4 year old with mono

[disney*mom*82]

My DD4 has been sick for over 3 weeks. I was told 3 weeks ago it was allergies and she has been put on several medications and OTC medications as well. Ater 10 days it was still there, put on more meds. After 7 days she was worse and when I called the Dr, the sais she is fine just let it ride out (that was last Thursday)

This weekend was her 4th b-day party and she was SICK. She had fevers over 103, nasty cough, sleeping a lot, difficulty breathing while asleep, etc. I sent DH to take her to the Dr first thing Monday morning. She was tested for strep and influenza and they were negative then sent and tested for pnemonia and mono and we were told they were negative. They sent her home saying her allergies have gotten worse and put on more medications and breathing treatment.

I called today, 2 days later because she is refusing to eat, barely drinking, falling asleep at the drop of the hat mid day and has complained of a bad headache last night. The nurse calls back, "oh, well we got the results and yes she does have mono. She will be fine, just continue the medicaitons to treat other symptoms." I asked if there is anything to watch out for, etc and Im told nope, she'll be fine.

My DD4 has sleep apnea, bradycardia and tachycardia and this worries me with her having mono. Guess....now if you are still with me during this long post, my question is, is this something to be worried about? Is there anything I should do or shouldnt do? Please tell me about it. I havent heard of kids this young getting mono. Tell me the good and bad and if I just need to schedule her in for another visit?

Thanks!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Bless her heart. I really do not think there is anything they use to treat mono but I just think I would feel better if she was seen. The lack of concern of the staff would concern me a great deal.

 

[adoerr72]

Having had mono at 16, I can't imagine a 4 year old enduring it. Bless her heart is right! There is no treatment for mono, but they need to keep a close check on her spleen. So, she needs to be seen to make sure that she doesn't need to be hospitalized. Your pediatrician and staff should be taking this very seriously at her age and with her other complications. I had to go in for weekly check ups (and I had it for 6 wks...which can be considered relatively mild). Ugh! Hope she feels better soon.

 

[Mikey'swife]

My Ped said it was going around and told us to watch our daughter while we were waiting for test results- she just had strep but he had seen several cases.

Hope she feels better.

 

[bellanotte10]

I had a very severe case of mono a few years ago. so bad my throat swelled to the point i couldn't talk, or breathe, or eat very well. My mother had to sleep in my room to make sure i wouldn't stop breathing in my sleep. I also was so weak i couldn't pick up a remote. this is when my obsession was disney started. I turned it on the disney channel to watch a movie and literally couldn't stop watching.

The only thing they could do for me is come in to watch my spleen as a pp said, and give me cough syrup laced with codeine to knock me out and end my suffering. Wouldn't you know it? Thats when I found out i was allergic to codeine other than that, my doctor said there was nothing else he could give me. The poor nurse who was doing blood work to test for mono ( my tests took a while to test positive) said she knew I was sick when I stopped fighting and crying when getting blood drawn (huge fear of needles, I almost always pass out)

I spent a lot of my time with it crying a lot, and i was very depressed. I also lost a TON of weight, to the point where my pediatrician said if I didn't get it back i was getting admitted to the hospital.

basically give her popsicles (not fudgicles, I threw those up), pedialyte, water, just keep her well hydrated, and comfortable.

I don't mean to scare you. I had a SUPER bad case, so much so that my doctor tried was going to use me in a presentation and study. let us know how it goes. I feel so bad. Mono seriously was the WORST few months of my life.

please keep us updated. I feel so bad for her. sending out happy thoughts and hopes she gets better real soon

 

[rillsung]

Wow that is a horrible thing for you to go through, mom. DH had mono after we first met and he was down and out of work for a month. They first told him hepatitis but that wouldn't explain the insane sore throat. So they tested for mono and it was positive. Apparently mono messes with the digestive system too so that is why they thought hep. I think they did the same thing as a pp said - just something for the throat and wait it out. I don't think that mono should bother her breathing but I would probably still be a paranoid mom and keep a close eye on her. I think if there's any sign of more breathing problems, I'd be taking her in.

