Share your mono story with me!

[autumnpalm]

So I just found out I have mono!

I feel so rotten. I can barely sit up and stay awake and of course this is one of the busiest times of year! My doctor has given me the whole "rest, fluids and more rest" advice so I guess I'm just going to ride this out!

Unfortunately I am getting sick right at the beginning of my college semester which is super important. I am really, really, really hoping this won't mean I have to drop the semester. Plus there are a bunch of little things going on, like tickets a musical tomorrow which I won't be able to attend.

I know mono is super common so does anyone care to commiserate with me and share your mono story? How long were you sick for? What did you miss out on? I know I'm not the only one out there!

Misery loves company!

 

[MinnieTink]

Hey, sorry you are sick. I had mono when I was 21. Ugh. I felt so sick and I remember my lymph nodes in my neck were so swollen it hurt to lay down and put any pressure on them. The real brutal part of it didn't really last too long. A week--ish. The fatigue lingers tho. There were a few times that I went home for lunch and dozed off...only to be awoken by my coworker's phone call wondering where the heck I was 2 hours after leaving work. It happened a few times. I worked in a dr office so I ended up staying in for lunch and closing my eyes for pathetic little naps on paper-lined exam tables. Yeah. Not cool.

Get rest. Fluids. FEEL BETTER!!!!!

 

[brasswillow]

My experience with mono was a little a-typical. The doctor thought I had strep throat and gave me penicillin. I had a horrible reaction, my lips and face swelled and I was covered with painful purple welts all over my body. As a result I don't remember much about the mono. I was just really tired and spent most of my time on the couch watching those daytime television shows that you don't believe could ever exist until you see them for yourself.

Take care of yourself. Hope you get feeling better soon!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

I had mono when I was 16 - it's the sickest I've ever been in my life. Not only did I have the huge lymph nodes, horrific headache, sore throat, etc..., I was also throwing up. I couldn't keep anything down. I missed a week of school, and could only do 1/2 days for another week. The fatigue that lingers is awful. My doctor did say at the time that I had the worst case of mono he'd ever seen. Hopefully it won't be so bad for you. Get lots of rest. I know how stressful it can be to be sick while in college - just do the best you can.

 

[stsomewhere]

My son has it. He has felt sick for a few months. This is the first week since Sept. that he made it a full week at school. He did tell me that he was planning on calling me todya and I told him to stick it out.

If I were you, I would still go to the musical.

 

[HannaBelle]

I am so sorry you have mono! It is the pits. Normally I am not a "gloom and doom" kind of person, but here are my cold hard facts:

I had mono when I was 17, a senior in high school. I was absent from school for 35ish day (approximately 2 months) and I have never felt worse in my life. Not 12 hours of labor followed by an emergency C-section, not even H1N1, bronchitis or pneumonia...nothing...can top the misery I felt when I had mono. It was terrible. I had to go to the doctor each Monday to have blood work done, I *think* they were checking my liver functions.

I missed homecoming my senior year and getting to go to all of the fall football games. I had to change my graduation plan from the advanced plan to the regular plan because I would not have had enough credits to graduate.

After I was determined well enough to return to school, I only went partial days. It took me a good 3 months to get rid of the exhausted/drained/no energy feeling and probably another 9 before I felt like myself again.

Now, I do think I had a very bad case and A LOT of people I have talked to were just really sick for a week and then they were fine.

So, it is possible you will bounce back quickly, just stay hydrated and alternate ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Chloraseptic works great on throat pain too.

I am so sorry!

 

[Rora]

OP- I'm so sorry!! Mono stinks. I've actually never had mono but my best friend in high school did. She had an awful time.

It was the begining of the year and she had her wisdom teeth out over the weekend. Somehow her wisdom teeth became infected and then all of a sudden she felt as sick as a dog. She went to the DR and was diagnosed with mono. She missed school for about a month because her body was too weak to combat the infection. She was miserable. Swollen lymph nodes, terrible fatiuge, etc.

Best advice according to her: stay in bed. Seriously. Just stay in bed, sleep, and watch TV.

OP- I'm sure your professors will understand! FEEL BETTER!

 

[PatsMom]

I had mono when I was 19. I missed about a week of work but wasn't confined to bed or anything. I just took it easy and rested. I think if I had been going to school and could rest a bit between classes I would not have taken any time from work.

It is miserable to be tired all the time and the swollen lymph nodes are uncomfortable. But I got the same advice you did from the doctor - rest when you can, lots of fluids.

 

[lsyorke]

I had mono when I was 16 - it's the sickest I've ever been in my life. Not only did I have the huge lymph nodes, horrific headache, sore throat, etc..., I was also throwing up. I couldn't keep anything down. I missed a week of school, and could only do 1/2 days for another week. The fatigue that lingers is awful. My doctor did say at the time that I had the worst case of mono he'd ever seen. Hopefully it won't be so bad for you. Get lots of rest. I know how stressful it can be to be sick while in college - just do the best you can.

A widely unknown reaction to penicillin with mono. Penicillin should NEVER be given when mono is present or you will get this bizarre rash.

DS21 had mono in the 8th grade. We had no idea what was going on, since it didn't "present" classically. His ped at the time started amoxicillin and he broke out horribly with the rash.This went on for two weeks. Blood work drawn, ped missed the positive mono spot.
I ended up taking him to a doc I've known for years(who doesn't treat kids, but made an exception) and from the door of his office looked at DS and said "You have mono and who the heck gave you penicillin?"
Gotta love an "old" doc who has seen it all and pays attention. His ped had no clue about the penicillin connection.

