Your Experience with Mono Please.

My teen daughter was with me, we ate, talked, played, laughed and on the way home stopped for gas. She got out of the car, took 5 steps and collapsed. SHe was disoriented, lethargic, and pale. I got her to the bathroom, splashed cold water on her and she was perfectly fine within a few minutes. Dr dismissed it as nothing. Low blood sugar maybe - but we had just eaten. A month later she passed out again. Dr dismissed it. I took her to another dr and this jackass told us it could be leukemia, wont know until we run some tests. 4 excruciating days later the test came back positive for Epstein-Barr, the pre-mono virus that leads to mono. No, there wasn't anything they could do, but it helped knowing it wasnt something worse. That was my experience. Happy one minute, passed out the next, lasted a long time, 3 months or more. But she was 17.

I would get him tested. If it is Mono you'll want to know. There are physical restriction that he must be under to prevent serious outcomes. There are also meds that will help make his recovery faster, if it is mono.

My daughter had mono in 6th or 7th grade (the years begins to blend) - I must have taken her to the doctor 3 or 4 times over a couple of months. Eventually they drew blood and discovered that she had developed the antibodies and so she had had mono - but was now no her way back up. They are tired for weeks / months after. And yes it comes and goes - it's kind of like having a headache - there are times that you can forget you have it when you're doing something you enjoy, but when you sit down, or pause, it comes roaring back. My daughter has since learned not to share drinks - she and her friends used to share everything. yuck.

But we also know, in retrospect, that my daughter was having a tough time at school during that period. So had school been a smooth experience for her she would have found a way to be there. But since it was socially tough for her she felt worse than she would have otherwise. It was a tough couple of years!!!

I'd get the blood test just to rule out other stuff. Try to also fin dout if everything at school / activities is going well or if there are any issues. Kids don't always share the tough stuff.

Mono can take a long time to go away. Go ahead and get the blood draw. (Mine was diagnosed with a finger stick.)

But to be honest, you should ask for a full blown blood work up. You need to figure this out. It sounds like he had strep for a while before you knew - perhaps the strep has caused some additional problems - you don't want to take any chances with strep.

When I had mono in my teens, I was SO sick that I couldn't have jumped "up", much less up and down, so to speak. If I had had it during the school year instead of the summer, I wouldn't have been able to go to school for many weeks. I ended up having to have steroids so that I could stand to swallow my spit, my throat was so terribly sore.

If he can jump up and down, he CAN do his homework. If you need to keep him home, NO TV. No computer games, no nothing. Make him bored out of his mind being at home. Hold "home school". And then get that bloodwork done.

Hope that he is better soon!
Dawn

I think it's fine to have him tested, but mono tends to be more consistent, rather than up and down with symptoms. I had mono when I was a freshman in High School (so 14) and I missed 10 weeks of school, 7 of them I just laid in bed and didn't even want to watch TV or read or anything. He could have a light mono and then the strep kicked his a** therefore accounting for the inconsistency in symptoms.

Or he could just have strep. Strep can be really really really bad. so, he might just still be recovering from that.

And yes - for mono it's a virus so they generally don't give meds unless you manage the symptoms of fever etc with motrin.

Also mono is HIGHLY contagious and the period where he is contagious can be significant. So give him the no sharing cups, forks etc for the next couple months talk.

You should do a lot of reading about Mono so that you know what to expect. It's rather dangerous and can last up to 6 months for teenagers. I didn't notice that you said how old he is.

Oh gawd. When I had mono it lasted for 6 MONTHS. The symptoms did come and go. Some whole weeks were awful, while others I felt totally normal. Then there were DAYS where some hours I'd feel awful and other hours I'd feel just fine. When it was bad I actually fell asleep while brushing my teeth at one point.

Obviously, it was a LOT harder to dredge up the energy for things that either I didn't want to do OR that I knew from previously experience would be exhausting. Kids can be really difficult, because they'll feel better, then totally use up their energy and be back on their tush.

