So I've never had mono before. Anyway, last night I made out with this girl. Today she calls and tells me that her throat has been sore for a while and she went to the doctor today and she found out that she has mono.

I consulted webmd, so I know it's fairly likely that I'll get it. I know what symptoms to expect and when they'll manifest themselves and all that.

What I want to know is this:

Are there any ways to prevent the onset of mono (after having already come into contact with the virus) or to lessen the severity of the symptoms by doing or not doing whatever before they manifest themselves?

What fucking luck.

7/11/2008 4:53:37 PM

so you were able to google and "consult webmd" and you couldn't find this elsewhere on the internet?

7/11/2008 5:00:33 PM

freshman year i watched mono go from

my friend>
girl he made out with>
same girl made out with me>
I split Gumby's with a friend>
he made out with some girl

and none of us could do anything except get absolutely EXHAUSTED and fucked over by mono during spring final exams

Good luck! I'd do whatever it is everyone on it does. SLEEP. A lot. Like, don't go out til 3 am for a couple weekends, and get ready to spend some serious time in bed

7/11/2008 5:08:06 PM

It wouldn't hurt to load up on antioxidants and Vitamin C. I'd pick up a bunch of the following and stay on it until long after you are well:
- Zinc from Zicam nasal spray
- Pomegranate Juice
- Orange Juice
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Vitamin C (pill)

7/11/2008 5:14:40 PM

also, let the girl know you have no problem continuing the whole making-out thing, since you're both boned

a la herpes dating websites

7/11/2008 5:33:06 PM

PIITB!

7/11/2008 5:35:20 PM

there is no way of preventing mono once you've contracted the virus.

PREPARE to feel like shit

7/11/2008 6:01:53 PM

^

also, when your throat gets bad, ask your doc for liquid lidocaine. It's a godsend.

I got mono last summer, and I was soooooooooooooo miserable. I thought the reason I kept falling asleep in my 8am class is because I'm a nightowl bum. Then things got worse

Thank her for telling you, so you know what's coming.
Go ahead and get all your bases covered for whatever - work, school. Don't plan on doing a damn thing while you're sick.

Fruit, lidocaine, OJ, and water are going to be your best friend.

7/11/2008 6:07:46 PM

I had mono over finals (that shit always seems to happen around that time) but I didnt know it. Just thought I have a fucked up throat so I kept on going to the gym and running and drinking a lot. Went home for x-mas and drank a ton. Fast forward 3 months.... I get my blood work done at the student health center and they say I test positive for mono.


I was like It turns out that that sore throat and tiredness was from mono and since I wasnt resting and drinking like a champ, my body really never got rid of it.


oooooooooooops


As far as treatments and shit, I think the working out and running actually helped because I felt fine after a week. Worst part was my sore throat but it wasnt thaaaaaaaaaaaat bad. Just dont drink because it hinders your liver from fighting teh mono.


good luck

[Edited on July 11, 2008 at 6:23 PM. Reason : mono]

7/11/2008 6:22:01 PM

I once thought I had mono for an entire year, It turned out I was just really bored.

7/11/2008 6:49:52 PM

I once thought I had mono for an entire year, It turned out I was just really high.

7/11/2008 6:52:34 PM

dammit

^^ beat me to it.

7/11/2008 6:54:33 PM

A virus is a virus. You can't prevent it, and you can't stop it. Just prepare for it. Stock up on gatorade.

And be extremely careful, because with your immune system beat down to nothing like that, you are very likely to catch many other things.

[Edited on July 11, 2008 at 8:36 PM. Reason : ]

7/11/2008 8:35:13 PM

vitamin C, sleep, B complex, green tea, just the usual anti oxidant and immune support stuff.

Olive leaf extract might help, but spend the money on B, C, and a good multi first.

7/11/2008 8:40:21 PM

Also they will tell you no contact sports either cause it can rupture your spleen or something like that. I cant remember exactly what they told me but they said basketball was a big time nono when I asked.

7/12/2008 10:11:50 AM

there are two ways to beat it

sleep and rest or rest and sleep

7/12/2008 11:41:48 AM

^^

Yeah. I had to sit out during regionals of Ultimate Frisbee when I had it. We totally killed UNC that weekend too. I wanted to kick their butt with the rest of the team.

7/12/2008 12:16:51 PM

[speculation]

You can't really prevent it other than by not doing what you already did. If you start having symptoms in a few weeks (worsening fatigue, fever, sore throat), go to the doc and get a Monospot to confirm diagnosis. Also get a rapid strep test to make sure you don't have an concurrent bacterial URI that they could treat with erythromycin. Otherwise, treatment is symptomatic - tylenol or aspirin as needed, gargling salt water daily, etc. DO NOT play contact sports or give yourself any reason to get a splenic rupture for at least a month even after the symptoms resolve.

[/speculation]

7/12/2008 2:12:38 PM

Ugh. See, I didn't have mono like many above have described. Yes, I felt very tired, but the worse part was that I had a HUGE fever. My bedsheets and PJs were soaked every night at least twice from all the sweat. It SUCKED. You know how much LAUNDRY I had to do WHILE feeling terrible?

I wouldn't be flipping out too much, cause I still was in close contact with my boyfriend, and he never got it. I'm pretty sure I kissed him once or twice while I was still in the fever stage... And yes, don't do any contact sports...I was afraid to ride, lest my horse buck me off in one of her silly moments.