Oh,....and this doesn't mean you are allergic to penicillin.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Mono is different for everyone- just as every illness is. At it's best, two-three weeks are needed to feel back to normal...you will be extremely tired. There is no getting around the fatigue! You WILL have a lot of it. As far as how long it will last, well, could be a few weeks all the way to a few MONTHS! I had mono my last semester of my Sr. yr in college! and I've never been so sick in my entire life! It didn't want to get better. I was sleeping for the majority of 2 months. I hardly remember 1 month of my life. Others get it, are sick for a week and just tired out for about three weeks (or a little longer) but it's manageable.

In my situation, I would have been smart to take off that semester because I got it in beg. of Sept. I should have dropped all of my classes and just started over the next semester. I took the not-so-smart route and stayed in. I had to take 3 incompletes, which look really bad on transcripts- but with several Dr. written notes that accompanied them along with re-do's in those classes all worked out in the long run- but I still needed to take 1 more semester!

 

[karenos]

I had mono as a 32 year old. My one main symptom was incredibly swollen joints. Originally they thought it was Lyme disease. I was working full time with a 9 month old - talk about tired!! Luckily my DH was extremely helpful and supportive and let me sleep when I could. I took a few days off work, and was feeling better after about 2-3 weeks.

Hope you feel better soon.
karenos

 

[loveysbydesign]

shuddering...you've brought back bad memories of when I had mono when I was 16. I was sick over 2 months and the worst part of it lasted about 3 weeks. Swollen glands, fatigue....basically everything mentioned here. I got it in Oct. and was sick over Halloween, my 16th bday, my brother's wedding and finally started to get better around Thanksgiving. It was the pits! The worst part was that other's just couldn't understand how I felt. Hope OP feels better soon!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I had mono in my Junior year of High School. I was out of school from Thanksgiving break until March 1st. The month of March I could only do 1/2 days. A tutor was sent to the house so that I could pass the grade. I lost almost 40#'s and weighed only 85#s. My boyfriend at the time did not get sick at all, and if it is truly a kissing disease, he would have been sick. It affects everyone different. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[RangerPooh]

I got it when I was 22 and then again this spring (at 30). The first time I got it over the summer and it arrived with a nasty strepth throat. I felt sick for a week or so leading up to it, but kept working due to saving every penny to pay for school. Finaly the dizziness, fatigue, and pain made me go to the ER. A week after being diagnosed I joined my family on vacation in Hawaii. That was a miserable trip, but I didn't want to miss the chance to see my grandparents. Duirng the flight my ears plugged and by the time we touched down I could not hear anything. It wa slike that for another day. Then trying to get my doctor to phone in a prescription for me was a pain due to the time difference. But it was a memorable trip.

This speing I was feeling the fatigue and tummy pain again. I went to the doctoir and they weren't even planning on runningt he test until I said this is how I felt years ago when I last had it. Sure enough I had it again. Missed a few days of work, but kept doing everything as $ is nice and being a mom menas not having time off.

 

[ElizK]

I'll tell you what DD(then)16's dr told us when she was diagnosed: Do as little as possible, sleep as much as you can, drink lots of water, for at LEAST two weeks, otherwise you run the risk of dragging this out for months.

5 days after DD was diagnosed she had a job interview. Didn't really think that me driving her, her answering questions for 15 mins, and then driving her home would be a big deal, right? The whole took 45 mins. Well, we got home and she slept for more than 2 hours.

 

[Belle2667]

DS25 just got this diagnosis on NYE. 2 days before, he went to doc for a severe sore throat. They thought either strep or mono, but couldn''t get a throat culture because he was so swollen. So...they gave him amox and told him if he doesn't feel better in a few days, come back for the blood test. (Don't ask me why they just didn't do the test at that point.)

Anyway, NYE morning he calls that he can't even swallow water anymore. So we send him off to the ER and they confirm the mono via blood test. Then he got a steroid shot in his butt and was sent on his merry way and told to rest rest rest.

He works nights so he has a docs note getting him out for 2 weeks. He's feeling better, but I don't know how hard going back to work will be for him. Hopefully, that shot helped him get the shorter / lighter version compared to some of the other stories I've read!

 

[aprilgail2]

shuddering...you've brought back bad memories of when I had mono when I was 16. I was sick over 2 months and the worst part of it lasted about 3 weeks. Swollen glands, fatigue....basically everything mentioned here. I got it in Oct. and was sick over Halloween, my 16th bday, my brother's wedding and finally started to get better around Thanksgiving. It was the pits! The worst part was that other's just couldn't understand how I felt. Hope OP feels better soon!

Bad memories for me too- I was actually in the hospital for a few days and the sick and out of work for months. Sickest I ever was in my life- swine flu was nothing compared to mono!

 

[Micca]

Share your mono story with me!


I would but it's one-sided.*



*lame electronic geek joke

 

[autumnpalm]

Thanks, guys! I just woke up from another nap... am now watching What Not to Wear and sipping on some ginger ale.

I know it's 6 weeks away but I have a Disney trip coming up and I hope I'm feeling 100% by then. Is it sad that that's what is on my mind more than school?

 

[HannaBelle]

Hey OP!

I am just checking in to see how you are doing? I hope you are feeling great again!



HannaBelle