I am a 36 yr old female, and I was diagnosed with Mono in August. I felt a little better for a few months but in November/December I started getting a cold that hasn't gone away. I have a sore throat, cough, low grade fever that comes and goes. I also have had head congestion and ear pain. Some days the symptoms are worse, but never go completely away. I also have night sweats. Not every night, but I am usually always cold and rarely ever sweat...and wake up sweating like crazy. I have also had left-sided back pain that extends towards my left side. It is a weird type of pain like I hve never had. It is not muscle pain, more like a pressure inside. My colds symptoms are not making me absolutely misearble, but just haven't felt very well. It is more draining since my symptoms haven't gone away.

My dr says it is not normal that I have even cold symptoms for this long. I did go to an ENT and they put me on a very strong antibiotic just in case it was a virus that turned into a bacteria. It didn't help. I was also on Zertec just in case in was allergies which didn't help. My dr also wants me to see an allegerist...but the ENT wants to do a CT Scan since she doesn't feel I would start to get allergeries in the middle of winter. Not sure if I should go to the Allergerist first or do the CT Scan.

I am starting to worry that it is something other than cold symptoms since I know it is not good to have a cough and sore throat that won't go away. My dr is at a loss. I have not lost weight and I do not have swollen lymph nodes that I can notice. Is it possible to have lymphoma without having visible swollen lymph nodes and without losing weight?

Please help. Any advice is appreciated.

Yes, it is possible to have Lymphoma without noticeable swollen nodes, or weightloss. Do you still have your tonsils? Your spleen? Those are lymph tissue that can enlarge due to lymphoma. Hopefully you do have allergies. Food allergies will make some people have cold symptoms, especially wheat based products. Allergies can start at any age. Milk products are also likely to cause cold symptoms, if an allergy develops. Last but not least, perimenopausal symptoms can make you feel like you have a cold and work your vascular system over quite good as well. But, would usually only cause the night sweats and just a stuffy nose. Let us know if your doctor gets to the bottom of this one.

Marimac,
Thank you for your response. I do have my tonsils and spleen. I think the back pain I am having in the area of my spleen. I did have a ultrasound for an unrelated condition last September and they did say my spleen was fine, but then didn't start feeling sick until December.

It would be nice if all this is just allegeries. I'd be quite happy but suprised. Would you wait to get the CT scan that the ENT wants until I see the allegerist?

I can say that it isn't out of the question that I am perimenopausal. My periods have been all screwed up for awhile and I only have one ovary. My estrogen level was low a few years ago, but when tested last year my hormone levels were fine.

You are so knowledgeable, and I thank you.

Well, I saw the ENT a couple weeks ago and I do not have any allegeries which is good. He said my nasal cavaties are very swollen, which probably is caused by an infection. So another I finished another antibiotic which didn't help too much. I still have the congestion, cough, sore throat, and ear pain, night sweats and low fever, and balck pain. I have been using a nasal spray which helps the congestion temporarily, but it hasn't gone away. The dr was concerned since I have had these symptoms for almost 4 months. I am not sick enough to be in bed all day, but I just don't feel well overall. Both the ENT and Allergerist feel it is a bacterial infection, but it just won't go away.

Hopefully I can get some answers soon. Has anyone had similar symptoms and have any idea of what is going on?

I am sorry things are not better for you. Unfortunately the foods we eat, primarily beef, pork, and chicken, are so loaded with anitibiotics in the agricultural production, that it renders humans less able to respond to antibiotics than ever before. Unless you are having allergic reactions to your antibiotics, you are going to be taking a while to feel better.

So should I ask the dr to keep me on the antibitoic longer, or how long can you expect for an infection to run its course? They have scheduled me for a sinus CT Scan on Thursday, which I was hesitate to do until I saw the Allegerist. Now the Allegerist said if I didn't feel better in 2 weeks to get the CT scan done that the ENT had ordered. On Tuesday, it will have been 3 wks. I have been on a total of 4 different antibiotics and nothing seems to get rid of it. The drs have said that if it was a virus it wouldn't last as long as it has. AARGGGH!

So should I ask the dr to keep me on the antibitoic longer, or how long can you expect for an infection to run its course? They have scheduled me for a sinus CT Scan on Thursday, which I was hesitate to do until I saw the Allegerist. Now the Allegerist said if I didn't feel better in 2 weeks to get the CT scan done that the ENT had ordered. On Tuesday, it will have been 3 wks. I have been on a total of 4 different antibiotics and nothing seems to get rid of it. The drs have said that if it was a virus it wouldn't last as long as it has. AARGGGH!
Go with the best advice. There are other anitbiotics out there and sometimes you just have to match the right one with the right person. The Cat Scan will also give them a chance to see if there is anything going on that won't respond to antibiotics. Sometimes they have to do a little surgery to remove something that is keeping you sick like an infected polyp. Those can be safely removed and then any antibiotic that you are not allergic to should help.