version of VF that migrates outside the respiratory system. I think they tend to treat that with intravenous antifungals.