11 year with mono and 7 months later still tired - Chronic Fatigue Message Board

lynnrlpd · 10-01-2003, 01:28 PM

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?

staind00 · 10-02-2003, 08:10 PM

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.

lynnrlpd · 10-02-2003, 10:25 PM

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.

staind00 · 10-03-2003, 10:11 PM

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!

blondie_punk_girll · 10-04-2003, 02:10 AM

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