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Old 05-30-22, 04:34 PM  
donnamp
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Maryland, USA
OT - Mono/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Hi Everyone,

This is probably me being an over-worried mom - but here goes.

My DD (who is 18) had mono in December. While the acute phase only lasted a few weeks - she hasn't been 'right' since then. She gets tired easily, is irritable, has no energy, etc.

At first I thought she was just being less active b/c of school (college student) and the winter, etc. But there has been little improvement with spring coming and she has been out of school for a couple of weeks now.

She wasn't an "exerciser" per se - but she was active, she walked/hiked quite a bit and rode horses. She has been back to riding, but not at her previous level.

Yesterday she went riding and is completely wiped out today - took a nap yesterday after riding and is sore and tired today.

Is it just a matter of her needing to rebuild her strength? Is it lingering effects from mono? or is it chronic fatigue syndrome?

it seems CFS is often triggered by mono...so that is what has me thinking along those lines.

I will also throw in that i feel she also does probably have a low level depression - and I have talked to her about therapy, etc. but she doesn't want to go that route. And, of course, being a legal adult, there is not much I can do to get her to seek treatment for any of these symptoms.

Anyway -thought I'd ask if anyone had any experience w/ mono and if these lingering effects are "normal" or if this is CFS ..... and what can be done about it? From what I understand there is no real treatment for CFS. Although anti-depressants are mentioned as well as cognitive behavioral therapy and pain meds. I don't think she has a lot of muscle pain normally - I think she is just very sore from riding yesterday.

Thanks....

Donna
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Old 05-30-22, 05:28 PM  
JackieB
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My experience is that in all goes hand in hand, mono, strep throat, chronic fatigue and epstein barr virus. I had mono in high school and didn't fully recover so I had a relapse in college and it took me a long time to heal.

There's so much information available online so I'd encourage you to do a little poking around. So much out there you can get lost in it. I'd encourage you to help your daughter recover. Possibly look into integrative or functional medicine if you can afford it to support her healing.
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Old 05-30-22, 05:42 PM  
JENILU
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
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Along with what Jackie already said, Adrenal fatigue is a similar issue and there are a lot of ways online to help that. Some illness use up our cortisol (stress reserves) and it can take a long time to heal. Illness or even working out too much, test stress, eating the wrong things, can cause the same fight or flight response and a scary movie, etc..

Whether its even anything else or just the long recovery that I know comes with something like that, I pray her mind, body and energy are strong again soon!
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Old 05-30-22, 06:12 PM  
adawn
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I had mono in high school (I'm 40 now) and am fortunate that I've had no lingering impacts that I'm aware of.

Full disclosure: I have suffered periodically over the years from clinical depression, anxiety, and panic disorder (all of which can and have caused fatigue at times as a symptom) but the depression pre-dates the mono and frankly there is a lot of family history (genetics) and situational stuff that have played into both the depression and anxiety disorders.

I wish the best for your DD and hopefully this is a passing stage or her working back up to her old "normal", etc. For example, you said she is not back up to her previous riding level, so maybe it makes sense that she'd be wiped out and sore the day after riding? But you would know her best.
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Old 05-30-22, 07:44 PM  
Lori_Michigan
 
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My husband had mono as an adult and it took him nearly a year to feel normal again. He had to take a month off work.

He also had shingles a few years ago when he was really stressed. He was miserable for weeks.

The only thing that helped him was restoring his vitamin D and magnesium levels. We bought a UVB light (which we continue to use) and now that his level has been higher he hasn't had a problem. It took a few weeks but the change was drastic. Since then, he really pays attention to his vitamin D level.
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Old 05-30-22, 08:05 PM  
donnamp
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
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Thanks everyone, for all your thoughtful responses!

It is definitely hard to know exactly what is going on - particularly since my DD has pre-existing depression/anxiety as well. it was getting better this fall - honestly, a huge part was getting out of HS - but then getting sick w/ mono......

And, of course, being 18 she doesn't exactly prioritize sleep, nutrition, etc. as much as she should.

But, you have all given me some things to look into!

Donna
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Old 05-30-22, 08:22 PM  
adawn
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Lori brings up a good point about vitamin levels. I used to not get bloodwork done that often. But I was feeling really fatigued, muscle soreness, etc. and it turned out I had single digit vitamin D and ferritin levels. So all I had to do was learn to take vitamin D and iron every day. I tried stopping the iron pill at one point but discovered after about a year, my ferritin was back close to single digit again. Also, I have to take 5000iu's of Vit D every day to barely keep me at the low end of normal range (I don't get much sun).
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Old 05-30-22, 08:34 PM  
Izzy
 
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Location: West of Chicago in the Illinois Corn Belt
I had mono my senior year of high school right after Christmas break. It took me two years plus to be remotely normal. They ran every test you can imagine. I still have lingering effects. Vitamin B Complex helps. Interesting my daughter got mono the exact same time as me, senior year and after Christmas Break 36 years after me. It took her about 12 months to feel normal. She was an athlete and was heading to college to play soccer. We were so worried she would be too tired. She just napped when she could and made sure she slept well at night.
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Old 05-31-22, 07:23 AM  
buffmama
 
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Buffboy had mono last year. It definitely took a while for him to feel better. Tired to the point of exhaustion - and he's usually bopping around when he isn't sitting on my couch! Apparently he pushed himself through when he had it not knowing and then once he did he collapsed. I just let him rest so he could heal. The body took care of itself.
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Old 05-31-22, 10:17 AM  
donnamp
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
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Thanks, everyone!

It sounds like it may just take some time.....

I do wish my DD would rest more, go to bed earlier, eat better, etc. but I suppose in all fairness, when I was her age, I was not doing those things!

Donna
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