teen with Glandular fever..

[MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay]

DD2 has GF. Awaiting confirmation (blood taken yesterday) but really there is little doubt.. she is REALLY poorly and has been for about 3 weeks.
Unable to stay awake more than a couple of hours a day, humongous swollen lymph nodes, fever, throat etc etc:(

Once we have confirmation the GP will write a note for school supporting shortened day/ support for exams (she is 16 in yr 12 of 6th form) as obviously she is struggling to get course work done and frankly is far too unwell to be in school at all:(

Has anyone experienced this with teens? How long is she likely to be so ill? She is worried sick about school and very depressed as well (another issue but the GF is definitely making it worse) and I'm really not sure how to help :(

[Deaddei]

Poor thing.
My friend's dd got gf in yr 6 and is still struggling in yr 9.
She has only had 1 day off this year so that's a huge improvement.
Despite it, she's in the top stream .

[laosvher]

DD had it when she was 15, it lasted for about 3 weeks, but she was absolutely knackered for about 2 months

[MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay]

Thanks everyone.. tho it's not sounding good for this year for her is it?:(
She is already struggling with depression (ongoing issues since she was 14, eating probs, self harm ect) and we are battling to try and get help for her so this is the last thing she needed as she is a sensitive lovely girl who puts far far too much pressure on herself:(

I don't dare say to her that this year may be a write off but to be honest it might well be:( It's hard to know quite what to say to her as it's quite obvious that at the moment coping with school is just not an option and the doc thinks she may be ill for a while as she has it badly:(

[webwiz]

We were in this situation last year with DD2 when she was in year 12 and she was ill for months. I think now it would have been better to have just gone to bed and rested and then caught up with her school work later when she felt well rather than struggling on. She still did ok in her AS levels but she wasn't fully fit again till she broke up for the summer.

The glandular fever reoccurred over Christmas and she was ill throughout the January exams. This time though she rested a lot more and is fully fit again now with no lingering symptoms.

My advice would be to rest, get some schoolwork to do at home and don't go back properly until she feels a lot better. Speak to her school and explain the situation so that they can include the info in any references she needs for university and get a letter from the doctor to show when she was ill. Don't write the year off yet, DD2 only had to resit one exam because of the glandular fever. Try and reassure your DD that when she feels better she'll quickly catch up and her teachers will be happy to help.

[MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay]

Thanks Webwiz.

I'll speak to the school tomorrow. The blood results will take a week to come back but we are back to the docs on tuesday anyway re DDs depression so I'll ask about a doctors letter then.

It's reassuring to hear that your DD did manage to catch up!!

[ledodgy]

I had it at this age at the beginning of upper sixth. I ended up leaving and returning to college the following Septemmber to do my a. levels. It reallymknocked me out and the thing with GF is that it lingers so even when you feel better if you do too much your glands all come up again and the overwhelming tiredness returns. One of the symptoms of glandular fever is depression so if she is depressed already definitely make the gp aware.

[JuicyLucy10]

I had it badly when I as pre-teen. I can remember I couldn't stand up properly for weeks and slept all the time plus the throat....

We were advised to get as much sunlight onto my skin eventually and I did dramatically improve after being exposed (lucky it as nearly august time).

It took it out of me but there is also a saying that if you have it really badly at the beginning you get better quicker rather than having it more mildly and it going on and off for 6 months.

That said I have always had to make sure i have a lot of sleep since then. I think it does sit dormant afterwards but hopefully it ill get better for you soon.

[Buddhastic]

My DD had it 'mildly' compared to some of your stories and it hits her every now and again. She hasn't taken part in after school activities but was desperate to do rounders so I let her we are two weeks in and her sore throat and headaches have flared up again. AAAArgh when will it end!

[Buddhastic]

Sorry i put 'mildly' because it was still pretty shit but she was not bed ridden for weeks/months thankfully.