7 months ago I began having this strange feeling in my head that was incredibly difficult to describe to other people. I suppose the best way to describe is braingfog or having the flu but only in your head. I didn't really have any other major symptoms, though I was perhaps a little weak/lethargic. Anyways, this feeling in my head would come in waves, usually the worst occuring an hour after I got out of bed. The waves would typically last 2-3 hours. I began having terrible panic attacks and anxiety, I literally thought I was going insane. I went to the ER several times, and to a doctor at the health center at my college. I was diagnosed with an anxiety/panic disorder and given xanax and put on prozac.It might be worth noting that I had been incredibly healthy, athletic, social, and panic/anxiety free my whole life up until this point. For the next several months I lived a terrified existence. The continued to go the doctor every couple of days, and every time they would just suggest I up my antidepressent dose. I felt misunderstood and all alone in all my fear and panic. I grew very hopeless and became a sort of agoraphobic and began to think a lot about suicide. The only thing that helped was the xanax, which I began taking regularly. I began noticing that when my panic subsided I still felt sick...like something was wrong with me. Finally, about 3 months ago I went to an ER in another city and I lied about my symptoms. I told the doctors that I had been feeling really sick and did not mention my anxiety/panic/depression (I've realized after countless trips to the ER and medical clinics that as soon as you mention the words panic or anxiety the doctors tend dismiss all of your medical problems). Well, they ran a blood test on me and it came up positive for MONO! What a relief I felt at knowing what was wrong with me. Through out the rest of the summer I still had a bit of anxiety (it became such a part of my life that now its hard to get rid of) but I was no longer taking 2 mg of xanax a day, though I was taking 20 mg of celexa daily. It was really frustrating because after I found out I had mono, I felt great relief but my physical condition didn't improve. I still had braingfog and I pretty much spent the whole summer laying in bed wasting the days away. Luckily I have wonderful parents who are very supportive. Anyways, About a month ago I began getting very sressed because I was supposed to begin grad school and I didn't feel like I was healthy enough. At this point I had been sick for 6 months and I was convinced that I was never going to get well. In fact, I had been sick for so long that I couldn't remember what it felt like to feel strong and healthy. Luckily, I have been getting better in these last few weeks. Everyday I feel a little stronger and I'm confident that I will be able to start grad school in a few weeks. If I could offer any advice it would be to eat a lot of fresh fruit (a lot!), I also drink Emergen-C (it's a fizzy vitamin supplement you add to water) in the morning and that gives me energy. Also, my doctor told me to go on a walk (at least 2 miles) everyday (though he stressed avoiding any strenous exercise), otherwise there is a risk of mono turning into chronic-fatigue-syndrome. The walks did help, I think. I was usually go in the evenings with my dad and it got me out of the house and the blood flowing. Finally, try to stay as positive as possible. Unfortunately for some, mono is not a short 3 week ordeal, but rather last months. This has been the WORST time in my life by far. Being sick for 7 months is so depressing and makes life joyless. I can honestly say that my parents have been great, and without them I don't see how I would have got better. Try and be as supportive and understanding as possible with your son, he is going through hell and probably feels really detatched and all alone. Anyways, he will get better, and I hope it's sooner rather than later.

Thank you so much for your quick reply and for sharing your story. This illness is really something... I wish youcontinued and swift healing. MLR

I've been going through almost the exact same thing. I was regarded as a healthy kid by doctors and my parents, rarely got sick prior to this summer. Starting about three months ago, I've noticed enlarged lymph nodes almost everywhere that they can be felt (neck, groin, etc.) - I also had a few other symptoms - mainly heavy fatigue, tightness in my chest/lung area, and stiffness in my neck. I tested negative for the monospot test yet positive for EBV IgG and IgM antigens, so my doctor told me not to worry and that my symptoms will go away soon. It's been a few weeks since he told me that and most of my symptoms have disappeared, though I'm very tired all of the time and my lymph nodes are still able to be felt.

I've been taking a multivitamin as well as a B-12 complex liquid that you drop under your tongue (don't have to worry about too much B/C vitamins as they're water soluble) which seem to help a bit. On days that I don't have access to the B-12 complex I try and grab an energy vitamin water which helps as well.

It most likely made a huge difference that you were there for your son to comfort him, so props on being a good parental figure. My parents weren't as helpful and dismissed my problems as me just having anxiety issues and being a hypochondriac, which made things worse. They wouldn't listen to my concerns which pushed me to think I had a more severe illness like lymphoma as I started self-diagnosing when my parents would dismiss me.

Hope he clears up soon!

We have had a similar experience with our son. His problems started with fatigue, fever, and sore throat. The doctor gave him an anti-biotic assuming he had strep. Then he woke up one morning with two huge black eyes. We asked him if he had fallen down or banged his head somehow, but he said he had not. I bought him an energy drink and a bagel at the local D&D and headed to work. Within an hour my wife called telling me he was being rushed to the ER as he had violently thrown up and was having trouble breathing and was covered with hives. We didn't know if he had a reaction to the drink, or something else. The ER tested him for drugs (negative!) and interviewed him to determine if we were abusing him (we weren't!). They ran some other tests and found nothing. They told us that "he has something serious, but it is not apparent yet exactly what it is". His fever persisted and he began having problems keeping food or even water down. He still had a fever and hives. I took him back to the doctor and the doctor still felt he had strep and gave him Amoxicillin. His hives became even worse and he wasn't sleeping. My wife called the doctor again two days later as his condition was worsening. The doctor had him admitted (my wife insisted on different hospital this time). Our son had a three day stay at the hospital and was in so much pain that the first night they gave him morphine. Tests came back positive this time for mono and we were so terrified he had something life threatening that we broke down and cried in relief at the news. Unfortunately, it has been nearly a year since he came down with symptoms and he's still struggling. He missed 6 weeks of school but never mentally recovered until the spring. He seemed to be in a fog, and his behavior was very uncharacteristic. Then he began to suffer with anxiety and that has persisted into the new school year. He still has some lingering fatigue but he's much better. But the panic attacks have been very hard on him. After doing some research I'm starting to wonder if he may have had secondary encephalitis that was missed and that is the cause of the extremely severe mono and lengthy recovery. Perhaps this is the case with others as well? Here are some potential long term effects of encephalitis that can persist for a year or more according to the Mayo Clinic...

Info taken from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/encephali tis/DS00226/DSECTION=complications

Fatigue
Weakness
Depression
Personality changes
Gait problems
Memory difficulties

If your child has mono and is complaining of neck pain, severe headache and sensitivity to light you may want to request that they investigate encephalitis. Mono can cause a secondary infection of the brain and perhaps in the most severe mono cases this is being missed.