Who's had mono?
 

Okay, so I had strep throat a couple weeks ago.

The past couple days, felt like it was coming back (YES, i did finish my meds). Today I went to student health.

She did a throat culture (won't be back until Friday- which makes no sense. We're part of one of the world's best medical centers and it takes that long to get it back? My doctor at home when I was a kid would have it back in 10 minutes!) and drew some blood to test for MONO.

Now in general, i've felt fine. Same energy level, etc. I told her that (nurse practioner), she said some people don't get the tiredness, etc. Which goes against anything i've ever heard about mono.

So thankfully they'll have the mono test back first thing tomorrow AM. But she wouldn't give me any drugs today, which ticks me off b/c i need to study and can't get any sicker!

ARGH! If anyone's had mono, i'd like to hear how you dealt with it so I can prepare myself :(

I have had mono before. It wasn't a big deal for me. You just can do anything strenuous. If I remember right your spleen could rupture if you so anything strenous. That mean is you work out stick to walking and simple stuff. I never had the feeling tired symptom but some people do. Not much you can do just wait til it passes. Just relax and rest alot and you should be ok. I am sure you will be on anti biotics for awhile because strep can happen easily while you have mono.

Thanks for sharing! I didn't really believe the nurse practitioner when she said some people don't get the tired symptom. It's good to hear from someone who's had the same symptoms. I am a little tired today, but that's probably just as much from 1) stress and 2) some sort of sick, whatever i am!

Why on earth does this have to happen several days before finals????????????

Just be prepared to hear the jokes about who you been kissing, since mono is the "kissing disease" if you do find out you have mono. lol

I had mono at the end of my freshman year of college and during the summer. Mono knocked me out for three months. I was so fatigued that I could barely get out of bed. It was awful and it started with strep throat. :(

My diet was pretty limit because my throat hurt so much. I ate soup and drank tea and juice for a few weeks. I was told not to eat high fat foods and not to drink alcohol.

I hope that you don't have it. Feel better. :)

I definitely came down with mono the day before work week started for rush. It f'ing blew.
I had been going to bed at like 8 every night for week the month before. Then i was fine. all of a sudden one friday i woke up and my arms felt liek they were 10000 lbs, i had a fever and couldn't do anything.
Basically all you can do is sleep sleep sleep and drink soup and gatorade.

I've seen it both ways... Never had it myself. One of my fraternity brothers got it a few months ago. Had a sore throat and was fatigued. He finally went to the doctor because his throat was so sore that he couldn't swallow food. He got to be hospitilized for a few days, had some great pain meds and was back to normal in no time.

On another occasion, a coworker of mine had it and was gone for 3 weeks. Bedridden. He lost like 20 pounds and said it was probably the worst experience of his life.

This is such a good point. So many doctors told me that I would experience this, I know a few adults who have gotten it and it took them months to recoop. To this day I still don't feel A+, and like if I pull an all nighter or stay up real late, it takes me 2 weeks to get back to normal, swear to god. Yuck.

I guess I was lucky when I had mono I was never tired. But I sure did act like it sometimes to get my way!lol

I have a question that some might deem as stupid, but do black people get mono? I went to a mostly all white high school and remember plenty of white people being out of school for weeks and months at a time because they had mono. I've NEVER in my 28 years known a black person that had mono. Am I right?

My roommate in the house just got over mono. She also was never extremely exhausted to the point that she stayed in bed 24/7, but we live on the third floor, so she would get tired (even more so) after walking up the three flights of stairs. It started with her throat hurting--she said she's never been in so much pain before--and the throat culture came back negative for strep throat. We have a pretty sucky health center on campus, and so they didn't bother to check for mono until a few days later when she wasn't getting better. I don't think she had an extremely bad case of mono because the dr. told her that she could still go to class, even though she did end up missing a few days.

According to the doctor, symptoms of mono don't start showing up until 6 weeks later, which worried me at first since I live with her and may have shared the same cup or something. And now my throat hurts!!! Mono just sucks... but to get mono your senior year, just a few weeks before graduation would suck ten times more!

I had it senior year of High School and it knocked me out for a month. Even worse, it was the end of the 3rd quarter and beginning of the 4th. All but one of my teachers were wonderful about it. That one, though...she was a nun who didn't care that I was legitimately sick. She flunked me both quarters and wouldn't accept any makeup work even after a request from my parents and doctor. Ugh.

Christin

short term: I was diagnosed in April or May, went back to school in August, but wasn't myself until Sept or October. It drained my energy. I managed to walk from my bedroom to the living room which was an accomplishment.

long term: I wasn't the same after mono. I just didn't have the energy that I used to have. Epstein Barr can do that to you. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. I wound up having strep and bronchitis a few times a year for the next few years after mono. It took many years for me to stop feeling sick. I'm not sure if I actually recovered or if I lowered my standards.

Just to clear up someone elses statement:
You can only have mono once, unless you are severly immunocompromised. Around 90% of adults have antibodies to the virus, many with out knowing they have had the infection. The older you are the harder it will hit you. 1/2 the population have had mono before 5years of age but at that age it is asymptomatic.
I am trying to remember what we just discussed about it in my Immunology class...i will have to find my notes.

