My son had mono last February and is still tired. He is not able to go to school. His blood tests come back fine except white blood cells a little low.

Is there a test for CFS and Epstien Barr. Are there two separate tests?

I also had Mono in the end of january and still have not exactly recovered. After being misdiagnosed and not listened to, In july I was finally diagnosed with chronic fatigue, and also a sign of lingering mono in my blood. There is no exact test for Chronic Fatigue, just ruling out other possibilities and checking symptoms. But there also can be a few things in your blood that are a little bit low. Is his only symptom fatigue? My mono was really bad, hospitalized with morphine every 2 hours, tylenol with codeine, and steroids also. Epstein Barr Virus is checked by a blood test I believe. Well, hope i helped you a little bit, good luck with your son! Ive done alot of research on this, so if you have any other questions, reply nad maybe i can help! Good luck.

thanks for your reply,

A few questions. What showed the lingering mono in your blood - I mean where did this show up on the blood tests. Are your white blood cells still a little low? What did they tell you you could do for the Chronic Fatigue? Are you able to work. I am trying to determine what my son feels like - he still constantly comes to me and says I'm tired. Some days he can't even get off the couch. My son is not able to go to school. Thanks for your help.

Well, one night I hadn't got much sleep, and i ended up going to the hospital because I was just so dizzy and lightheaded (this was in about june before i was actually diagnosed with CFS) and they did a monospot and said that it was negative, but when i went to a specialist, their blood work showed signs of lingering mono and chronic fatigue. But I also still experience the sore throat (my tonsils were bigger than golf balls during mono, i had trouble breathing), painful swollen glands, sore muscles, sore joints, awful things in my vision, etc. I believe my last blood test was the beginning of September, and my white blood cell coutn was still a bit low. I was put on Provigil, a medicine for my fatigue. Does your son also have muscle aches and pains? And tender spots? If so, have him checked for fibromalygia. I noticed when I was most tired I woke up and felt like i pulled muscles throughout my whole body because thats how awful it got. I definately know how your son feels about not being able to get off the couch, its horrible and i hope you gys find help soon! Other things for chronic fatigue that can be done are changing your diet, I was told to put more salts on my food, and take vitamins with more folic acid. Also I'm on a strict sleep schedule. Exercise is non-existent to me now, but your son should really try to get his strength back up, but starting out very slowly. I work and go to school but I'm out alot because of the CFS. I jsut have to get alooot of doctors notes! I would suggest getting some more in depth blood work done. I have this book that really helped me alot. Called "The Doctors Guide to Chronic Fatige Syndrome" the author is David M. Bell i believe, its a great book and really helped me alot. Does your son have any other symptoms? Because up until recently doctors believed CFS was all in your head, its still unclear what exactly causes it, so if he's experiencing other symptoms, theres some other things he should be tested for. I definately recommend that book. Its great! Well, good luck, and im glad if i can help!

hey,
I had mono and had/have Ebstein Barr as well. There is a blood test u can take to see if u got Ebstein Barr, just as staind mentioned. and with ebstein barr it is something that always stays in your blood stream, just i think it goes dormant sometimes. i think the same thing may be true of mono but not positive. anyways i got mono when i was in 6th grade, im now 20 years old in my 3rd year of college- im still always tired. but i also have depression and that adds to the tiredness. regardless tho i used to play basketball for 8 years but had to quit once i got mono and havent been able to really do sports since- i dont have the energy. i used to be a hyper kid- now i take naps almost every day.

theres a vitamen out called Lizene or Lisene (not sure of spelling but thats how it sounds) anyways thats supposed to have really helped some people. worth a try.

by the way- dont worry cuz i know lots of people who have had mono and they are ok now. probably my depression also contributes alot to my tiredness.

good luck with your son

I know how you feel. My 14 year old daughter was diagnosed with mono in Feb. Still battling the fatigue and other symptoms. She never went back to school last year but we have been doing alot of alternative therapy and she is able to be in school with some difficulty. She can not do any other activities. We are seeing a specialist next week to see if she has chronic fatigue. If you want more info let me know. I know what you are going through. It is very hard.

Simcity,

May I ask you more questions regarding doctors. Your daughter's situation sounds like my son's. We chose not to send him back to school this year, I am homeschooling him. He would not be able to go most days. Please reply here.

Thanks, Lynn

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 10-09-2003).]

HI Lynn, I don't know if I can somehow give you my email throiugh the moderater. I will try to find out. Last year my daughter could not go to school on most days. i do think the alternative therapy is why she is in school for now. She started high school and it is important to her to try to be htere. She has wondeful support from the school. She has given up all her other activities and she was very atheletic and active before this. I will get back to you.

simcity,

What alternative treatment is your daughter doing?

Lynn

HI Lynn,
What part of the country do you lve in? We went to a specialist who diagnosed her with CFIDS.What other symptoms does your son have? I would love to talk with you. Accupunture has helped. She goes 2 times a week. She takes many supplements but they are for different symptoms. She has low blood pressure, low body temperature, abdominal bloating, and more and we have helped the symptoms she is able to stay in full time school. Let me know when you are going to be back on this site.

Simcity,

We live in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. How was your daughter diagnosed - just by symptoms. My son's only symptom is extreme fatigue. Some days he is not able to get off the couch. His last blood test showed his white blood cells just a litte low but the doctor said he could go to school but there is no way he can. He might could go half days some days. If he does do anything physically then he is wiped out.

