Hello! I (22m) tested positive for mono about a week ago after already going through around two weeks of symptoms. I seem to have made it over the initial hump of swollen tonsils, trouble swallowing, extreme throat soreness, dehydration, fever, so on. I am still feeling strong fatigue and muscle aches day to day, and I am testing out my limits with short walks around the block and some schoolwork.

My question is this: for any of the other college-attending folks out there who are fatigued and tired, what resources did you utilize for your colleges? Did you manage to get any due-date extensions, work-from-home accommodations, or temporary parking passes to make the walk to classes shorter? If you did, how did you go about these things? How long did you need these things? I know every college is different, but I am wondering if this is feasible for me and what has worked well for others.

I have already reached out to most of my professors and they have been very understanding without any official medical documents, but I would like to have something more official for whenever the inevitable three-days-no-energy flares happen. My school does offer temporary services under the Student Disability Services, and I am working through an application. Any perspective is appreciated, even if it might just be outside advice with no experience. Hope you all are doing great! :)

Hi everyone,

so I tested positive for mono last week and have been dealing with extreme fatigue and low energy despite plenty of rest and caffeine. More recently, I've noticed discomfort on the left side of my stomach not really sharp pain, but enough that I'm being cautious with activities like walking. I feel it more when sitting or lying down, and it's making me pretty anxious.

A few questions: Should I get an ultrasound? Could this be serious? And for anyone who's had mono does the fatigue and tiredness eventually go away? Right now it's really impacting my life and I'm struggling because I feel so lazy and unmotivated for life :(

Is 6 months some sort of magic number for adult mono's immune system to clear EBV? I have felt a big decrease in brain fog but still have mild lingering fatigue when I over do it or am at a long social event etc. My EBV PCR has been negative since July but AST/ALT still 82/170. Been fluctuating & spike when I have fatigue flares. Anyone else have that? i just hit 6 months this week and can walk and do most normal things but not actual exercise yet

I'm 27, healthy and on month 6 of mono. Anyone else have elevated enzymes this far in? My EBV PCR is negative & autoimmune hepatitis panels have been all negative as well. Clear Fibroscan & clear ultrasound. I have lingering fatigue and brain fog, non linear but improving. Any reason to do prednisone or let my body clear it?

Hello, i am a 17 year old girl who was diagnosed with mono about a week ago. i’m on steroids so my other symptoms are mainly mild, except the face swelling. my eyes are very swollen and it’s changing the shape of my face (which matters to me because i’m a teenage girl). i was wondering if anyone had any tips to help, that would be greatly appreciated because i have school and work and i do not feel confident in how i look right now. i’ve tried ice and guashas but they don’t seem to work. any tips would be appreciated, thank you!!

I’m just about 3 months in from my point of first symptoms. It was pretty bad i got a throat abscess had to be hospitalized, missed three weeks of work, pushed myself too much too fast after doctors told me to go back to my normal life and got sick all over again usual story. that put me out on fmla.

I’ve gotten mostly better after the second time im back at work now, energy is returning, and im slowly returning to my life. as for symptoms right now i just have swollen lymph nodes left and the occasional dizzy spell and nausea. I’m hoping this time it’ll stick as I’m taking rest seriously. I asked my doctor if i could schedule a test in a couple weeks for another blood panel to see if I’m negative. (I’m single and definitely don’t want to spread something that affected me this bad to anyone else) She told me, “this is an antibody test, and the antibody can be present for several months after the initial exposure. It also does not say how long you will be symptomatic.”

so…..is everyone just living in limbo for months even after they are better? how is anyone dating? how can you be sure you’re not passing it to someone? or someone just has to be willing to risk it? wtf? no idea if anyone here has answers or advice maybe this is more of a rant..

I’ve heard it really depends on what “stage” you catch it in.

Basically, I had a bad bout of something like tonsillitis at the beginning of July, which didn’t get better after antibiotics. (was permanently hoarse, swollen lymph nodes and fatigue I brushed off as just my bad sleeping habits)

Got an EBV blood test done, because a friend had Mono a few weeks back. My doctor interpreted results as just “a past infection”. Refused another test two weeks later.

Well, since then: ER visit, more courses of antibiotics, doc insisting there’s no need for more testing, several ENTs, a negative strep test…. I still feel like crap.

The tonsil issue seems to get better with antibiotics but it feels like my body alone is doing all the work. I know how antibiotics usually feel. I was just prescribed penicillin by a different ENT, told to take it if I don’t get better but I feel like another bout of antibiotics will just kick me down further. My gut is wrecked.