7/12/2008 3:48:53 PM

This is a dumb question, but is it cool if I keep participating in contact sports until the symptoms manifest themselves? Obviously I haven't exhibited any of the symptoms yet, there's still a chance I don't have it. But assuming I have the virus and it just hasn't kicked into the symptom phase, is it ok for me to go about business as usual as far as sports go?

Also, if I have the virus but it hasn't shown up yet, is it possible for me to give it to someone else?

7/12/2008 5:58:16 PM

I do not know a great deal about mono.

I'm just posting to let you know that there is hope! My husband had a confirmed case of mono several years ago. We definitely swapped spit and shared close quarters, but I never contracted mono from him. I wouldn't say that you're guaranteed mono just from making out.

I would still be vigilant and take care of yourself tho!

7/13/2008 12:34:12 AM

lol imo just prepare to lose some weight and feel weak for a while

7/13/2008 12:35:38 AM

haha, that other one was a parody?

makes a bit more sense now.

7/13/2008 1:46:50 AM

Quote :

"This is a dumb question, but is it cool if I keep participating in contact sports until the symptoms manifest themselves? Obviously I haven't exhibited any of the symptoms yet, there's still a chance I don't have it. But assuming I have the virus and it just hasn't kicked into the symptom phase, is it ok for me to go about business as usual as far as sports go? Also, if I have the virus but it hasn't shown up yet, is it possible for me to give it to someone else? "

As far as playing sports and shit, thats up to you. I know the doctor told me not to play sports and shit but I played a good amount of shit when I didnt know I had it.

Once you get it you are a carrier and can potentially give it to someone else if you are actively "shedding". For the most part though it lays dormant.

7/13/2008 3:08:26 PM

When my brother had mono he was advised by his doctor not to participate in sports because he might rupture his spleen.

7/13/2008 4:35:15 PM

best method to prevent the onset of mono is to stop making out with random hoochies.

7/13/2008 9:39:18 PM

Quote :

"DOES NOT COMPUTE"

7/13/2008 10:15:42 PM

when i had it they gave me some stuff called like "magic mouthwash" that was supposed to relieve some of the throat symptoms. I had an especially bad case: mono & strep at the same time. the mouthwash helped, imo.

7/13/2008 11:51:30 PM

fwiw,

when I had mono they told me that a lot of people can get it early on, like, in middle school or high school...without knowing it

since you're younger and more active and less likely to be completely floored and run down by most any flu or cold, you're way more prone to just writing it off as a sore throat or not noticing it because it just maybe wasn't a bad case.

and then you're never going to get it again.

So maybe you have that going for you?

7/14/2008 7:52:21 AM

Mono sucks!

7/14/2008 8:34:50 AM

wow, really Quinn...who would have thought it

7/14/2008 10:11:09 AM

^^^ Very possible. Something like 95% of adults have EBV antibodies.

7/14/2008 10:21:51 AM

Yeah. I hope I might have developed some sort of immunity to it. My ex-girlfriend of three years had mono before we started dating, so I'm hoping that by being exposed to it (even though it wasn't active at that point anymore) with her, maybe I'll get lucky and not get it.

7/14/2008 12:00:49 PM

had mono in first grade

7/14/2008 7:23:13 PM

Quote :

"when I had mono they told me that a lot of people can get it early on, like, in middle school or high school...without knowing it since you're younger and more active and less likely to be completely floored and run down by most any flu or cold, you're way more prone to just writing it off as a sore throat or not noticing it because it just maybe wasn't a bad case."

yup this was me basically

Took vitamins and exercised and its gone in a week. Never really felt tired either.


guess I got lucky

7/14/2008 11:56:03 PM

I recommend airbourne, I think that's how you spell it.

Oh and the lemon kind.

7/15/2008 2:49:46 PM

hope to hell you don't get it - most miserable i've ever been

felt tired for a month the worst being a whole week where i barely got out of bed

i fell dead ass asleep during i am legend and that was a loud movie in some parts

7/15/2008 3:42:54 PM

steal someone's valtrex

7/15/2008 4:15:41 PM

You need to relax man. There's no guarantee you'll get mono. My sophomore year my girlfriend was diagnosised with mono. I never got it. Two years later I had mono. About 2 weeks after I was diagnosised the spring semester started. This one girl really liked me and jumped me one night. I liked her two but felt guilty about the mono, so I told her. she said don't worry I don't think I'll get it. Guess what, she never did.

So just relax, but go to the doctor anyway.

7/16/2008 12:31:29 AM

Couple years back, my girlfriend got mono, so of course I figured I'd get it. When I didn't, I did some research, and if I remember it correctly a lot of people get an immunity to it when they're infants from contact with it somehow, possibly through their mother having once had it. Other sites suggested it wasn't so much an immunity as it was the disease persisting in your system with no effect, possibly turning you into a carrier your whole life.

Maybe that's all bullshit, but it's what I found at the time, and, at any rate, I've never actually had mono despite repeated opportunities.

7/16/2008 12:44:05 AM

^interesting, however my experience is a direct contradiction

7/16/2008 12:50:20 AM

These folks are right.

My bf has an immune system slightly better than a chemo patient's. He gets ill if someone across the street has a cold.

...He didn't come down with it, leading me to believe he had some immunity from it. And yes, despite me being sick, we got busy.

7/16/2008 3:03:37 AM

Quote :

"wow, really Quinn...who would have thought it"

long day at work?

7/16/2008 8:46:59 AM