Strep throat or mono..
#300858 - 02/27/07 10:44 AM
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K2
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 1191
Loc: Canada
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I hope this doesn't sound like a pity-party. I just got back from a great vacation so I am relaxed and happy. However, my glands around my neck are swollen, throat is sore and I have a fever. My doctor thinks it's mono, I asked her if it could please be strep throat instead and she laughed a bit. I had a throat swab and blood test and should find out tomorrow.
Thing is, my IBS symptoms have come back pretty strong the past couple days. Has anyone had mono or strep throat before? If so did you have IBS problems during the illness? Even with a cold I generally have an off-tummy, so I guess it's normal for me.
If it's strep throat, I have to take antibiotics, but the good news is it won't last long and I'll feel better in a couple days. If it's mono, who knows how long it'll take to feel better, and I just have to sleep a lot. So I'm hoping it's the lesser of two evils and just strep throat.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
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Kat
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I have a lot of experience with this. I had mono last year. I had a fever, a really bad sore throat, swollen glands and I felt awful. I went to a clinic to get a six-minute strep test and it came back negative. The doctor said, "That's not strep. That's mono."
I felt so bad that I had to leave the 3 month contract I was doing. I mean, mono, jeesh, what dirty 15 year-old must they have thought I've been making out with??  It took me 3 weeks of sweating it out in bed with NO prescriptions (the doc wouldn't give me ANYthing for it!!).
The sore throat was so bad, my throat felt like it was on fire. The only time it felt better was when I was eating something, and then it didn't hurt at all. But I still had the fever and swollen neck... 
I bought Tylenol's over the counter cold remedy, the blue, minty liquid stuff that comes in a flask bottle. That helped tremendously. I also took benedryl like it was going out of style- 2 tablets every 4 hours. Without the benedryl (Diphenhydramine HCl), I wouldn't have been able to talk at ALL, my voice was so hoarse and froggy. Chloraseptic throat spray worked great too to dull the fire in my throat.
{{{{{BIG HUGS}}}}} to you and comfort to know you're not alone! Mono is an active herpes infection, tied to Herpes simplex 6 (the cold sore lip kind). I get a mild mono case every year and a half or so. My fibro doctor has put me on anti-virals for the last 3 months, and I think they're working. I don't wake up with as many sore throats as I used to.
If you have any questions, post back and I'll try to answer them. Best,
~nelly~
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I had mono when I was quite a bit younger. The thing is, I had strep so many times as a kid that I was very sure that's what I had, even though it had been years... I got suspicious when the sore throat didn't go away after a week. If you've had it for a while, it's probably mono. 
Either way, get your rest. If it turns out to be mono, be good and sleep and you might be pleasantly surprised to kick it pretty quickly. I was sick for months, but friends of mine only had it for a week or so.
Feel better!
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I had strep alot when I was younger. Mostly it was just a really bad sore throat and sometimes a fever. However when I had Mono that hit me really bad. I couldn't eat anything not because it made me ill but because I had no interest in eatting anything. My throat hurt alot and I couldn't even stand up without feeling horribly dizzy and really really tired. My bf of a very long time broke up with me a couple days before it hit and I thought maybe I was just depressed or something snapped in my head. Finally after a week of nothing but sleeping and loosing 10 pounds (I was normally 130-135 and I went down to 125 which is really sickly for my size) they told me that I wasn't going insane and that it was mono.. they put me on antibiotics and after another week of barely being able to stand (and crawling to the bathroom or anywhere else in my home) I finally got better..
Hope you get well..
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HUGS!!! I sure hope it's not mono - I'm fortunate, I've never had it, although a few times they thought I might. Strep sucks too - I've had that enough!
Hope you have results soon, and start feeling better too!
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Cassandra
Live like there's no tomorrow. Love like you've never loved before.
IBS A 20+ years, Chronic Migraines, Chiari Malformation (decompressed June 22, 2010), Brachial Neuritis, and ??? the list just keeps growing, but I'm still shiny side up! 
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I've had both, and like anyone else here who's had it will tell ya, if it's mono, you're down for the count. I worked through it for about 2 months before I literally collapsed and didn't get out of bed for 3 weeks other than to throw up or for D. I slept anywhere from 16-20 hours a day and had to get temporary state disability. At the time, I had been riding my bike to work and it was almost a year after that I could make the ride again w/o getting winded. But then, I still had mono when I went back to work. I couldn't afford to stay home anymore.
Strep sucks but at least you can still function to an extent, and like you said, it'll go away. I don't remember strep ever creating much trouble for IBS, but it's been awhile.
Good luck, I hope it's just strep. If it's mono, get to bed and sleep it off.
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***********************
If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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Thanks so much for the replies. I actually responded yesterday with questions but I guess I was a bit out of it cuz the post doesn't appear.
I think I gather from everyone's posts that I really do need to rest. So I will be resting, forget about school for a bit and just take care of myself.
I've never had a throat this sore before, and usually with a cold I know it'll go away in a couple days so I don't bother taking anything. Nelly: I think I'll go out and get the Tylenol liquid stuff you're talking about. It's supposed to help with fever too. I was wondering what the Benadryl helped with? I looked it up and it says for allergies. Does it help with swelling?
