Hepatitus from Mono

[davie34]

I had mono the progressed into hepatitus (hepatitis).  I have been told that this form of hepatitus (hepatitis) does not carry a letter (either A, B, C, etc).  Is this true, and also, being that it was not a letter hepatitus (hepatitis), can I donate blood?  And, how, if it can, it be contagous at all to a sexual partner or if my blood somehow gets mixed with someone else's?  I had this 13 years ago.

[MajNeni]

"Hepatitis" is a word that means "inflammation of the liver". It can be caused by many different conditions, among them food borne germs, viruses, and poisons of one sort or another.  Sometimes a severe hepatitis occurs with Mononucleosis; my daughter had this.  It has the same sort of symptoms as any severe hepatitis, such as fatigue, high ALT labs, and jaundice; rest and fluids and palliative medicines were all you could use, and it took a 6-8 weeks to go away.  This kind hepatitis clears up completely, we were told, and is not contagious, even in the acute phase (the mono was infectious, of course.)
I don't know about donating blood, call the Red Cross on that one; make sure to say that you had the Mono-induced hep.

[lizzee]

I HAD HEPATITS WHEN I HAD MONO. IN MY 20'S.
I GOT VERY SICK......
BUT THEY NEVER GAVE ME A LETTER.
JUST TOLD ME MY ALTS WERE QUITE ELEVATED.
I DID GET BETTER AFTER A LONG TIME WITH REST..AND REST..AND MORE REST..
TAKE THINGS EASY..
LIZE

[lackalustre]

i had 2 bouts of mono in my 20s.  just had to rest too, but got infection after infection, respiratory and sinus.    gastro later told me hepc can cause postitive mono tests, actually can be flare ups of the hepc.   never have heard too much more about it anywhere.......   of course didnt realize i had hepc back then but have had it 30+ years.

[GI.PA]

Mono is a form of the Eppstien-Barr virus.  If it attacks the liver, you can get a viral hepatitis (not labled by a letter..just commonly called hepatitis).  It usually resolves as the infection resolves without long-term issues.

This is not contagious as it was an illness you "had", you dont "have" anymore...Kindof like the chicken pox virus, you are no longer contagious..

However, if they were unsure of the diagnosis 13 years ago and they just "assumed" it was mono...then you should have a bit more testing (liver panel and Hep A/B/C testing to be sure).

I dont know the blood donation status although you may be screened out (turned away) if they ask "have you had hepatitis" and the answer is yes..(I really dont know the answer to this).  You can always answer "mono-induced hepatitis at age 21".  If they decline you and you really really want to donate, you can get "worked up" for infectious hepatitis and may be able to donate if they have a note from your doctor.

GI.PA

[aaapattie]

I too had Mono a couple of times about 20 years ago.  I was surprised just how many of us had had it.  Is mono that common?  Is there some kind of a link here?

[GI.PA]

No link, fairly common...

[britgirl]

Are you sure there is no link, GIPA? I did a lot of research on this as my friend has both Hep C and the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mono. If you do a Google search on the links between them there seems to be a lot of evidence that Hepatitis C makes it more likely that you will get the Epstein Barr virus and hence mono. Moreover, getting the Epstein-Barr virus is bad news for your Hep C as it means it will replicate faster.

[GI.PA]

Now lets look at the links.  These are two separate viruses that are transmitted two separates ways.  Perhaps have HCV decreases your bodies ability to launch a full immune response as quickly to the EBV.  Or does having EBV make you more likely to go from acute HCV to chronic?  The data simply isnt there to answer this question.

EBV is quite common..I would argue that if you took 100 non HCV and 100 HCV patients, the rate of EBV would be equal.  

GI.PA

[alyjay]

heyyy so yesterday i just found out i have mono-hepatitis. i'm on steroids and i got a shot yesterday. i have to go back in to the doctor in a week. today though, i feel as if i'm hardly sick. i mean my body is tired and my throat hurts really bad but i'm not nearly as tired or sore as i was yesterday. am i just lucky and i'll feel like **** again tomorrow or is it possible to be getting better already?

[alyjay]

sorry i just realized there is a different place to ask questions. just ignore that ^^^ sorry!

[Janice5555]

I had hepatits from Mono over 20 years ago, and I was told a few times that I can NOT donate blood.  (I'm O Negative ... and used to donate on a regular basis.)  Here's what I found on the Red Cross site ... regarding eligiblity:

Hepatitis, Jaundice
If you had hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) caused by a virus, or unexplained jaundice (yellow discoloration of the skin), since age 11, you are not eligible to donate blood. This includes those who had hepatitis with Cytomegalovirus (CMV), or Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), the virus that causes Mononucleosis.

Acceptable if you had jaundice or hepatitis caused by something other than a viral infection, for example: medications, Gilbert's disease, bile duct obstruction, alcohol, gallstones or trauma to the liver. If you ever tested positive for hepatitis B or hepatitis C , at any age, you are not eligible to donate, even if you were never sick or jaundiced from the infection.

[pigeonca]

If they just "assumed" it was mono, maybe it was hcv.  Misdiagnosis, especially back in the neolithic era, was mighty common.

[Quiksilva]

This website explains all the types of hepatitis, a through e.  And at the bottom, it says how mono is not one of those, so its called non-a-e hepatitis.  

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/viralhepatitis/

The question about giving it to a sexual partner, the hepatitis is finished in your body, so its gone.  But the mono will always be in your system.  You will never have symptoms again, but it could relapse in your body so that you can spread it to someone else.