<p>Ugh. School resumed yesterday. Senior Son had a sore throat over the weekend & yesterday morning but nothing serious. By the end of the day yesterday, he had that "strepp" sound in his voice. Doctor gave him antibiotics for tonsilitis - and did a mono test "just in case." Well...he has it. What a way to start this last semester of high school. Argghh. Any home remedies?</p>
<p>sleep and lots of rest!</p>
<p>I had mono long ago. It took me a couple weeks to get over the "germ" part, but a few months to regain my pre-mono zip. It can be a major drag. Your son should make whatever accommodations he needs in order to keep up with his school work. I hope he has "mono lite."</p>
<p>For what it's worth it's probably better to have it now than first semester senior year when you are trying to apply to colleges and get topnotch grades or in college when you are off on your own. No suggestions on home remedies - soothing things for the throat!</p>
<p>Follow the doctor's orders on resuming activity and full class attendance. He will feel better before he should resume all activity and full class schedule. Relapse is a danger.</p>
<p>Take it seriously. Most of the time, it's a couple of weeks and all is well, but not always. My daughter had mono with abscesses in her throat, then ended up with her spleen surgically removed. Inflammation of the spleen is a very common complication, so be very wary of resuming physical activity. Relapse is also a danger. Daughter had a relapse almost four months later than led to pneumonia. Like I said, take it seriously and seek further medical attention if he doesn't improve. Likely, however, it'll be a couple of weeks and mostly done. Good luck!</p>
<p>When I had mono 30-some years ago, my liver was pretty badly inflamed, and my doctor recommended B vitamins. I found that everything tasted bad, and for a week or so I subsisted on sardines and cottage cheese. Bizarre, I know, but both are a great source of protein, so maybe there was some method to my madness.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that your child is sick :(</p>
<p>Vitamins, lots of rest, good nutrition. Although if nothing tastes good to him and/or can pass through his inflamed throat, Ben and Jerry's ice cream is "good nutrition".</p>
<p>If he is an athlete, make absolutely sure that he gets cleared by his doctor to resume any exercise! For a while this will mean no weight lifting or anything that can lead to a ruptured spleen. Light activity like swimming is probably going to be OK; but talk to the doctor first.</p>
<p>S1 had it last semester. Was miserable for a week or so, and sick off and on with colds, coughs and whatnot for the rest of the semester-- until just recently, actually.
We were upset with him because he only waited a couple weeks before resuming activities, swimming, light lifting (ugh), etc. Did not realize at the time just how delicate the spleen and liver can be. He blames ME for nagging him into visiting the health office in the first place. If he hadn't gone, he'd never have even known he had it, and would never have been inconvenienced (his reasoning, not mine).</p>
<p>Hope your son will take it easy and get enough sleep!</p>
<p>do be grateful he will have antibodies in college..our son tanked one class in a semester in a botched job of recovering from mono</p>
<p>and he was lucky and was "sick" at home for Christmas unlike most unfortunates who try to salvage a semester, take exams when sick. I know it seems rude but this semester is the best case scenario..doesn't have to take his SATs, transcript done for college apps, give your kid a break, and advocate with his teachers to work out deadlines that make sense and give him a couple weeks to recoup. Baby him a little and enjoy one of the last times he will recoup at your place. My other advice since our son was sick Dec/Jan/Feb..do not let him sleep too much after the first illness peaks...our son had a hard time sleeping at night in college..he got a ridiculous amount of rest in the first two weeks...and it was dark early..and he simply screwed up his body clock and it took till spring to reset this body clock cycle...he was awake all night a lot in college at first..too chicken to work out and therefore missing out on exercise (fear of relapse)..I would say get some exposue to the sun daily after the first chapter of the illness, and keep your body clock on the midnight to 7 sleep cycle..don't let him be a night owl on computers..do not let him nap after he is getting stronger..help him get some exercise, mild exercise to keep his sleep patterns normal.<br>
Skipping Frat Rush season would be a smart idea. (errr.this is where our son went astray.) We never will know if he relapsed due to excess socializing (he was a bookworm in HS) but suspect he did not keep his routines re sleep.</p>
<p>Is he in any single semester electives that he could drop without a problem to reduce his academic load a bit? I know, probably not, but maybe there's some way to ease the work so he can count on making up missed work in the classes he has to do well in.</p>
<p>DD had mono last fall, at the very beginning of her Sr. year. She was fortunate in that her case seemed to be relatively mild, but she was down for a couple of weeks. Her Dr. believed in her case that it was okay for her to try to go to school for 1/2 days after the first 10 days or so. She is an athletic girl, and he thought too much rest after a couple of weeks or so would make her feel worse. We agreed. During the worst of it, I encouraged her to take short walks outside (less than 5 minutes) just to keep some muscle tone and get fresh air/sunshine. She alternated mornings and afternoons at school so she would not consistently miss the same class. Her teachers appreciated her effort, and saw she was really trying to keep up. Because of this they were pretty lenient in terms of making up tests, etc. By the fourth week she was ready to ease back into her sport, swimming, with no weight training for another week. We did make her stay in on weekends for about 6 weeks so she could catch up on her rest and watched her very carefully for signs of overexertion. Extra vitamins C and B's, along with a multi vitamin, lots of green tea (which felt good for her throat), helped her during her recovery. </p>
<p>My best advice is to let your son do what he feels he is ready to do, within reason, but to monitor him carefully. It felt silly with a 17 year old, but we did impose a "bedtime" on D during her recovery. If he seems to be tired or regressing, ask him to cut back on things and prepare him mentally for the fact that he will be tired for several weeks/months. It's a great time for him to learn to take care of his health (before he's off to college). </p>
<p>Best wishes for a quick recovery.</p>