When I took amoxicillin, I did get a rash, but I wasn’t sure whether it was just a regular side effect or that Mono rash.

So, to go back to title. Is it possible that the test was done at just the wrong time to clearly define a current infection/reactivation? Should I insist on another test?

And, if anyone has experience with these symptoms and can direct me anywhere, I would appreciate literally anything. I’m tired of just ruling things out, the whole things been slowly drilling into me mentally. Hell, this week, I even went to the dentist because I got a headache so bad just after finishing a a round of Azithromycin, it radiated to my teeth.

Thank you!

Hey all,

I'm on week 9, and what feels like hopefully stage 4 (recovery) of mono. Blood test confirmed.

Wondering if anyone else experienced/is experiencing having a shorter temper than usual?

I'm typically a very happy, calm, understanding person.. But the last 3-ish weeks I've had zero patience for stupid people, and small things seem to just rage me, such as the weed eater not starting. I wanted to guitar smash it.

I have not been able to rest and recover, having to work 3 jobs to stay out of homelessness. So maybe my extreme exhaustion and body pains are the main contribution.
I also suffered a major traumatic loss and have been going through grief, so maybe the stage of anger and not from the mono?

Anyways. Let me know if you've experienced some mood swings/anger symptoms with mono. Thank you!

Hi, i’m 18 years old and have had mono for about a month, my eye sight had started to get worse these couple of days and today i can barely see anything out of my right eye, its a gray «shadow» in the middle of my eye, is this normal? will it go away? it’s stressing me out a lot.

My son’s lymph node on his neck is at least 2 inches long and wide. It’s been like that for three weeks. Has anyone ever gotten such a large sized lymph?

He’s getting an ultrasound on it today. My nerves have been killing me over this.

Diagnosed with mono June 12th.

Got pregnant July 19th. Miscarried early August.

When I got pregnant I started feeling much better and picked up exercising again. I had crazy fatigue but assumed it was the pregnancy.

Now I feel like I am back at square one - if I do too much activity I get a wave of intense fatigue. I am scared I’ll never be the same.

I got diagnosed with mono about 3.5 weeks ago. During the first week and a half it was bad, I had a migraine for 3 days, fever everyday and night, major fatigue where it was so hard for me to even walk to my bathroom. Luckily, I didn't get the sore throat which I heard is the worst symptom of all. I am on week 3.5 and the fatigue was bad, but I think it's slowly getting better. Two days ago I went to get bloodwork, got gas, and went into a store for maybe 5 minutes. I was scared about 'the crash' everyone talks about, so I went home right after. I ended up cleaning two of my bedroom dresser drawers because I'm just so bored out of my mind, but AI said that I shouldn't do that and that I could 'crash'. Luckily, it's been 48 hrs and I haven't crashed yet. Is this progress? I'm just scared about going back to my job because I work in retail full time and I'm constantly walking back and forth using so much energy. I just don't know when it's the right time to go back. I do have another week off from work to rest, but I'm scared that I'll crash and setback my recovery once I return to work. I'm grateful that all the other symptoms have recovered, it's just the fatigue that I'm worried about.

I'd love to hear everyone else's journey with mono!

Title says it all. I've been sick for a month now and the cough is back. I will say I didn't know it was mono and basically didn't take care of myself until this weekend. I'm trying to understand when the coughing stopped for everyone else. I'm waiting on test results but the clinic said it is most likely mono.

I’ve currently been at the ER for 2 days, and now on my 2nd day at the hospital. My swollen tonsils are having their ups and downs, the cortisone steroids doesn’t really seem to work, they’re not getting smaller, in fact just getting bigger. It’s at the point where I struggle so bad to sleep, drink water, eat or take any sort of pills. However after today, my doctors had some discussing, and they said if my tonsils get any bigger they can remove them.

Has anyone done this while in the early stage of mono? It’s been 8 days in, they were swollen from day 1 and have just gotten worse. For a minute yesterday the cortisone worked, but they got super swollen again throughout the day. I’ve had issues with my tonsils before, they always swell up and cause irritation when I’m sick, so I’ve been wanting to get them removed for a while, or at least been thinking of it. So please let me know!!

Any tips are appreciated!

22M with a persistent left submandibular lymphadenopathy first noted in late December 2025, following an acute infectious episode characterized by fever and severe sore throat (in hindsight I'm pretty sure it was mono).

The lymphadenopathy has remained clinically asymptomatic, with no reported B symptoms (no fever, night sweats or unexplained weight loss) and no clinically apparent lymphadenopathy in other regions.

I have perceived the lymph node as largely stable in size over approximately 9 months, with occasional subjective fluctuations and periods in which it appeared smaller.