Well, my roommate, who's African American, from freshman year got mono during her junior year... so there ya go.

I forgot to mention that what killed my roommate about having mono was not being able to drink alcohol. Granted, it's not a HUGE sacrifice, but for those who go to the bars several times a week, it's not all that much fun. Even though she's better now, she can't drink alcohol for a few more days.

I would habe to disagree with the statement the older you are the worse it will hit you. It maybe true in alot of cases but not all. I was 21 at the time. Besides the strep throat problems, I would never have known I had mono. I found out after the 3rd time seeing a doc. The first 2 times I went to the school doc and they never test for mono. Then I went to an out side doctor and they tested for it and found I had it. I think it was a parting gift from my ex gf. How fun!

i had it for about 2 weeks. a very mild case.

i am not sure where i got it tho. i had a bf at the time and he didn't have it. and before i knew i had it, we kissed and he still didn't get it. so i am not really sure. although i was told that a person could have the virus for mono and not know it, pass it on to someone else, and THEY will get it.

Anyway, I developed a really really bad sore throat during recruitment one semester but just thought it was strep or something. I went to the health center and they drew blood for Mono. I didn't understand it because I wasn't tired at all. I would sleep but not all day. I ended up going home for that next week and my throat felt like it was closing in on me. I couldn't talk.

I had a really weird case. Cuz my friends would tell me that when they had it, they would sleep for days.
I didn't.

Oh yah I forgot no alcohol!

Did he have strep throat also?

One time I had a sore throat but, I thought it was just a sore throat until I couldn't swallow anymore. When I finally went to the doctor they told me I had mono and strep at the same time. I lost about 25 lbs. I thought strep throat was way worse than mono.

Can you have Epstein Barr virus w/ having mono in the past?

Thanks. You learn something new everyday. I honestly used to wonder about that.

I got mono right after I graduated from high school :mad: But aside from the sore throat, it wasn't that bad. I don't recall ever feeling exhausted. The only thing that concerned me was the enlarged spleen.

The sore throat was the worst. I had these white things on the back of my throat that looked like blisters. I could hardly swallow my own saliva, let alone solid food. The doc gave me prednizone (I think) and it seemed to disolve those blister things. I was eating within hours of the first pill.

But, if your sore throat has passed, you don't have much to worry about. Like others have said, just take it easy and don't over-exert yourself physically.

i had mono when I was in 5th grade.

I don't remember the sore throat, but I was really tired. I had a pretty mild case, though.

Dani, have you tried getting a B-12 shot? I had a sinus infection and tonsilitis about a month ago, and with all the stress from school I just couldn't bounce back. The b-12 got me back on my feet.

I hope you feel better! Rest up for finals!

PM_Mama, as far as the bad brochitis, I would get that checked out. Bronchitis is related to asthma and you could have bronchial asthma.

Yes, so I'm actually just getting over mono. It started with me having a fever and getting chills. Then a few days later I was drying my hair after I showered, and I felt a bump on my head. I freaked out because it felt rather large and I could feel it internally. But I held off seeing a doctor because I thought that it would go away (but I was still uneasy about it). So after a week of the fever and chills, I started getting the worst sore throat. Then I started sucking on Halls. I was miserable and at times nauseous. I took Nyquil and other cold medicine but nothing worked. So I went to my campus health center and the doctor gave me a throat culture. The five minute culture and overnight one both came back negative for strep throat. She gave me a decongestion and pills for my nauseous and told me to get good lozenges. So I went to CVS and asked for the strongest kind, which they told me was Fisherman's Friend. Yeah, they were definitely strong, but didn't really help me. So I went back to see the doctor, and that's when she gave me antibiotics and decided to test me for mono, just to make sure I didn't have it. So yeah turns out I did have it. Since I know it takes 4-6 weeks before you have symptoms, I traced it back to the last person I kissed, who happened to be the Greek Week Chair of our fraternity matchup--kissed on 2 occassions within that time frame--we've been friends for a while. But I never asked him about it because I don't think he was ever sick... he was always out at the bar like me drinking (and you're not supposed to drink). So it may not have been him. I had the worst sore throat in my life for another week and a half... I felt weak at times, and I slept a lot. But once the sore throat went away, I felt much better, though my sisters warn me not to be too active because I can still have a relapse in the next 6 months. I went back for a follow-up last Thursday, and she said I'm fine. She said I'm not contagious anymore, but I can't drink for another 3 weeks. I know the owner of the bar I go to and he's asked me if he could get me a drink. I'm like you can get me water... and he was like water?! I just told him I had gotten sick the night before from drinking. Yay for water! Oh and yay for sherbert too! I ate orange sherbert while I was sick for my throat, it was a nice treat!

Oh yeah I forgot to mention why I had that bump on my head. My doctor said your lymphnodes swell up a lot around that area so I guess that's where it came from. I no longer have it anymore.