My doctor was really sweet and told me she can prescribe pain medication if I want it. I'm avoiding it for now because my stomach is pretty sensitive to pain killers. I'm having a bit of nausea and some general tummy troubles so I don't want to aggravate it. I really need to be able to eat so I don't lose weight. I did notice chewing on stuff helps my throat so I'm keeping snacks nearby.
If tomorrow is as bad as today my doc said to come in and she'll talk to me about what we can do.
Thanks everyone. That's all for now, back to bed..
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Kat
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What a bummer. When I had mono, my breath was terrible. The only thing that helped was gargling Listerine several times a day. I had this weird fungus growing on the back of my throat and even my doctor couldn't stand it. He even jumped back, covered his nose, and made some strange whimpering sound when he tried to check my throat. So if that ends up happening, know that you're not alone it it.
I was able to stomach oatmeal, mushed up bananas, saltines, and water.
Get lots of rest and get better soon.
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***********************
If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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I'm so sorry you're sick. When I had mono it was my senior year in high school. We had gone out of town for my grandfather's funeral and for a campus tour of the college I was planning to attend. I felt horrible the entire time... just SOOO exhausted... but I just attributed it to the emotions of the funeral and all. We got back home, and I just kept feeling worse and began to get a sore throat. Within a few more days, it was full-blown mono with the fever, terrible sore throat, extreme fatigue, and eventually hives. It all developed the week of spring break, which was supposed to be a fun week in Florida with my friends. I spent the week sleeping and being miserable. I remember lying on the couch knowing that my friends were all having fun without me, itching, hurting, and too out of it to wipe the tears from my face before they went into my ears. My boyfriend - who amazingly did not catch it - came over and serenaded me from the other side of the room (he was a singer/guitar player) because he knew how disappointed I was to be sick at home during spring break. ha ha
Anyway, I'm sorry you're feeling so bad and hope you feel better. Just take seriously the advice to get TONS of rest. It really can make a huge difference in the intensity and length of your illness!
Hope you feel better soon!
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Benedryl will totally help with the sore throat. I swear by it-- I get a sore throat every winter because of the dry air and cold, and benedryl is what I swear by to reduce the redness, swelling and soreness.
Your body has Mast cells and they release histamine when you're sick. Histamine will give you itchy eyes, a runny nose and scratchy throat. Histamine also causes blotches on the skin, swelling and overall malaise.
Taking an anti-histamine (like benedryl) controls the effects of histamine release in your body and relieves those symptoms for about 4-5 hours at a time. It's also what hospitals give to children with bee sting allergies (plus epinephrine), and I got it in the hospital for a particularly bad cold sore once. 
If you haven't taken it before, start with 1/2 a pill at a time. I get the solid pink ones which I can easily break in half (instead of the caplets). It might make you a little drowsy, but you can fight it and stay awake-- it won't make you dizzy at all. If you take too much it can make you a little nervous, but don't worry, it's not dangerous and the effects wear off in 4-5 hours. I take one pill when I get up. one at noon, then one before bed and my sore throat is gone. When I had mono last year, I took 2 pills every 4 hours, but I had to work up to that. I couldn't even sleep if I didn't have a benedryl in me; in fact, often I woke up at night just to take another so I could sleep sore throat free again.
In fact, healthy people take one at night to sleep and breathe easier.  They make Tylenol PM now, which is just tylenol plus benedryl. (Basically the combination I've been using for years, just combined). Benedryl is not addictive so there's no worry there either.
Good luck, and feel better! Get some rest and tune out for a while. The world will wait till you get back.
~nelly~
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I'm sorry to hear this. I had mono about a million years ago and felt horrible for about a month then my symptoms eased off even though it took about 3 months for my blood tests to come back negative.
Rest all you can and take good, good care.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I'm so sorry -- I've never had mono but I imagine it's not pleasant. Definitely make rest a priority, and I hope you can find something to ease your symptoms. I highly recommend Tramadol for pain ... it's a synthetic narcotic so doctors usually don't mind prescribing it (unlike Vicodin or Percocet), plus for me the only side effects I've ever noticed are feeling a bit sleepy and some mild C. If my tummy was feeling touchy it would actually calm it down. Of course, it doesn't work as well as "real" narcotics, but you might not need the extra kick either.
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jen
"It's one of the most serious things that can possibly happen to one in a battle -- to get one's head cut off." -- LC
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I got a prescription for Tylenol 3's today and they seem to be doing the trick. I'm much more comfortable now. I don't think I'll be trying benadryl since I'm already feeling so woozy and drugged up hehe.
Other than that I'm looking at natural ways to help beat this. Sleep obviously is important so I told my professors about it and that I will probably be out of comission for a few weeks. I'm already taking a probiotic and will add a multivitamin. I'm starting to take something called astralagus which is a Chinese herb to help the immune system. And I'm eating tons of garlic and ginger to kill the awful taste in my mouth.
I really hope this passes quickly.. Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement.
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Kat
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I hope you feel better soon.
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