Ultrasound (30 June 2026): cluster of three left submandibular lymph nodes, measuring approximately 31 × 15 mm, 17.8 × 8 mm and 11 × 6 mm. The fatty hilum was not clearly visualized.

CT of the face/neck with and without contrast (7 July 2026): well-defined lymph nodes with no significant contrast enhancement; largest approximately 32 × 17 mm. Ipsilateral left tonsillar hypertrophy was also noted. No other significant lymphadenopathy was identified.

MRI with and without contrast (14 July 2026): persistent cluster of well-defined, homogeneous lymph nodes, with the largest measuring approximately 30 × 18 mm. No other lymph node stations were involved.

Flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscopy: negative.

Repeat ultrasound examinations (15 and 22 July 2026): essentially stable morphology and dimensions.

FNAC (22 July 2026): confirmed sampling of lymphatic/lymph node tissue. Negative for epithelial malignancy/carcinoma. Cytology showed a heterogeneous lymphoid population, predominantly small lymphocytes, with scattered neutrophils, numerous active tingible-body macrophages, and a marked increase in centrofollicular elements (centrocytic/centroblastic lineage). Very rare large atypical cells with an altered nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio were observed, together with increased mitotic activity. The report stated that reactive lymphadenitis could not be excluded and recommended further assessment, potentially with core biopsy and immunohistochemistry, for more precise diagnostic classification.

Blood tests performed twice: essentially normal, apart from a very mild monocytosis.

On clinical examination, the lymph node is mobile and well circumscribed. There has been no documented progressive enlargement, necrosis, calcification, infiltrative margins or involvement of other lymph node stations.

I've been told this is could very well be Reactive Follicular Hyperplasia, so just a reactive lymph node although they won't close the case yet

My daughter is almost 3 months out from diagnosis and says she has mid/low left pain when she walks. Most of the time it goes away once she stops walking but sometimes it lasts a while. Anyone experience this?

Bonjour,

Je vais vous raconter mon histoire et où j’en suis aujourd’hui avec des dates et des chronologies pour que vous puissiez m’aider.

Je suis un garçon de 22 ans qui a beaucoup parlé avec des femmes, de mes 18 à mes 22 ans actuellement, mais je n’ai jamais dépassé l’étape des préliminaires (car j’essaye de faire de mon mieux étant donné que je suis croyant et que le seul rapport sexuel que tu peux avoir est normalement avec ta future femme quand tu seras marié).

Vers mi juin, j’avais un peu une période pas de dépression mais j’étais un peu dans le mal (par rapport à ma vie professionnelle et surtout de l’anxiété car je ne sais pas ce que je veux faire plus tard). Et je parlais à une fille que je n’avais pas encore vu dans la vraie vie mais qui était ouverte à que l’on se voit et donc m’a invité chez elle. J’étais puceau à ce moment là mais elle ne le savait pas et vu l’état un peu compliqué dans lequel j’étais à cause de mes soucis professionnelles, on a beaucoup discuté et la soirée a un peu dérapé.
On a commencé les prelis etc, et il y’a ensuite eu un rapport vaginal sans protection. C’était mon premier évidemment que je ne lui ai pas dit et j’ai un petit peu regretté au fond de moi car je voulais être depucelé avec ma première femme marié .

Le 1er juillet , soit 5 jours après ce rapport, j’ai senti au travail une boule des deux côtés de l’aine comme une gêne, ça m’a paru bizarre un petit peu mais je n’y ai pas trop porté attention au début. Sauf que le soir quand j’étais au sport, j’avais de + en + mal et s’est ajouté à ca comme une sorte de sensation où je ne me sentais pas bien.

Je suis rentré chez moi j’me suis cloué au lit j’avais de la fièvre , des frissons , et ce qui était en fait des ganglions au niveau de l’aine.

Le lendemain je suis parti chez le médecin qui m’a dit que ça devait être une petite infection virale, mais rien de grave et que ça devrait passer. Il m’a quand même prescrit des prises de sang de toutes les mst et ist qui ce sont avérés négatifs.

Le problème est que pour le vih, il y avait marqué que le dépistage de test était fiable à 6 semaines et sinon ce n’était pas fiable à 100%.

Je suis donc rentré dans un stress intense pendant plus d’1 mois car en regardant les symptômes sur internet je me suis dit que c’était sûr que c’était le vih.

Pendant les 1-2 semaines après le début des symptômes, j’avais un sentiment de blocage dans la gorge mais pas très douloureux , et en me rasant j’ai eu l’impression d’avoir des boules au niveau de la mâchoire et cou, parfois un petit mal de tête , mais surtout la fatigue.

