The Summer Mono Visited Our House

On July 28, 2014 I got a phone call from the summer camp nurse saying my daughter, Bella, had ear pain and that she was taking her to the nearby medical clinic. The doctor who saw her said that she did not have an ear infection, but did have fluid in her ear and recommended Mucinex. Bella spent practically the entire day in the camp infirmary sleeping.

Three days later I picked up Bella from camp at the end of the session and for the next several weeks she complained of ear pain, throat pain, tiredness, and had a terrible cough.

On August 13th, Bella had an outbreak of hives. She has been prone to hives since she was a baby. Whenever a fever would hit or as a virus would pass, she would have hives for three days. It was a bit disconcerting to new parents the first time it happened.

This time the hives didn’t stop at three days. They persisted. For weeks, we kept her on a half dose of Benadryl 2 or 3 times a day to control the hives without making her too drowsy. They were relentless!

At the end of August we finally took Bella to the doctor because the hives wouldn’t stop, she was so tired, her joints ached, she remained congested, and her condition was starting to interfere with her ability to attend and stay focused at school and ballet.

She had been tired since coming home from camp, but I thought she was just recouping from an exciting and exhausting camp session. I thought too it was typical pre-teen developmental behavior, and the Benadryl certainly didn’t help. When she was awake, she’d complain of being tired and when she slept, she was out for many hours. Her energy levels were so very low.

Bella’s doctor suspected Mononucleosis (Glandular Fever) because of the fatigue and swollen neck glands front and back, but we didn’t test because he thought it would pass soon. He wasn’t sure the reason for the hives but prescribed an H1 and H2 blocker (antihistamines) to control them without drowsiness.

I had started Bella on raw vitamin C capsules, probiotics, a whole food multi-vitamin, and some L-Glutamine for intestinal repair. I knew the food at camp wasn’t of stellar quality and I wanted to support her body in cleansing and repairing itself.

On August 30th, one day after visiting the doctor, Bella developed a fever. In my research I learned that it takes 30-50 days for the Mono virus to incubate. She was right on time.

On September 24th Bella’s sense of smell returned. She had been so congested since camp that she couldn’t smell or breathe much through her nose for two months.

Then on October 6th the stomach bug hit. And it hit hard. Bella lost about 10 pounds in one week from vomiting and diarrhea. The chronic fatigue got worse. Where other children were getting a 24 or 48 bug, Bella had it for a full week. In retrospect, getting the stomach bug on top of having Mono was in effect getting hit when already knocked down.

We returned to the doctor on October 10th because things were progressively getting worse rather than better and she had already missed four days of school. We ordered a full blood panel, an Epstein-Barr Virus test (the virus that causes Mono) and a Celiac test.

Because the hives seemed to activate after eating, I was concerned that if she did have Mono that the illness triggered an autoimmune disease like Celiac which causes leaky gut. If food proteins were escaping her digestive tract, it could cause hives as an autoimmune response. It was in my research that I learned that Mono can trigger all sorts of autoimmune disease like MS, lupus, hypothyroidism, Celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and many others.

On October 14th we received the test results. Bella did indeed pick up Mono at camp (the test ages the virus) and tested negative for Celiac disease. The hives were definitely triggered by the long-lasting virus. Her last (hopefully) outbreak was on October 12th.

For academic reasons, we were already in the process of transferring Bella out of public middle school to online school. It was a blessing. Starting October 14th she could sleep in and awaken when she was rested instead of catching the school bus at 6:17am.

Now that she was no longer nauseated from the stomach bug, I started applying therapeutic grade oregano oil on the bottom of her feet at bedtime. In one week with extra sleep, elderberry syrup, and anti-viral oregano oil in addition to the other supplements, her health has nearly returned 100%. I’m thankful too for Blendfresh to help me make easy, nutrient-dense smoothies to feed her while she didn’t feel up to eating anything solid.

When I heard her laugh last week, I realized that it had been so long…since before camp… when I heard her laugh. Really laugh. Mono zaps everything.

While doing research, I found a lot of help from Elizabeth Noble’s Mono website (download her Nature’s Amazing Mononucleosis Cures ebook) and her Mono Blog. I encourage you to look at this resource if you or someone you know has, or is suspected to have, Mono.

I am thankful that Bella is better. It’s a joy to see her energy return so she can dance and laugh with ease. I am also thankful that her case of Mono was not drawn out longer and that it didn’t trigger an autoimmune disease. Some people struggle with this for years or for a lifetime before answers are discovered. Nearly three months felt like a long time for us, but in reality we are some of the lucky ones.