My mono experience 29/m, ~3 weeks
Hi all,
About 3 weeks ago, I was hit by full body fatigue, chills, random fevers, tension headaches, huge tonsils, etc.
For whatever reason, it would fluctuate pretty heavily. For a few hours I'd be bed ridden and then a few hours later, walking around as if everything was back to normal. To say the least, I was pretty confused and anxious. Bra
Went to the doctor's office five separate times. Second time, I tested positive for strep. Thought that was it but still felt terrible despite finishing my antibiotics. They finally tested for mono on the 5th visit after I explicitly asked them to and to my surprise the rapid test came back negative. I additionally got a blood test for both mono and CMV and finally I had my diagnosis, both positive (probably from co-reactivity), acutely so.
Of course, the next day, I felt almost completely back to normal. I'm now at what feels like ~90%, 3 weeks from my first symptoms.
Biggest lessons learned or re-learned from this experience:
- Have to be your biggest advocate for care
- Health anxiety is its own nightmare and while there are many tough cases of mono, both acutely and chronic/long mono, many people recover like they would from any other illness
- It's going to be alright, even if it doesn't seem like it in the moment
- Advil, hydration, and rest are the only three things that made any difference.
Cheers to this community