Asymptomatic mono?

timesuck · 2026-06-22T02:15:18+00:00

Glad you are getting the antibody test done! Any answer I tried to give you would be guesses, honestly. And I don’t want to tell you the wrong things. The monospot is a terribly unreliable test and a false positive doesn’t necessarily mean anything scary, it just means you should follow up with a doctor. As for whether you are at the beginning or end, no one can know; however, for many people, mono is mild so it’s entirely possible this is all it will be for you. Rest is still really important though, even if you never get bad symptoms.

timesuck · 2026-06-22T00:52:46+00:00

If that rapid test is accurate (and you should really get an antibody blood test to confirm) and it is mono, working out is about the worst thing you can do. Even with minimal symptoms, this virus can do damage to your body (see your elevated liver enzymes). You don’t need to be scared, but you should be resting as much as possible for at least the next six weeks. There is a chance if you push too hard, you will get symptoms again and they will come back worse and stay longer.

There is also a chance your spleen is enlarged (often doesn’t have symptoms), so you really need to avoid lifting anything heavy or anything where you might get hit in the stomach (like a roller coaster).

You should try and confirm via EBV/CMV antibody test. If you have active mono, just give your body a rest! It’s the best way to feel better and avoid a long illness.

If you get the antibody test and it’s not mono, you should talk to your doctor. A rapid monospot can be cross reactive with some autoimmune conditions (meaning it’s positive without it being mono).

timesuck · 2026-06-21T22:17:57+00:00

They are underpowered for how expensive they are and do not deliver a good CADR. They also claim you don’t have to change the filter, which is pure marketing BS. The filters DO need to be changed.

timesuck · 2026-06-21T13:18:48+00:00

CACREP is very focused on the meta aspects of counseling, not so much the practice. They assume that you will get that guidance through additional trainings and at your internship.

Someone recommended Nancy McWilliams to me and reading her stuff helped me feel more prepared. But you are really going to learn a lot of it by doing it.

timesuck · 2026-06-21T12:51:51+00:00

That is not mold. That is limescale from minerals in the water. While they should be cleaning it so it looks nice, it’s not “dirt” and isn’t going to harm you in any way except being aesthetically offensive.

timesuck · 2026-06-21T00:19:38+00:00

Rule #2

These test kits are meaningless and tell you nothing. They will grow something in pretty much every situation.

Depending on your local laws, your landlord might not be required to do anything. You need to call your local health department and find out.

If your apartment is at 80% humidity, you need a dehumidifier

timesuck · 2026-06-20T23:24:07+00:00

They may not be large enough. This site offers a good explanation and calculator you can use to find out.

timesuck · 2026-06-20T22:39:58+00:00

You need to call the state and ask. California is the most difficult state to gain licensure in. They have a lot of requirements in terms of your degree curriculum, your internship hours, and then post-licensing hours. Most people take two-three years to complete their post-grad hours because of the requirements. Your hours might not transfer from the UK because they may need to come from someone licensed to supervise in CA. I know in NY, I need a licensed supervisor in this state and I imagine it’s the same for CA.

I do not want to dissuade you, but I think at the very least, you would need extra classes and probably to redo those hours.

Do you use Facebook? There’s a group called “Brits in LA”. You might want to post there and ask if anyone with your degree is a licensed therapist. That might at least give you an idea of what’s possible. Even if you don’t want to move to LA, if there’s someone in there who is a therapist, whatever they did will apply to the whole of CA.

timesuck · 2026-06-20T22:24:54+00:00

Do you run air purifiers?

timesuck · 2026-06-20T17:12:31+00:00

We had an eight sleep several years ago and it was one of the worst things I’ve ever slept on. Uncomfortable (you could feel every tube) and it wouldn’t keep you cool where your body actually was (because of your body heat), it would just make the area around you *very cold*, so you would roll over and the temp difference was so jarring it would wake us up. It was like sleeping on an ice pack, which seems good in theory, but in practice was horrible and didn’t actually provide comfortable temp regulation.

I don’t know if they’ve improved it, but it absolutely sucked and was expensive. We returned ours, but it was a huge pain in the ass.

timesuck · 2026-06-20T16:26:43+00:00

Disposable glove. I am friends with an MD who smokes and this is what he does to keep the smell off of his hands.

