MONO

[liz28]

i just saw a doctor today about some things...
and he wants to do lots of bloodwork for multiple things..

one of them is MONO..

And the other is something with the THYROID...

have any of you dealt with either of these before?

how did your particular case of mono make you feel?
how long did you feel that way??

and with that being said..
i've never had bloodwork done before. so im rather nervous.
i have to fast before its done (no water or food) and in the morning...
so im kind of nervous..

reassure me that i wont passout orv* or something!!

[sillygirl]

I've never dealt with either of those before, but I have had blood work done. The first time I had it done, they never told me to fast, but I heard from someone else that I should, so I didn't eat before I went in there. It turned out that I could have eaten because of the type of test, but anyways, after it was over I did get really dizzy and almost passed out. The reason, though, was because I was so nervous and then as soon as they were done I bent down really quick to grab my bag and coat off the floor. My advice to you is to try and relax and move slowly after they are done. I never did actually pass out. As soon as I got outside, the fresh air really helped snap me back to normal. I have had it done a bunch of times since, with and without eating first, and have never had the same problem again. Oh, and I had no v* - never even felt like it. My problems were all from stressing out, so I know it will be hard but you will feel much better if you relax as much as possible. Get something to eat right away afterwards and you will feel even better!

[Babydoll]

IHATE having blood work done. My body does NOT like having needles put in it and it makes my blood pressure drop and have quite a reation, this is quite rare though. I have found that laying your head down so your head is below or at the same level as your heart decreases the reaction I get.


ask them if they can lower the chair back so you can lay flat, since nerves can account for this problem as well.


another thing that makes me squeemish is actually seeing the needle. I always ask the nurse not to let me see the needle at any time, lol or I'll be a gonner. So you always have the option to tell the nurse you dont want to see the needle


good luck, I've never had mono, but my boyfriend did for about 4 or 5 months. I continued to kiss him and snuggle with him about 2 months after he was diagnosed ( we couldn't stand it, it was a new relationship) and I never caught it. We still don't know how he got it and I didn't, but its possible I was a carrier and didn't realize.


mono is kind of routine testing now, you should be fine!

[wing]

I hope its nothing, first of all, secondly, I dont know much about Mono but my mommy has thyroid. I forgot which one...hyper or hypo. But she basically had to drink something and have a tiny bit of radiation to make the gland go back to normal. She had to take a lot of medication but none of them ever made her v* The thyroiditself made herfeel n* when she ate and made her lose a lot of weight but she's better nowand she did not everv*.


Hmm...bloodwork...do you mean like a blood test? I have those every year. I can't eat in the morning before hand and its just a shot where they take blood from the vein in your arm.^^;; Its not that scary. Nothing else is done. If that is what you are talking about. I'm not afraid of needles because I get them every month and that has been going on since I was 6, so you get used to them ^^.. They make you fast so that your system is empty of stuff and when they draw blood weird things wont show up if you dont eat. Erm, I think that's all I know lol.

[mitch04133]

I had both done before, and I have had mono. It's not that big of deal, I don't like getting my blood drawn, so I just turn my head. They thought I had a thyroid problem when my kidney thing started happening cause I was losing a bunch of weight, but that wasn't it. I had mono years ago, it just makes you really tired and you feel like you have the flu that you just can't shake I had it for almost a whole summer. No v* though. I wish you luck and hope it's nothing.

[liz28]

yeah my weight has really decreased.
and i was "down" with SOMETHING for about 4 months.
so we're trying to figure things out.


what did your "issue" end up being if it wasnt the thyroid, if i could ask?

[istalkbillgates]

I have been tested for mono, hypothyroid and parvovirus (they all have similar symptoms, apparently). I've had plenty of blood tests before, and the only part that bothers me about them is that my doctor is terrible at finding a vein to draw blood from - I walk out with my arms covered in bruises and needle pricks. I'll look like a freaking heroin addict or something. However, other than that, I don't have any sort of negative reaction to blood tests.
As for the results of the tests, I've been positive for hypothyroid and parvovirus. In adults, all parvovirus really does is give you achey muscles and a rash, maybe some other cold symptoms, and it lasts a week or two. Hypothyroid is permanent and you'll always have it. I generally describe it as permanent mono. Very fatigued all the time, achey, minor weight gain, dry skin, and, if it goes on too long unmedicated, memory and concentration problems. Those are the most prevalent symptoms of mine, except the memory and concentration problems have lessened since I was put on a medication for it.
As for nausea and sickness, neither parvovirus or hypothyroid affected me like that, and I've never really read any cases of people who were affected with nausea. Neither does my medication for hypothyroid. The only difficult part about the medication is that I can't eat for an hour after taking it, and occasionally I'll mistake the hunger for nausea. I'll just drink something or eat a little of something, like a cracker, and I'll feel better.

[confusedgirl]

I've had blood tests from the arm too... I was anemic... but, I didn't find it that bad.My friends had told me their "horror stories" about getting blood tests, so I was soo nervous... what I did was bring in a CD player and just try to focus on the music while the doctor took the blood out. And I didn't look at the needle. The first time I got blood taken out, the nurses kept asking me if I felt like I was going to pass out - apparently, even though I felt alright, I was so nervous I ended up looking pretty bad. The second time I got the test done, I was less nervous.. that actually made it hurt less, and I felt fine after. Good luck!! Sorry, I don't have any experiences with the other two things... though, when I used to play soccer a girl on my team got mono. I don't know how it felt for her, she acted normal and healthy when I saw her, but she just couldn't play for awhile while she got better.