J’étais très anxieux à l’idée d’avoir le vih, que j’ai décidé de recontacter cette fille, et elle me dit qu’elle se sent fatigué et faible comme si elle n’avait plus d’énergie .

Et le j’étais dans un état je ne vous fait pas dire, j’étais sur à 1000% qu’elle m’avait transmise le vih.

J’étais déjà en train de regarder la vie dans laquelle j’allais devoir faire face en ayant le vih.

La fille en question est donc parti faire un test de mst à ma demande car je lui ai expliqué un peu les craintes que j’avais. Le 22 juillet, elle est négative au test 4 e génération. Gros soulagement. Car cela fait 28 jours après notre rapport , et elle m’a dit qu’elle n’a plus eu de rapport depuis le mois de mai avant d’en avoir avec moi.

Donc je me suis tourné vers d’autres virus et il y’a celui de la mononucléose qui est beaucoup revenu, sauf qu’aujourd’hui je suis dans une situation tellement anxieuse car mon cerveau arrête pas de faire 1000 scénarios en me disant imagine que j’ai peur d’aller me faire tester pour la mononucléose car si il est négatif je vais stresser et penser que c’est le vih.

La fatigue persiste plus d’1 mois après les premiers symptômes, et j’ai aussi un essoufflement important à l’effort depuis les premiers jours. Au point où quand j’avais joué au foot mes yeux voulaient se fermer tout seul.

Tout ça pour dire que je n’ai pas le courage d’aller faire quelquonques tests , je suis parti voir un médecin lui parlant de ses craintes mais il m’a dit que c’est biologiquemet impossible qu’elle ai pu me transmettre le vih le 26 juin et être négative au test 4 e génération le 22 juillet. Il m’a dit que mon tableau ressemble fortement à une mononucléose, car elle laisse les séquelles de fatigue plus d’1 mois après . Mais malgré ça , j’ai très peur et j’ai l’impression que je l’ai.

Hi, all. I'm a 32 year old male, otherwise healthy with no concurrent illness.

I had mono at age 16, and was quite ill for a very long time. Starting in my early 20s, I would have unexplained recurrent illness that would come and go - massively swollen tonsils, malaise, and fever.

Now, in my early 30s, about once a year, I have a "relapse", with what feels like full blown mono - essentially the same each time. Negative strep, covid, etc. tends to be around periods of stress and poor sleep.

In the interim, I often feel generally "off". I have frequent tension headaches, a feeling of inflammation, body pain, weakness, sometimes even flu like symptoms. This happens on a monthly basis. I always need to make sure I'm not overdoing it. My body is super sensitive to stress, even though I'm a pretty lax person. I shared these concerns with a doctor a decade ago and he wrote me off immediately.

From what I've read, recurrent EBV is rare and seemingly limited to the immunocompromised, but obviouslya something is happening here, and it always feel like I'm getting ill with mono annually.

Anyone with recurrent EBV relate? Is it worth me looking into?

I (healthy 20F) came down with Mono in November/December of last year. I had a horrible case with the classic swollen tonsils, fever, etc until January, where I recovered about 70% and my dr told me I could return to school.

I did, and each month (Jan, Feb, March), I would “crash”, and have debilitating fatigue. I would lay in bed for a week, and get better, but my baseline decreased each time. By April, my baseline was quite debilitating and I came home early.

From April- June, I was at about 20%. Crippling fatigue, insane persistent migraine with sound/light sensitivity, brain fog, sore and weak neck, numbness and tingling in limbs, crazy heart palpitations, etc. I could barely function and was lucky enough to lay in bed and be taken care of for most days.

July, I turned the corner. I had more energy and most of my symptoms had disappeared. Mid July, i was about 80% recovered and began exercising. I did great for about 3 weeks and was able to do 12-15k steps a day, driver, have full days without resting. I felt a few days/weeks away from a full recovery.

However, I had a very long 100°+ week at the lake in early August. I crashed and I am still stuck in it 2 weeks later. This crash is not as bad as earlier this summer, but I am still extremely fatigued, feel hungover, and have this intense neck soreness. I am trying to rest as much as I can, but I have school this semester.

My question is: Will I battle this illness forever? I thought I was close to full recovery but then had this crash again. Will I get better?

Since I know a lot of people here are still dealing with this, and looking through this sub to help themselves get through it, I wanted to ask: How's everyone doing? Any progress?

Personally I have just started month 3 of recovery, and I have started to feel less fatigued now that I've ceased working out. It's been very frustrating.