A blood draw is no biggie. Stubbing your toe hurts more.

I had mono when I was 18. I don't remember much. I just remember needing to go to an internal medicine doctor, and getting stuck with needles. Then they wrote a Dr.s note that I had to leave work early at every shift so I can have a full 8 hours sleep. I wasn't on any medications, not that I remember. I just know I was completely worn out all the time.

He might still be recovering from being sick. I know it takes myself a week after to feel normal again. I would take him to the doctor if you are concerned. He also, since being sick with other things, just be in the habit of not feeling well. I would be too if I had all of that in the last month.

They thought I had mono when i was 17......it turned out to be an allergic reaction to asprin. could he be allergic to a medicine??

My daughter also experienced symptoms like you describe when she was about 8. I took her to the doctor and they did test for mono, but the test came back negative. The doctor said that in children her age, the test will often come back with a false negative so even with the blood draw he couldn't be sure. I would get it just in case, but keep in mind it could be a false negative.

I never had mono as a child and have zero experience with it as a mom but several years ago I did have it myself. It started out around the holidays with my allergies and allergy induced asthma. Typical allergy type symptoms, partial loss of voice would come and go, stuffiness vs running nose/sneezy was back and forth. I either felt great and sounded horrible or I felt horrible and sounded fine. After a few weeks, I started running a fever. Went to the doctor multiple times (by this point I was coughing and having asthmatic bronchitis/bronchial asthma attacks). Multiple rounds of antibotics and several hundred in meds later...I ended up w/ Mono. Doctor said you can catch it from someone standing near you in a store especially if your immune system is down...as mine was at that point. Could be that your son had something else and then developed mono...would explain how he was ok and then not...he was getting over one thing and then something else was hitting him. It could also be that he had more than one thing at a time and is having some good times inbetween.

Mono can be very dangerous. I had it when I was 19. It was horrible! I was litterally in bed for about a month. I was a preschool teacher at the time and they had to hire a sub and I almost even lost my job over it. I was really weak. Could barely sit up. I did have to take meds. I think 1 was a pain killer, but there were 2 more I think and I just remember being in so much pain that I could barely swallow them. Once I was back at work I will still very tired for about another month after. Go and do the blood test and find out what it going on. Good luck and I hope your son feels better soon!

I had mono and I was told to stay laying down and FLUSH it out with water. I drank 20-30 glasses of water and it was gone when I went back 2 weeks later. I had strep too and was extremely tired!! More so than mono.

I'd have him tested. I had such horrible mono in college I ended up in the hospital etc. You're right there's not a whole lot you can do unless he developed specific issues other than being tired but as a parent, I'd just want to know what it is or if it's nothing - he's just having a hard time recovering from a pretty bad series of illnesses. My mono attacked my throat so badly it about closed so I was being wheeled aroudn the hospital with a tracheotomy kit in case I stopped being able to breath. The doctor, before he saw me, kept saying on the phone - that's what happens with mono, you get a really bad sore throat... So if your son's sore throat returns, be viligant about it. Also, I thnk the first test I had came back negative for mono. Then the 2nd one was positive. Funny thing is I was never that excruciating tired like people get. So not sure it hits everyone the same way. I say it can't hurt to find out...

my daughter had it last yr and dr said it could take several months to actually feel better. If you suspect mono you should get it tested, it can cause other things if left untreated. I had it before my kids were born and wound up with hepatitis. it took me almost a yr to have all problems gone. Best be safe than sorry.

Im with Riley on this, when I had mono I had it for a looong time... my eyes were poofy, huge swollen lymphs, sore throat, slept ALLL the time.. miserable. I almost failed senior year of high school cause I missed so much time. Bring it up to the doc, it is only one blood draw. Good luck!!!!
added: also the doc should be checking his spleen to make sure it isnt enlarged, place a sports restriction on him if he has mono... (forgot about that cause it was so long ago)....