Hi—have chronic mono—advice?—also exercise Qs.

Hi. Just started recently. I have chronic mono, & my husband thought I wasn’t getting enough protein, so I started recording foods in the app, & trying to get more protein. Feeling a little better, but still sick. Hoping someone might have some advice. I caught mono in 2006 at age 31. Was extremely sick for 1 mo., seemed to be all better after 10 more mos. But it came back 3 mos. after that. Has fluctuated ever since. Wondering if anyone has any advice about this.

I’ve heard some people say chronic mono is just chronic-fatigue syndrome, but no, this is worse & there’s much more to it. Symptoms are:

• feeling run down, esp. in the afternoon; when it’s really bad, I have to take a nap, waking up feeling somewhat less tired but somewhat more sick
• malaise
• sometimes chills, esp. when I stand up
• getting slightly but unbearably hot when active or under stress, & it’s worse in the sun or heat outside (we are in northern Indiana & have A/C, so the heat is not actually as bad as it feels to me)
• waking up too hot about 4 or 5 AM
• aching lymph-nodes, & aching in the front of abdomen & in the front of thighs (which I guess may be from more lymph-nodes)
• fluid pressure in & sometimes itchy rash over the lymph-nodes behind ears (& occas. under ears or rarely on lobe)
• rash usu. erupts into sm. sores that have clear, slightly yellowish, sticky fluid; thick skin or scabs form over them
• earaches
• chronic bacterial & fungal infections
• chilblains (haven’t had them lately, but have gotten them before even in Aug. from wearing sandals in A/C—they damaged my nailbeds, bending my fingernails & toenails, which I suspect may have caused susceptibility to one of the fungal infections), also feet just generally are prone to being cold
• stress making things generally worse

Things I have already done & tried:

• Lymph-Tone II & Plant Fusion protein shakes (at least 1 of these did help, but it took yrs to go from having to stay in bed almost all day most days to being able just to go to church or on a walk & feel OK afterwards—now I’m in between those points)
• Tiger Balm Ultra on lymph-nodes b/f any rash or sores (actually relieves a lot of pressure somehow)
• Caladryl on rash
• ice on lymph-nodes behind my ears when I’m going crazy from pressure/rash/sores (numbs them a bit at least)
• soaking infected toe 2×/day in hot water w/ Epsom salt, antibacterial soap, & tea tree oil (bacterial infection might be gone but the spot is still a little sensitive)
• 2 surgeries on toenail (toenail taken out): 1st time it grew back still infected (& the anaesthesia had failed that time 😒 …torture, for nothing), 2nd time everything was fine, until maybe a yr later, infections were back (apparently there’s some antifungal pill, but it wasn’t safe during pregnancy—when this started—or nursing, & 2½-yr-old is still going strong w/ the nursing: fussier than average, somewhat prone to tantrums, needs hrs of nursing & rocking just to get to sleep at night, & now getting 5 molars at once, so she needs to continue 😅)
• heating pad on feet at night (couldn’t sleep otherwise unless the rm is almost too hot)
• shearling slippers & wool socks
• antifungal creams
• antibiotics for bacterial infections, but they typically cause yet another fungal infection
• large doses of Vits. C & D
• Anointing of the Sick & even more Holy Oil

Family dr said he called an infectious-disease specialist & ‘nothing can be done’, except he could give me an adrenaline pill (can’t remember the name, sorry) that would ‘only give you a little more pep’. I asked if it was safe during pregnancy (our 2nd baby hadn’t been conceived yet). He said, ‘Just let us know if you become pregnant.’ That sounded strange, so I looked it up & it was abortifacient. It could have killed our baby even before we knew she had been conceived (and after 5 yrs of infertility, after being told we could never have any more). (Reminds me of those ads that say, ‘Let your dr know if you are or plan to become pregnant’—not all babies are planned…like no unplanned ones or miraculous ones like this one deserve to live? 🤨 Sorry to get distracted… 🙂) So of course I never took that pill.

Next thing I’m trying is the Integrative Medicine Dept. of the local hospital. Appts for Dec. are allowed to be made in Oct. Don’t know what else to do.

Also, exercise Qs.: B/c my baby needs so much rocking, I figured that should count as an exercise, but not sure how to figure out what calories I burn doing it. If I rock her just sitting on the edge of the bed, it seems to be the same as crunches w/ extra wt. She is 25 lbs. but I’m not lifting all of her, so maybe about 15 lbs. Does the estimate of 15-lb. crunches seem right? But my back can’t take much of that, & we have a glider. How do I figure out how much exercise using it is? Also, in pushing a stroller, is a difference in wt between sm & lg babies negligible?