Oh and it's funny... when I got home after I got tested for mono (but didn't know the results yet), I researched about it on the Internet. I also went on here and looked up to see if there were any mono threads. I had found an old one, and after reading it, it actually made me feel better... because people had said that they think it's so common and you're bound to get it in college.

omg...so much the kissing disease! i got it my fr year of high school....thought i was going to DIE! i still had my tonsils, and they were FRIGGIN HUUUUGE when i wasn't sick, so they got even more swollen and the dr thought they were going to have to have an emergency tonsilectimy (sp??????) as well as get my spleen out....i was in the hospital for three days on nothing but liquid, and even that was a challenge. i sounded like kermit the frog....it was horrible. then they left my IV in too long and my hand got all swollen plus the GUY THAT GAVE IT TO ME broke up with me (this was around christmas time, too) while i was in there.......boohoo!! when i got outta there, i was 8 lbs lighter.....and i went in there at 100 lbs.....lovely. tonsils didn't come out until last christmas, and spleen is still hanging on, though. it was horrible. never have i ever hurt so much in all my life!!!!!
plus, i ended up giving it to the next guy i dated.......oops.

ah, to be 14 again.....-sigh-

I hate student health
 

The nurse practioner promised to call me first thing when she got in this morning at 9. She has both my home and cell numbers. It is now 11:15. I have not yet heard from her.

My roommate's not answering the phone, she's probably still sleeping, so I can't tell if they called my apartment. Even though I specifically told them to call my cell.

They get REALLY pissy when you call them to find out your test results. But it's at the point where i'm PISSED b/c i'm not getting treated.

I still feel fine, except i'm having a very difficult time swallowing and my neck's a little stiff. Thank god i'm not on my death bed, having to rely on them. I'm half tempted to drive home later and go to my PCP.

ARGH :mad: this is NOT the time of year to mess with me!

Re: I hate student health
 

Drugs are not the answer. :(

















Sorry, lol, I couldn't resist! :p :D

WOOHOO! I don't have mono!

Just some sort of nasty infection..... got some Zithromax, hopefully that'll kick in.


Sorry Librasoul- but drugs ARE the answer!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

My health center gave me Zithromax... I think it helped me. Glad to hear you don't have it!

I'm glad you don't have mono. Cause while I'm an advocate of there's a drug for just about all that ails ya; there's NOTHING for mono. :(

I had mono my last year in college. It was end of Winter quarter. I had ZERO appetite, just thinking of food made me sick. I was really tired and my throat hurt but I chocked it up to me studing so much for finals.

So after I took my last final I went to Student Health. They took a throat culture and blood and said it's probably mono cause it had been going around. I was expecting to be told I had an ear infection or something! I told the nurse if I have a mono and I failed my finals I may need a note to try to retake them. :) The bloodwork wouldn't be back till morning so I had to come back the next day. I was annoyed cause for once my finals ended early in the week and now I had to still come back to school just to get my results.

I came back the next day and the test was negative but the nurse was convinced it was mono. She took more blood and gave me a bunch of gatorade to drink. She said to make sure and rest and don't drink any alcohol.

Here's the kicker, I was leaving for Spring Break in Vegas the next day!!!!!!!! :mad:

Since the test was negative I partied my ass off. :D

Course that was stupid and the moment I got home I felt like I was going to die. I slept so much when I got back. I'd wake up only to check out what color my tonsils were and if they were still bleeding/pussy. GROSS I know. They're scarred now.

After Spring Break it was back to school. And back to Student Health. The test was still negative so the nurse took even more blood and gave me even more gatorade! Few days later the test was finally positive but I was feeling sooo much better by then!

Good news is though, I passed my finals!

I've never had it. I've been really tired these past 2 weeks, so just by reading this thread , I was convinced that I had it.

Went to the doctor today. I don't have mono. I have a nice ear infection. And had I not screwed around all day yesterday, I could have gotten my prescription filled. But that's life and so my ear will hurt another day till I can get my drugs.






In my best Mr Mackey voice : Drugs are Good....UMM Kay:p

To whomever stated that you can get mono twice, you cannot. However, if your immune system is compromised (usually from another illness) you can relapse, it's not getting it "again" it is simply just a recurrance of symptoms.

Sorry, but I think you missunderstood your doc...

Are there by any chance any doctors out there who can clear up the whole "you can/can't get it again" debate? Because I know people who have had it several times and were not immune compromised, plus I've always been told that once you get it you're more susceptible to getting it again and again.

I myself have never had it (at least not that I know of :p) but my school's student health office sure did test everybody for it (and strep as well) who walked in the door! It got to the point where I would ask them NOT to test me!

Okay... just went to medinenet.com (because I'm so curious) which states that the chances of getting it again are slim to none. The reason people get diagnosed multiple times is this: The virus can stay in your blood for a very long time after you get over your "first" infection. You may begin experiencing symptoms similar to those of mono, so of course when you go to the doctor they test you for it. The test is positive because the virus is still present in your blood, so you get a second diagnosis. The thing is, you usually don't actually have mono at this point. Does that make sense?

So I guess that's where the myth that you're more likely to get it again comes from.

BTW... I also found that white people are 30 times more likely to get mono than any other race. I know someone had a question about that.