I have been feeling under the weather for nearly 3 weeks now. I went backpacking over spring break and caught what ended up being diagnosed as a virus from one of the friends I was with. It began after I was cold and in wet clothes for about 4 hours; I was chilling and shaking, I had a fever that kept coming back for a few days (I don't think it was terribly high, however...I didn't have a thermometer).

So the first symptoms began on Wednesday 3/19. I began coughing on Friday 3/21, and it got really bad (people were afraid to sit by me in class because I sounded so sick). A week after coming down with this, I finally went to the doctor on Wed. 3/26 and was diagnosed with a virus and a bad cough. She said I could ride it out and I'd be better within 5 to 6 days (so let's about April 1st). I felt tired during that week I went to the doctor, but I figured it was from the virus and my body was drained...coughing was also very tiring. I stopped coughing sometime last week (around the 1st or 2nd of April probably) and the virus is definitely gone by now. Sometime last week, though, my lymph glands on my throat/neck area began feeling swollen. Also, I've been more tired than usual (even after the virus and cough have been gone) and have been getting more sleep than usual. Being a typical college kid, I'd go to bed around 1 or 2 am and get no more than 7 1/2 hours of sleep (if I got that much, that was a lot!), and I'd be able to do things normally. Now I'm going to bed usually anywhere between 10:30pm and 12:30am, and there have been several nights where I've slept more than 9 or 10 hours, and even after getting that much sleep, I felt like I could sleep more (one night, I slept 11 hours, skipped my morning class, which is very uncharacteristic of me, and felt like I could've slept for a couple more hours). I have no desire anymore to stay up till all hours, because I cannot handle even the thought of getting only 6 or 7 hours of sleep, because I know that even on 9 or 10 hours, I might still feel tired.

I think I might also have a sinus infection now, and today (Mon. 4/7) my body felt achy.

I have been exposed to mono recently. One of my best friends was diagnosed with strep throat the same day I went to the doctor (3/26), and then the next week found out she had mono as well. She said she had been feeling unusually tired for at least a few weeks before that, so she probably had it and didn't realize it. On Tues. 3/25, I was looking in her throat to see if it looked like strep, and she accidentally coughed RIGHT in my face....we also shared the same phone that day as well (which is how another person I know got mono last summer, from sharing a desk phone). So I haven't been kissing anyone, but I have had close contact with someone who does have mono for sure (we'd hang out together in her room, I'd use her computer, etc.).

Also, I know that with mono, it's common for the person's spleen to be enlarged...what exactly does that feel like? Today it's been feeling a little funny on my left front side...I'm not sure if it's gas or if it's my spleen...it doesn't feel funny on my right side.

I'll have days where I'll feel good for most of the day, so I'm not tired every waking minute. My appetite has been good until today, and I ate less than usual today b/c I wasn't very hungry. I'll feel tired after doing normal things, like practicing violin, and I can't handle the cold as well.

Is it worth getting this checked out, especially since there really isn't anything a doctor can do for mono? I tend to worry about stuff, so maybe part of my tiredness is me freaking myself out that it might be mono.

Thanks so much!!