 

[cgncga]

My DD4 has been sick for over 3 weeks.

My DD4 has sleep apnea, bradycardia and tachycardia and this worries me with her having mono. Guess....now if you are still with me during this long post, my question is, is this something to be worried about? Is there anything I should do or shouldnt do? Please tell me about it. I havent heard of kids this young getting mono. Tell me the good and bad and if I just need to schedule her in for another visit?

Thanks!

My now 10 year old had mono at 5. Like your daughter it took a long time (and a lot of doctor visits) for it to be diagnosed. She had the high fever for a couple weeks (that would go down with tylenol and then right back up when the tylenol wore off) and absolutely no energy. It took her a long time to get back to her normal energy levels, but other than that she recovered quite well.

Catherine, Mom to 2 girls (almost 8 and 10)

 

[jimandami]

My DS7 had mono when he was 3 and honestly, he did fine. Yes, he had a fever and sore throat for a week or so and was a little tired, but kids at that age usually do MUCH better than teenagers and adults, who are often sick for months. Just keep giving your DD lots of fluids, treat her symptoms, and let her rest. We did keep DS home from daycare for 2 weeks and didn't let him do a lot of active play (mono carries a risk of ruptured speen as a PP mentioned and our pedi advised us to just watch him closely). Hope your DD feels better soon.

 

[d1sneyf4n]

My DS had mono at the age of 1. When I took him to the doc, he felt his belly area and said he has mono. His liver was very large and his spleen was near his groin area. There was nothing I could do but let him ride it out he said. He did say to try to keep him from falling or bumping his belly area bc of the enlarged organs. This was a Friday. Over the weekend he started to weez. I called the doc and I was told to bring him in. My normal doc was not there so I saw someone else. She wanted a blood test. So off to the get blood work done. They tested for mono and it came back he had it for sure. When she called to tell me she said I will let Doc so and so know that he was correct. Again nothing I could really do for him. He had very high fevers which I just gave him motrin and tylenol for and they put him on a Mr Neb for his breathing. It was about 3 weeks for him until he was back to normal.

Hope you little one feels better soon!

 

[Ashlotte]

I had mono last year. Actually, I had it when I was at Disneyland and thought it was a cold, but then it lasted for weeks and weeks. Anyway, I just wanted to suggest going to a naturopath. After I was diagnosed I saw one and they gave me a bunch of suppliments to build up my immune system that helped SO MUCH. Seriously, it was amazing how much better I felt. I know a lot of people (my dh) are skeptics about natural medicine, but with mono, there really isn't a mainstream medicine solution. The naturopathic route is definitely worth a try.

 

[3pletprincesses]

Well we got result this week that one of our 5 yo triplet has mono. Like your Dd, she has been really sick for a while and as had a fever of over 104 for over a week and half and no matter what she was given, it would not go down. We visit several times the dr and the children's hospital twice to be told and was lung infection, a cold and maybe an ear infection. Well she has none of that, it's mono. She too sleeps all day long and barely eats. We have to give her advil every 6 hours and tylenol every 4 hours until her fever gets under control and she has a codeine cough medecine because her cough is terrible. That's all we can do for her and or course the best remedie according to her is to be held. She is also not allowed to go back to school for at least a month and has to gradually return. I was told to not expect her to be at scholl full time before x-mas.

My sister had mono 2 years ago and I can tell you that's normal. She failed her second semester of college becasue she missed over 2 months of school. she could barely stay awake more then a few minutes at the time and when she got back to school after a month, she was only able to stay alert for the lenght of a class and that was it.

Unfortunetely we have both a long road ahead of us but the good news is that children bounce back much fast then most teenagers and adults. All we can do is make sure they drink plenty and rest a lot. Hang in there mom!