I tried to post my e-mail but the moderator took it off. I guess your not suppose to do that!

Lynn

Hi Lynn,

I thought maybe that happened with your email. That is to bad b/c I have seen other emails on the healthboards. You should try to get the book the doctor's guide to chronic fatigue syndrome by David S. Bell. Put David Bell and CFIDS in a search engine. We took my daughter to him to be diagnosed. He is so compassionate and kind. We are fortunate he is only 1 hour away. People have come from across the country to see him. He is world renowned for CFIDS in children. He ordered a ton of blood tests and spent 2 hours with us. We had to fill out a form with many pages. I didn't think my daughter had any other symptoms untill I read Bell's book. Her attention and forgetfullness with her school work and many things she said yes to that I didn't realize and I don't think she did either. Last school year she could not attend. I really think the things we are doing help her symptoms so much that she is able to go to school. She can not do any of her other activites. SHe skated and danced and that is very hard on her. SHe handles this all very well for all she is going through. The acupuncture helps her. Her blood pressure is low. This happens often in CFIDS cases. SHe has increased her salt intake. She also get a bit dizzy when she stands from lying down. I wish I had your email. There is many other things I have researched and am doing for her. Hope to hear from you soon. That is a long time for extreme fatigue with mono. My daughters white count was very low for a long time too.

Lynn,

My daughter still has days she can not get off the couch too. They just are not as often. It take me 1/2 hour just to get her awake in the morning but last year she just could not be in school and this year with support she can. What does your doctor say?

Lynn,

My daughter still has days she can not get off the couch too. They just are not as often. It take me 1/2 hour just to get her awake in the morning but last year she just could not be in school and this year with support she can. What does your doctor say?

Simcity,

We just took him back to the doctor today and of course another blood test. He said depending on what this showed he may send him on to an infectious disease doctor.

I'm glad your daughter is doing well enough to go to school.

We have noticed the last couple of weeks if we give him olive leaf it keeps him up and going. It is suppose to be good for viral. I give it to him once every three days. If I miss the 3rd day he's down on the couch again.

What area are you in?

Lynn

Hi Lynn,

I would try the olive leaf more often. Do you have a reputable health food store that could advise you? I would push for the infectious disease spec. You and your son have waited long enough. They are not always open to a CFIDS diagnosis if that is what is going on. Put in the pediatricnetwork in a search engine. It has valuable information on pediatric CFIDS. I have my daughter on so many supplements. They are helping the symptoms. I wish i could email you directly. Some of them are calcium/mag, 800mg/500mg, vit C 500 mg 4 xday, Bcomplex50 2 x day,thyroid health formula, probiotics 1 day, Candex for candida treatment, colostrum (read about this I think this really helps). The acupuncture helps so much. Also put Jacob Teitelbaum MD CFIDS IN A SEARCH ENGINE. He came down with CFIDS in medical school and has info about treating the symptoms. My daughter still struggles with this daily. Yesterday she couldn't get off the couch but before I started to be this aggresive with supplements she was unble to do full time school. It might be time or it might be the supplements or both. Not knowing what is wrong is the hardest part. Since we have a diagnosis it helps us all so much in dealing with this. We live in New York. We are only an hour from Dr. Bell so we are very fortunate. Good luck!

Simcity,

Thanks so much for all the info. I appreciate it. What exactly was Dr. Bell able to do for your daughter? Was he the one that recommended the supplements?

Lynn

Sim City,
Has your daughter been checked for addisons disease? The low BP, the salt cravings, the diziness,the extreme fatigue. All are symptoms of Addsions. I have it and was just browsing here. They are very dangerous signs and can lead to death if not treated in the appropriate way. Cortisol and aldostrone are important hormones that cannot be overlooked. Cortisol is the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands and without it the body is incapable of bringing itself out of stressful situations like illness, accidents, and extreme emotional distress. Aldostrone is also produced by the adrenals and controls BP it allows the body to control body salts and works with potassium and renin to regulate water in the body. Many other hormones are produced by the adrenal glands and are very helpful in maitaining emotional stability also. You really should explore the possibility that she may have this. Salt cravings are not normal nor is a low BP. I have many friends that I met through a similar web site that were told that they too suffered from cronic fatigue. Many nearly died and two actually did before being recessitated. It is nothing to play around with. Ask the doctors to run a ACTH challenge test, a ACTH, Cortisol, Renin, Aldostrone and then take the results to a qualified endocrinologist. HeatherW.

[Thank you for the concern but my daughter is not symptomatic of Addison's. She does not have salt cravings she was put on added salt for her low bp. She was tested by a world renowned expert in CFIDS and everything was ruled out. She has som many symptoms of CFIDS. A word of note I know you were trying to be helpful but the talk of death could be very scarey for most. I know you were trying to get your point across but you should say it in another way. It is hard enough having a sick child without the talk of death like that.

[HI Lynn,
How did you make out with your son? I would increase the olive leaf. Put in immune support in a search engine. If you register there tI can request them to email you and they will give you me email.

Good luck,

hi guys .. i just wanted to say i had mon when i was 16 for 2 months... now i have chronic fatigue .. my doctor says it is from the mono when i was younger i am now 28 and the dr says my immune system will always be runned down , but vitamins and a healthy diet keeps me going... stay well