What are the implications of getting mono at age 65 and again at age 69?

[JimS48]

I had mono four years ago at age 65, and I just found out I have it again at age 69.  Very tired most of the time, but no swelling in the lymph nodes so far.  This seems very unusual, my doctor says it's rare to get mono twice.  Trying to find out why this is happening and what the implications are.

[Barb135]

This is a thyroid forum and mono isn't one of the things we, typically, get into a lot.  However, there are some things that make your diagnosis interesting, so I'll go into it a little bit and please bear with me while I tie it all together...

One thing is that diagnosis of mono is rare in a person of age 65, since 90%+ people are exposed to mono as children or young adults.  

The second thing is that, some doctors believe that although it may take many years, the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) that causes mono is also a suspected trigger for the autoimmune condition called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.  Hashimoto's is the # 1 cause of hypothyroidism in the developed world.  Tiredness is one of the top complaints of people with hypothyroidism.

Since the EBV virus remains dormant in our body, we will always test positive for antibodies, but there's only one test that can determine whether the virus is active or not.

As your doctor says, one hardly ever gets mono twice.  The immune system must be very compromised for this to happen.  If your immune system were that compromised, chances are you'd have a multitude of other conditions, as well.

Typically, once we've had mono, we have a natural immunity, just like we do with chicken pox and other childhood diseases (it's important to note that chicken pox can manifest into shingles).  Again, those blood tests might indicate mono, but there are other conditions that can cause the same symptoms.  

I question the mono diagnosis at 65, so I'd certainly question the second one at 69, since your only symptom seems to be the tiredness.  There are a multitude of conditions that cause tiredness, including (but not limited to) hypothyroidism, caused by Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, I mentioned above.

If you've had testing for hypothyroidism, please post thyroid related test results, along with their corresponding reference ranges, so we can see what your status is.  If you haven't been tested for a thyroid condition, I'd strongly suggest you ask your doctor for tests...

To test thyroid function, you need to have Free T4, Free T3, which are actual thyroid hormones and the pituitary hormone called TSH, which stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones.  Many doctors will try to test only TSH and think that's good enough - it's not, because it doesn't give the full picture.

To test for they autoimmune condition, Hashimoto's, you need antibody tests, Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOab) and Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TgAb).  Both are markers for Hashimoto's; some of us have one or the other and some of us have them both, so getting just one of them could result in misdiagnosis.

Many doctors will try to tell us that it's "normal" for thyroid function to decline as we age, which is true, but it's not "normal" for us to feel fatigued and have other symptoms of hypothyroidism.  We shouldn't have to feel bad, just because we're getting older.  

Symptoms of hypothyroidism may include (but aren't limited to): fatigue, constipation, weight gain/inability to lose, cold intolerance, hair loss, swelling/edema - especially in the face or around the eyes, brain fog, etc.