[mitch04133]

Liz my condition ended up being a birth defect they found in my kidney, it was working properly. It all started last year when I started feeling sick to my stomach all the time. I thought it was emet, but it seemed different. I lost like 20lbs, I couldn't eat I couldn't sleep, and I started getting really bad pains in my sides. So I finally went to the doctors (it took convincing, cause my family always thought I was "sick" cause of my emet and that is what I chalked it up to) I had tons of tests done, and everything came back negative. Then I had and ultrasounds done and the 2nd one I had, they found my kidney enlarged. After my 4th surgery this past January, I am finally finished and the problem is hopefully corrected.


My advice is, if you feel something is wrong, then there probably is. You know your body better than anyone, and getting tests done is probably for the best. If I ended up not going to the doctor cause my family convinced me I was faking, then I could have lost my kidney.

[ontariogirl]

Blood tests don't bother me. The problem is my one arm has no problems giving and now since its the only arm there is a lot of scar itssue, the blood the other arm is a right off, just air comes out.
I am not going to lie, it can hurt but only for a second.
My honey has the thyroid problem, he takes a pill a day. If he forgets a pill he feels very sluggish and sick.
The mono thing, I was tested for that, came back neg.
Here is some info on the Mono:



When Ashley came home with a headache and body aches and pains, she thought she had caught the flu. But by the next morning, Ashley's temperature had soared to 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius) and her throat felt like she'd swallowed hot coals. Even worse, she was so tired she could hardly lift her head off the pillow. Ashley had never felt this bad with any cold or flu.Ashley's mom took her to the doctor's office. A physical examination and a blood test revealed that Ashley had mononucleosis



How Do I Know if I Have It?
Symptoms usually begin to appear 4 to 7 weeks after infection with the virus. Signs that you may have mono include:
<UL>
<LI>constant fatigue
<LI>fever
<LI>sore throat
<LI>loss of appetite
<LI>swollen lymph nodes (also commonly known as glands, located in your neck, underarms, and groin)
<LI>headaches
<LI>sore muscles
<LI>larger-than-normal liver and spleen
<LI>skin rash
<LI>abdominal pain</LI>[/list]

[shiva]

When I had mono I was really, really sleepy and tired. I couldn't even hardly walk without being tired. It lasted a couple months.

I hope they get to the bottom of your problems. Don't worry much about the bloodwork. Last week alone I had 16 tubes taken from me for blood work. YIKES!
If I can handle it anyone can

[ontariogirl]

16 tubes!!!!!! I remember having 8 taken out when I was 13, that was a moment!
16! were you sitting up or on the bed?

[shiva]

LOL! I pm'd you, Ontariogirl. Only 7 were at one time It was in a matter of 2 days that I had the total amount taken out. I was sitting up, but I did get light headed and wished I was in bed. It only lasted a minute, though

This reminds me of when my friend was in school for medical assisting. I worked with her at the time and she would come in with all of these needle marks in her arms because they would practice on eachother. (and you know.. when a person is practicing at something like that.. well... lets just say it takes a bit of time to master... so, she would bruise up pretty badly) She would tell stories about girls passing out on one another and stuff. Pretty funny. They would also have to inject eachother with saline.

NOTE: The girls above were passing out because they were inexperienced people learning to take blood on eachother A medical professional who knows what they are doing should not cause anyone to run into this problem. (didn't want any nervous people out there

[silver]

I had mono twice when I was a teenager. For me I felt constantly tired, kind of out-of-it feelings. It started with a sore throat that I just kind of blew off and continued to play volleyball and run. Soon, I felt so tired that I couldn't do anything. I didn't have it to the point where I had to stop everything and sleep the entire time, but I did feel very run down and doing anything took a lot of energy. One thing is that the tirdness, run down feeling, etc. can be other things such as depression. If your blood tests come back clear from mono and no thyroid abnormalities, then I would look into maybe depression. I had my thyroid tested at one point and it all came back normal, I was experiencing depression. Honestly, I have been through mono and depression and I pretty much felt the same way through both of them. The symptoms were so similiar. Your doctor is going about it the right way and testing you for physical causes first. I understand the fear of the bloodwork thing, I hated it, but when I had mono both times, I had my blood drawn so many times that I got used to it and it wasn't bad...It really is mind over matter on that one. Let us know how it turns out. If you do have mono, unfortunately it just has to run its course and there really isn't anything you can take to make it better. I would recommend good vitamins, short walks to get at least a little activity, and a well rounded diet and good nutrition.

[chicajojobe]

I get a blood test every 3-6 months for the last 5 years, so I'm
pretty used to it. I was a little nervous during my first one too, but
I ended up regretting that I told the nurses it was the first because
they had trouble seeing a vein well enough to satisfy them so two of
them spent about 10 minutes poking around the inside of my arm saying
"well what do you think? It's her first blood test so I don't want to
make it too horrible for her."

Eventually, I got to the point where I didn't care how much it hurt I just wanted them to hurry up and do it already!



However, I wanted to ask....did they tell you not to drink water before
it? Because my blood tests are fasting also but they tell me that I
absolutley need to drink water the morning before the test because it
makes the veins more visible. As a matter of fact they lecture me if I
forget to. You may want to call and check on that.

[65roses]

I had mono last year, and it was awful. I had abscesses forming in my throat that needed to be lanced with a needle, I have never been so miserable in my life!


Blood tests are not a big deal for me, I've never minded them.

[liz28]

thank you all so much for your responses!!
they were all very helpful. i will definitely bring a discman
and make sure im laid back well enough, thanks to your input.

also to the one who asked if im to drink water....
they said no water or no food starting at midnight the night before i get it done...
however since you said something i will definitely get a second opinion before i do it.. so thank you.