Hi this is my first post this is a great forum you people have here. I couldn't find a specific forum for Glandular fever so seeing as though Chronic Fatigue is a symptom I came here as the closest match. Here's my story..

I kissed this girl about 3 months ago and low and behold 2 days later I felt like S***! Sore throat, no energy, dizziness in the head etc.. kinda flu symptoms. So I left it for a while battling through with cough lollies then after it failed to subside after a couple of weeks I thought it must be something more serious. Went to the medical centre where the doctor told me I had Glandular Fever (Infectious Mononucleosis), gave me antibiotics and said it should be gone in a few weeks. Well two weeks later it was not gone, infact it was so annoying that I couldn't stand it. I am normally a very active person and having no energy to continue to train and work was really annoying me. For a month I ate healthily, drank lots of fluids, rested up. It got a little better but never went away. On the best days I felt around 85%.. but mostly I was around 60%. Sore muscles, clogged head.

So after nothing was changing I went to the chemist and asked the guy there. He sold me some vitamins to boost the immune system as well as some vitamin c's. Took those for just under a month. No major changes at all really. Still muscle soreness and weird head feelings.

So this brings me to today. Growing more and more angry that this sickness is still with me (that stupid girl grr) I went to the doctor today, explained all my stuff. She was pretty stupid actually and I knew more from my research on the internet about glandular fever than she actually did. Although she recommended an energy boosting tonic which I got today on prescription.

So basically I would like to know seeing as though those supposedly "in the know" can tell me nothing of major usefulness, if anyone else has had Glandular Fever before and your experiences with it. How long did it take to get over it? What worked the best to cure it (or at best put off the symptoms for a while, as I learnt it can never be cured ala herpes)? etc etc. I'd really appreciate any advice you could give apart from the obvious that I should never have kissed that gal in the first place ;)

hey
i had glandular fever about 6 months ago, has never properly gone, was in June, but a few weeks before the symptoms came to me, i found this big lump in my neck, it scared the hell out of me, i was worried incase it was something really serious, but it was the first symptom, was a swollen lymph node, except it was swollen to a fairly big size, it stuck out my neck a bit, was noticeable. After this for 3 weeks, i had to keep resting, then it suddenly hit me, sore throat, headaches, no appetite, tiredness, dizzyness, threw up sometimes, and generally i was too weak to get up. i had blood tests done, and they showed i had gladnular fever. i gradually got more symptoms, swollen spleen etc as it went on.

i had it in a bad stage for roughly 4 weeks, during which i stayed off school, i went back to skool the week after this was over, but i found myself being sent home most afternoons. it pretty much destroyed my summer, cudnt go out much.

i returned to skool this september feeling a fair bit better, not 100% though, more like 75%, but after not going out for so long, i just wanted to get back into my normal routines etc. Since i have returned to skool, ive had really bad headaches, that last all the day, and they just dnot go, ive never ever suffered from headaches before either. Also, its been very easy to catch sore throats, sniffy noses etc. Most nights when i get home i have to sleep for abit, or at least lie down.

It has been seriously annoying because im the kind of person that doesnt like to stay in, i enjoy going out and seeing my friends, but sometimes i just dont have the energy to. Also, since i got a bit better, it all came back one day to me, symptoms returned etc, but they will come and go for a while so i hear. If i get a sore throat my neck just swells.

The only thing i have ever taken for it is Ibuprofen or paracetemol for the headaches and sore neck, and multi vitamin pills for my immune system. I think it just has to be given time, and alot of rest, i get the feelin it will never properly go though.

:-/

I have mono at the moment. It started around the end of August. I just felt like I had the flu. Lucky for me, since my other half had to work, my friend came over to take care of me. Soon it was aparent that I had to go to the ER though, my fever was getting out of controll and I started to lose focus on things. So off I went. After the nurse took my temp and saw that it was at 107, I still sat in teh waiting room for 3 hours! Finally the man sitting next to me (who kept trying to talk to me) called the nurse because I could no longer hold my head up or anything. They took me back and still I waited another hour. Finally in strolls teh doctor, takes one look at me and says, 'Oh! You have Strep Throat! Take this and you'll be fine! Oh... and if you get these symptoms here, make sure you come back asap..." I already had most of them, but I went home anyway. By morning I couldn't breathe. My friend rushed me to a different hospital and I had an even worse experience. The doctor wouldn't listen to me at all. He perscribed me another perscription (even though I told him I already had one) and sent me on my way. And here I am, sick again. I have the worse headaches I've ever had, muscle aches, swollen throat to where I can hardly drink water, upset stomach (probably from not being able to eat) and today is the first time I've been able to focus on something for more than a minute.

What I've found to help is:
Take a bath or shower (make sure you dont let the water drain if you are taking a shower) with Johnson's Baby Bath, the menthol one, to clear your head.

Take the new Tylenol, the one that last for 8 hours, it really helps with the pain. I actually got up and did some of my dishes last night!

And, weird as it may sound, over ripe bananas. It was the only thing I saw in my kitchen that I might be able to eat (I was saving them for banana bread) and I ate it with little problem and I could actually drink some water after.

What I've raelized is a big no-no:
Citrus!
Anything acidic burned my throat so bad I was in tears.

geez you guys have it bad. it makes me feel as though i am complaining about next to nothing! still, it remains a prominent concern for me and I am incredibly eager to overcome this asap. One other question, if I were to kiss somebody now would I pass on the disease? I took antibiotics when first diagnosed so does that mean that i can't pass it on now? Or could I still pass it on? And what about when I eventually overcome it, will I still be passing on these stupid germs?

This is such a lame illness. Grrrrrr

edit: oh yeah and what effect does alcohol have on mono/glandular fever for you guys?

i heard that its only contagious for about 2 or 3 weeks, and thats at the very beginning of it all, so you should fine, i heard somewhere that it stays in your saliva, but i dont think its active, so it isnt contagious. i only had alchohol wen the worst of it had gone. ive drunk it and it hasnt made me get worse or anything!

Antibiotics only help if you have strep throat on top of mono. The only thing you can take to help with it is Tylenol for aches and pains and if your throat is swollen enough you can actually get put on steriods, but its controversial if it helps or not.

As to the alcohol, I wouldnt know because I dont drink ;)

thanks guys! peric- way to tell me some good news! ta bud ;)

About 3 days ago i started taking a prescription elixir called 'Alertonic'... 5 mls 2wice a day. I feel wonderful compared to before.. dare oi say it im close to normal again. However i can't really tell today because i have a killer hangover :D hehe so i may be different tomorrow we shall see. Energy wise I seem to be okay with this elixir, its just the throat and head that are still wonky.. and now i have a new cough.. wow this disease is just a mixed bag of tricks

Once again I must empathise with the sufferers of CF here.. i've sampled a little of it and it was horrible so having that multiplied by more.. gee all i can say is if others were bagging on you for 'just being lazy' i would whope their asses for u