Mononucleosis

raider19

I am wondering how many mono sufferers have had a similar experience to mine. I first got sick in July of 2012 and recovered uneventfully in less than three weeks. I was completely fine for a full year and thought that I was out of the woods. Then in July of 2013 I had the EXACT same symptoms come back. Enlarged spleen, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, aches, brain fog, headaches etc. However, it was with a negative monospot. For this reason, my doctors figured it could not be related to my mono. It's like I had all the symptoms, but the test would not cooperate. I was tested for everything under the sun by the doctors at my University's student wellness center: (Thyroid, EKG, blood sugar, West Nile, ANA, HIV) All have come back negative.

I had finally come home in September after school was just wearing me out and I needed time to recover when my GP recognized it immediately as a "Chronic Fatigue post state" and said it would be 1-2 years before I was completely back to normal. I'm not sure where he got that timetable from. 9 months into it I feel the worst of it is over but the one symptom that has not gone away is the tiredness. I will be heading back to school in June and know I can handle classes, just not any rigorous activity without being wiped out the next day. Even though I am much improved, it's just concerning me that this could last so long. Has anyone else gone through this?

Hahnsoo1

In various studies among a younger cohort (less than age 30), around half of folks who get mono remain fatigued at 3 months. About half of that (25%) at 6 months, about half of that (10-15%) in a year, and about half of that (5-10%) in two years report chronic fatigue (these numbers may have changed, since I haven't really studied this in about a decade). It's not common, but it's not rare. It can take a long time to recover completely from it. Your best bet for recovery is light non-stressful exercise (like daily walks for about 30 minutes), good sleep hygiene (always go to bed at the same time, always wake up at the same time).

There are various support groups online for folks who get mono (and post-mono fatigue), too. They are varying degrees of crazy and sane (as all internet forums can be, including this one), but I suggest seeking those out. You are not alone.

mts

did they check you for lyme disease. very similar symptoms

Captain Marcus

It's (probably-IANAD) not Lyme disease. The mononucleosis viruses (like the chicken pox virus) stay in the body throughout your life. Recurrent infection yours is rare, but it can happen. The symptoms usually go away completely in about 2-3 months, but there have been cases of people with longer infections.

Again, your best bet is sleeping well, eating well, and mild exercise (NOT HEAVY. Give up any sports you might have had- you could severely injure your spleen).

raider19

They checked for lyme. And yeah, I quit lifting for the time being. Thanks for the information, I tried reading support forums on the health sites but it was all so discouraging I stopped. No one wants to post their happy story of how they got over it.

kaliyama

Right. And you're likely to see a certain percentage of people whose problems are psychological on message boards and who have misdiagnosed themselves.

Maybe see if you can find a RL support group?

Creagan

My mom was fatigued for half her senior year of high school after she got mono. But then again, she went unconscious and my lazy neglectful grandmother didn't get her any help until after she woke up three days later. So that might have contributed to the severity of her symptoms...

Super-strong antibiotics can wreck your immune system and leave you prone to illness too. My brother got blood poisoning, waited waaaay too long to tell my parents, and was four hours away from death when they took him to the ER. Thankfully he only needed the second strongest set of meds they stocked. But he was sick for two years afterwards, just from the lack of good bacteria in his gut.

bowen

Yeah my symptoms lasted about 6 months. Spleen enlargement went away after 2 weeks but my apetite was gone and I was thoroughly exhausted for half a year.

Noquar

Not much advice from me, but..I suffered from it for close to two years. It was a long process and I don't wish it on any one.

Darkewolfe

I had about two weeks of hell and then several months that were largely indistinguishable from regular life, because who isn't exhausted almost all of the time anyway?

raider19

I'm glad y'all recovered. Anyone else have relapses tied to a certain time of year? I ask because my symptoms came back almost one year to the day I got sick the first time.

cabsy

I have a friend who had mono and any time she gets a serious cold or other illness that stresses her immune system she has mono-esque symptoms until it passes. You may have just picked up a common cold from somewhere and that's how your body decided to react to things like colds now?

raider19

I have heard of that happening but haven't had a cold or flu since I first got mono (thank God). It's strange because your immune system is supposed to be weak following an attack of mono, but hopefully that's one less thing I have to worry about.

Creagan

The only thing I can think of is maybe you're experiencing the relapses because your immune system is weak. Similar to why old people get shingles, which is basically chickenpox.