posted
My 12 y/o daughter has had mono for 3 months. She missed the entire last quarter of school. Her recovery has been very slow. Although she needs much less sleep (11-12 hours per day) than during her acute phase, her energy is far from normal. She can tolerate about 2 hours of moderate activity per day. Before mono, she was a very energetic person (could ride a horse for 4 hours and not be tired). Her pediatrician has tested for the standard immune diseases, all negative. I haven't pushed for testing for tick-borne diseases because the onset of her illness was textbook mono (severe sore throat, fever, body aches, severe fatigue) and her Epstein-Barr titers were really high.
Is it time to start testing for tick-borne diseases? I don't want to waste money or instill panic in my family (including my daughter) if it's not necessary.
Thanks for your input!
-------------------- Misdiagnosed with CFS for 7 yrs. Diagnosed by LLMD in 2009. Aggressive treatment for 3 years with minimum improvement. Posts: 120 | From FL | Registered: Jun 2009
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posted
when I had mono (which was like a year before my current tick bite/lyme situation) it took me a good 6 months to feel like myself again. the first 3 months were brutal, then slowly over the next 3 i got better. mono can take a while to get better from. i suspect it took me so long because for the first 4-6 weeks i had no clue what was wrong with me, so i wasn't resting, continued to go out and drink, kept working out, etc. but regular doctor even said that it can take up to a year before you feel back to yourself. all i can recommend is for her to keep resting, make sure she's getting her vitamins, and she'll be okay. it can be a slow process.
Posts: 132 | From jersey | Registered: May 2010
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-------------------- Misdiagnosed with CFS for 7 yrs. Diagnosed by LLMD in 2009. Aggressive treatment for 3 years with minimum improvement. Posts: 120 | From FL | Registered: Jun 2009
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Lymetoo - Wondering about your comment about being around horses and being at risk for Lyme?
Posts: 448 | From minnesota | Registered: Feb 2010
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There are instances when EBV titers remain high and the mono symptoms carry on and on. Some people call this Chronic Epstein Barr. This as an official condition is also pretty controversial and there is no "proven" treatment, but there are things to try. There's info, here: www.cebv.org. From what I've read about it, 3 months down is not terribly abnormal, although, I know how awful and abnormal it must be for you and your daughter. That site should provide you with the information you need to help support her healing.
As of yet, no one has been able to explain why mono/ebv symptoms remain "chronic" in some individuals. Some people have found lyme to be why. So, you may want to follow up on that as a cause if you think this is more than just typical mono recovery time.
Posts: 252 | From New York | Registered: Apr 2010
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LymeXtu, being around horses puts you at risk because horses frequently have deer ticks. One can crawl on you and bite while you're riding or grooming. My daughter has removed several ticks from her horse in the last year.
-------------------- Misdiagnosed with CFS for 7 yrs. Diagnosed by LLMD in 2009. Aggressive treatment for 3 years with minimum improvement. Posts: 120 | From FL | Registered: Jun 2009
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Lymeorsomething
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16359
posted
That's a brutal combo if it is in fact both mono and lyme. All my problems started with mono a few years ago. I was a good athlete prior to getting sick.
Mono likely opens a window for lyme so-to-speak so that a smoldering infection explodes.
I wouldn't let it fester for too long without digging deeper into what may be causing it. By all means, rule out lyme.
However, some people do take 3-6 months to recover from a bad case of mono but it tends to be unusual.
Good luck.
-------------------- "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Posts: 2062 | From CT | Registered: Jul 2008
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Thanks Kim - Thought it was just because of more exposure to tick habitat etc.
Yes we have pulled many ticks off our horses.
We have two horses and did alot of riding at state parks and both my son ( 13 yrs old ) and I now have Lyme.
Best of luck to you and your daughter.
Posts: 448 | From minnesota | Registered: Feb 2010
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timaca
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6911
posted
If your daughter is making progress, even if it is slow, I'd just wait it out. Let her rest as much as possible. Viruses can become chronic too, so let her immune system do it's thing to put the EBV back into the latent state.
Best, Timaca
Posts: 2872 | From above 7,000 ft in a pine forest | Registered: Feb 2005
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