Mono...any ways to cope with this?!
Question: Well, I went to the emergency room yesterday, and they tested me for strep, mono, and pregnancy. Luckily the pregnancy turned out negative, but I do have Mono.
They put me on a Z pack to help in case strep decides to become secondary to the mono, and they also put me on something else for pain. But it's just not doing so well. They've also got me on throat sprays and lozenges, along with an ice pack to try to get the swelling in my neck to go down. Either way, all the medicine they have me on came out to around $100...and NONE of it helps to get rid of this...only to somewhat tolerate it.
Anybody know of ANYTHING I can do that will help me to be able to tolerate all this. I'm coughing so much it just irritates my throat more, and I can't get the proper rest I need to get over this. Not to mention all the pain in my muscles and what not.
Answers: Well, I went to the emergency room yesterday, and they tested me for strep, mono, and pregnancy. Luckily the pregnancy turned out negative, but I do have Mono.
They put me on a Z pack to help in case strep decides to become secondary to the mono, and they also put me on something else for pain. But it's just not doing so well. They've also got me on throat sprays and lozenges, along with an ice pack to try to get the swelling in my neck to go down. Either way, all the medicine they have me on came out to around $100...and NONE of it helps to get rid of this...only to somewhat tolerate it.
Anybody know of ANYTHING I can do that will help me to be able to tolerate all this. I'm coughing so much it just irritates my throat more, and I can't get the proper rest I need to get over this. Not to mention all the pain in my muscles and what not.
Mononucleosis is caused by a virus called Epstein-Barr, which is in the herpes family of viruses. This particular virus is rather weak, and doesn't usually cause any trouble unless your immune system is weak at the time - this is similar to getting cold sores (caused by another herpes virus) when you are ill from something else.
Apart from medication, which usually suppresses the symptoms rather than helping the problem, the things that help are those that strengthen the immune system and the body in general. My suggestion (as a professional in natural health care) would be to take a good strong, well-formulated multivitamin and large amounts of vitamin C (at least 2000mg per day) along with some immune system booster such as echinacea or the Ayurvedic herb andrographis - the Western name. Also, herpes viruses are suppressed by the amino acid L-lysine, so 1-2,000mg per day of that would help - this needs to be taken away from food, all the other stuff with food. The total cost of all that might be about $60 for a month's supply. As for the cough, the old standby honey and lemon apparently works quite well.
On top of all that, you may need to take a look at your diet and lifestyle. Over-exercising, sleeping too little, being stressed and eating nutritionally poor food all make the immune system weaker - it must be weak or you wouldn't have this problem in the first place.
(Ian Campbell BA (Cantab.), chief technical officer at National Nutrition http://www.nationalnutrition.co.uk )
Wow, at least you've gotten treatment, I collapsed at school before I got any care at all, and was ill for weeks. The most important thing is to rest, and drink lots of fluids.
Mono goes away by itself.
I don't know what country you live in. If you're lucky enough to live in a country where you can get codeine cough syrup over the counter, this would give you a lot of relief. Other than that, you're stuck with NSAIDS like Motrin and Naprosyn.
Yea I had that for a month before my P's took me in I actually collapsed on the stairs and was about to fall if my step mom was there but been there and done that all I can say is try try try to sleep and have lots of cold things for your throat the more fluid you drink the better for you cough. I was hospitalized for a week before I was sent home but that is because my family wouldn't take my symptoms seriously and that made it worse. It took me about 6 mos to fully recover!! Good Luck to you and I hope it doesn't last that long for you!!
Sorry I couldn't be more help!