3 months into my mono journey - chest pain and upper back pain

Hi Bug,

I don't remember chest, but I did have back pain and neck pain, lots of body aches. The anxiety it causes is horrible. I hadn't had anxiety until mono. It was a weird combination of anxiety, exhaustion/depression/sickness.

This forum will give you support, it helped more than my doctors ever did. You will eventually recover, it is a long journey.

Hi Bug,

I had very bad chest pain-I ended up in the ER. I didn't think I was legit having a heart attack but I thought maybe I had some inflammation going on. They did an EKG, chest x-ray and blood work related to heart issues and everything was normal. I was told it was likely Costochondritis. You do have muscles and joints in your chest that can become painful just like anywhere else on the body.

Hi Bug,

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this awful time with mono, I really do understand and empathise as I went through the same thing and the same terrible fears and worries and anxiety that surely ALL this couldn't be caused by mono and something else was at hand, as I felt so awful all of the time and like you felt so many different phases of symptoms hitting.

But truly Bug the effects and symptoms of this virus can be so wide-ranging, and in my case and most likely in your case and in the vast majority of cases it was the mono causing ALL of this. I remember having a phase too with real upper chest pain, it can be so common to have pain in that area because there are so many glands in there is my understanding.

I absolutely want to reassure you and encourage you Bug that what you are going through now is the worst phase and that truly you WILL make a FULL recovery with time. Personally, I found that 3-4 month stage the worst because it had been going on so long every day with such awful and intense symptoms and the intensity of the fatigue, low grade fever, exhaustion, aches and pains and just generally not feeling well, together with the awful anxiety being caused by the terrible experience. And it's awful too when doctors and others around don't fully understand, because you maybe look fine on the outside they don't always fully appreciate how awful you are feeling and how intense this virus can be.

For me it took a good few months to start to feel much better, but everyone's recovery is different and some people seem to recover quicker than others. But absolutely you WILL make a FULL recovery, even though it's hard to see or feel that at this time I know. I remember how hard it was just to get through a single day at that stage at around 3 months in, just focus on each day and don't look beyond that, getting through each day when feeling that way and going through this is a MASSIVE achievement. I believe in God and I know it was only down to God that I was able to recover, God is a healing God and I truly believe He is going to heal you from this.

And don't panic if it takes a little time for full recovery - that can be normal with this too, but the intensity will lessen as time goes on, at 6 months I was better than at 3 months, and at 9-10 months I really started to see a major breakthrough. Again not saying it will be this long for you, everyone is different with this, just to let you know that it can be normal for this thing to try and linger but it is equally normal to make a full recovery after a few months too - so hang in there!

Thing that helped me included taking vitamins and herbs, including a good strong multi-vitamin per day (I take Immunace Extra here in the UK), a B complex vitamin and/or co-enzyme q10 (great for energy levels and nervous system), higher doses of Vitamin C (1000mg-5000mg per day) and immune boosting herbs like siberian ginseng, echinicea and oregano. But of course I'm no expert in vitamins or herbs, I'm only going on what helped me from my own research online,etc - it's always important to check for any interactions with other medical conditions / medication before starting any supplements, and of course to check in with a good, kind and understanding doctor for advice (I know they can be so hard to find!). Also seeing a herbal expert / doctor also helped me a lot too.

But the main thing I want to stress is that you absolutely 100% will get FULLY better Bug, the forum here is a good one and a lot of good and understanding people on here - definitely worth checking in here and message any time. Thinking of you and just take it a day at a time, really hoping these awful symptoms settle - you will get there with Jesus' help truly you will, even though I know it may be so hard to see or feel that right now.

Craig

I went to the ER many times during the last 8 months I've been going thru this s**t. They never found anything and even if it was a zig-zag process I always felt better after a few weeks. Then something new showed up.

Now I'm at the phase when I don't get new weird symptoms anymore, they just get shuffled every week but the severity of them is less. Month 3-6 was DEFINITELY the worse for me. New symptoms every day, literally feeling like dieing, and it has been so long that's made it all more stressful.

Then I took a huge leap forward (I'd say felt about 60%) and it's still an up and down thing but the severity is definitely less. I got strep 4 times in the last 7 months, bronchitis twice, and i really have to watch my sleep and keep hydrated but I do feel a lot better compared to the start of summer when I was literally convinced I was gonna die, even though I've not been to the doctors for years so I'm really not that type of person.

At month 3 I was just entering the thick of it. I had night sweats starting from May till the end of July and that was already 3 months in. One of the scariest symptoms. I hope it's not the case for you.

At month 8 right now I would say I feel close to normal apart from getting frequent infections and some returning of weird symptoms for brief periods of time when I push myself too hard. Still a bit achey and stiff but nothing like a few months ago and the fevers and night sweats have stopped.

So, you just gotta ride it out. It feels like something truly lethal - but it's not.

Hey Bug!

Baconman And I went through this together, he really helped me at the worst part of this, just talking to him and knowing we were going through the same thing.

In late March I started getting daily headaches, then really strange hot flushes in the face, the came a whole heap of other weird symptoms including severe insomnia and anxiety. I also got a heap of pimples and bruises.

I was convinced I either had hiv or cancer. my worst symptom has been severe vision issues where my eyes just feel weird and a HORRIBLE mental feeling where I just couldn't think at all. I also had the worst fatigue of my life. about 6 weeks in, all of my lymph nodes started having strange stabbing pains then they started swelling.

It's now been 5.5 months since this all started and I have felt a lot better for the last 3 months or so. if I don't get enough sleep though I feel really really bad again. I also still have shaky hands and weird shakes in my thumb some times.

I thought I'd never get better, until I did. you will recover! Sleep is very important.

there is a lot of support on this forum and it really helped me. hope you recover soon! x

I meant last 3 weeks! Not 3 months.

im in month 6 and had same symptoms for about 3 months... recent ER trip with similar pains ended up resulting in a dysfunctional gallbladder.. ultrasound was fine but i told them to admit me for more testing and HIDA scan showed gallbladder wasnt functioning... was feeling a little better until surgery but after that seems like anxiety has resurfaced and lots of legs weakness and mental fog.... so ready for this to end!