Son Has Mononucleosis - What Helps?

Hello, my name is M. and I had mono in high school. Not much he can do other than rest. Although when doctor says ok to go back to school, I recommend half days--it takes awhile to recover and mono really drains you. It will be with him for a while--he will probably tire often for even a good year after the illness. Good luck

My children never have had mono, but I have. Like you said, all he can really do is stay quiet, rest, and keep fluids in him. I think the most important thing he should not do is be running around playing. The body is very weak during mono and running around playing will not make it better. It took me about 6-7 months to fully recover from mono and I lost 10-15 pounds. I spent a lot of time in bed sleeping and trying to keep toast/crackers/soup and liquids down. Rest is the key. Good luck!

hi J.:

i am an avid believer in vitamins and chiropractic...give it serious consideration and let me know your thoughts...feel free to email me. i'd be happy to speak with you more if you have any questions.

S. l

The only thing that really helps is rest. Back in the day when I had "mono," aspirin was the prescribed drug of choice for the inflammation and discomfort. I don't know what is currently recommended for the discomfort. Good luck. Remember that this disease process takes a full six months to really be over. While your son may feel better after 6-8 weeks, he will still need extra rest. You may want to look at how many scheduled activities your son has. If he was exhausted enough to catch "mono," he is probably doing too much and not getting enough sleep.

HI, My son (18) had a terrible case of mono in October - a lot like your son, but without strep. My son had a dangerously enlarged spleen (close to rupture) and a very sore throat (bleeding, even) and cold, plus the exhaustion. After 10 days of terrible symptoms, his coach told us about Reliv nutritional products. We put our son on them on a Monday, and on Wednesday he actually went back to school for the whole day. He was exhausted when he came home, of course, but we only expected him to go for an hour. Two days later, he went to the doctor, and his spleen was completely normal and he was cleared for all activities and sports. I spoke with several other moms whose kids had similar results. I can't save enough about these products - it is all science, research-based, patented, and available through educated distrubutors, many of whom are women and moms. You can go to the website or contact me for info - ###-###-#### or ____@____.com - it's best if you work with a distributor but the company can refer you to someone if you don't want to use me. The company has been written up in Forbes, Fortune, Success from Home and Business Week. Highly reputable. There is a children's product, but your kids, especially the older one, might be ready for the adult products, depending on his stage of development. We can discuss this. The nutrition is liquid based, so it is rapidly and completely absorbed (unlike vitamin pills) and a mix of high protein, vitamins and minerals (and this is key...) IN THE RIGHT RATIOS. My son completely recovered in record time, and went back to running, often 8 to 11 miles a day. My husband (almost 60) is now running 25 miles a week instead of 12, and I recovered from bronchitis in 3 days instead of 3 weeks. None of us has been sick since. Our stories are not unique. Reliv will connect you with lots of people with similar results, and there are conference calls you can listen in on for more stories. Reliv gives your kids the nutrition they aren't getting from processed and vitamin-depleted foods - even if we eat "right" our foods don't have the value they used to have because we grow them too fast and harvest them too early. For the cost of a daily latte, you can give your son his life back! Mono can take many months to fully resolve, but it doesn't have to be this way. I'd be happy to give you more information, and then you can decide. No pressure, just info and options. GOod luck!

Rest. Rest. Rest. Nothing better. Good-luck!

My 9 year old son had Mono this year too! He missed a month of school and then even when he returned he went half days. Like most kids, when they have Mono they seem to have another infection as well (his case was a sinus infection) so once that had cleared he didn't seem "quite so bad" but he was still very sick. He had an enlarged spleen and liver so we kept him under wraps for some time.
All this happened over Halloween, and Thanksgiving, he was more himself after Christmas Vacation. (yes that long)
Lots of rest, even video games wear them out. I also found that he got depressed too, so he had a letter from his classmates each week. And friends from school called him. They also sent a stack of handmade cards for him - all this helped him heal better. Honestly he is back to school and he's still not 100%, things like colds wear him right down now.
So hang in there.....

Dear Mom,

I have two daughters that have both had their bouts with mono. In fact, they have the strain of mono that is always going to lower their resistance and come back if they over-stretch themselves. I had always been told that you could only get mon once, but not true. Take heed to when your son shows signs of over-tiredness in the future and always be ready for it to hit again. I wasn't prepared for it when it hit my youngest the second time and she ended up in the hopsital with a inflamed spleen. As much as they want to be active, insist that they take it easy. I got my daughter to start doing something constructive that she could make money with in her spare time, beading necklaces. You might try to tap into any artistic desires that he may have, such as buy him a sketch pad or paints. Anything that will help him pass the time without too much energy.

You answered your own question. Rest, fluids and time to recoup and get better.