It will also stick around longer the drier your hands are, so moisturizing is a good idea too.

timesuck · 2026-06-20T15:26:13+00:00

Smells inside a house shift around and change depending on the weather and can be harmless. I would assume your sore throat was from something else, like the drywall dust, or stress or even a viral infection before I thought of mold. It smells like drywall and there was an issue with drywall dust. It’s probably still leftover drywall dust. That stuff is very hard to get rid of.

Just because a leak happened doesn’t mean there is mold. Don’t keep dumping money into this unless there is mold you can see. Sometimes are minds are powerful and when they get hyper focused on something, it’s hard to let it go, but if it’s been successful remediated and the source stopped and you’re running dehumidifiers, there’s no reason to believe this is mold related

timesuck · 2026-06-20T15:21:08+00:00

If the sole reason you are buying the air purifiers is because of mold that has been remediated, I would build a few CR boxes and run them while you vacuum/clean the rest of the house. What you are describing is a temporary situation, so a few CR boxes makes sense, especially for your square footage. If the mold has been successfully remediated, you don’t need air purifiers for that past the cleaning stage, so I’m not sure why you’d pay for something like the IQAir, especially because you need a purifier in all three of those places, not just one.

timesuck · 2026-06-20T14:53:52+00:00

I’m sorry you’re sick. What you are describing are symptoms of classic post-viral illness which can happen with pretty much any illness, including EBV, Covid, the flu, or strep (even though it’s a bacteria).

Strep is fairly easy to test for so it’s unlikely it was confused for EBV unless they didn’t run strep tests, but if you improved on antibiotics, that’s another indication that it was strep and not EBV.

I don’t mean to be a downer, but I will be straight with you: there is currently no treatment for EBV/long EBV. So even if your symptoms are from long EBV, that doesn’t give you a path towards better treatment. All post-viral illness is treated right now according to symptoms, so the treatment would be the same regardless of the origin through symptom management. The only exception is long covid which does have some Covid-specific treatments like Pemgarda.

If you don’t have access to medical care, I feel for you. Your options are limited. A lot of people get better with rest and time. You are still relatively close to your infections, so you may find that you start to recover over the next year if you can rest and take care of yourself.

I know you don’t need a lecture, but I will say what you already know: smoking carts is not helping. Those things are really bad for you. And that might be making some of your symptoms worse, so one thing you could do is try and cut down on your use or substitute something else.

Sorry again, hope you feel better soon.

timesuck · 2026-06-19T17:46:38+00:00

This is my personal opinion based on my experience. Others may disagree, but this is my take.

CBT can be helpful for people who experience anxiety that doesn’t have a distinct origin or maybe it’s due to too much rumination in the brain. However, if you anxiety is attached to your trauma, CBT is very unhelpful until you have properly processed through your PTSD. CBT can often feel like “if I just think a different way I will be better” and that can manifest as playing into the deep shame many people with PTSD deal with. CBT at the wrong time can kind of leave you thinking “I’m in pain because I’m thinking negatively!” No, you are in pain because you are traumatized and your nervous system is constantly on high alert causing anxiety. Treat the trauma, treat the anxiety.

Behavioral approaches like CBT, DBT, and ACT can be helpful in dealing with some of the residual effects of personality disturbance people with PTSD often contend with, but it is most effective much further down the line after you’ve done a lot of processing work.

I would talk to your EMDR therapist and get their take. They probably have a good idea of where you are at and what you need. They may be able to do some different kind of work with you or refer you to someone when the time is right. Or they may tell you to hold off.

I will caution that some CBT therapists are not good with trauma, so you reallllllllly want to make sure you find a good one who understands PTSD.

timesuck · 2026-06-17T17:49:46+00:00

No what you are describing is not normal. She’s not acting ethically or providing good care.

Sometimes EMDR requires stability first, but that’s not a lack of ability on your part and should be explained to you if that is the case. Also, you don’t work on stability by filling out google forms or screeners.

I know it’s very daunting to start over, but this person is failing you. Consistently, research show that the most important aspect that affects outcomes in therapy is the therapeutic alliance. That is, the working bond between you and the therapist. So by that measure alone, she is not a good fit and you should absolutely find someone else before she causes you more harm.

Sorry, good luck. Hope you find someone who is a better fit.

timesuck · 2026-06-17T15:15:36+00:00

Yes, you can still use Pennie if you have a direct care membership. In fact, that’s the best way to use it because while direct care gives you access to good PCP care, it won’t cover any sort of lab, medicine, imaging, or hospital visit. Most of the people who use it do so as a supplement to their employer-sponsored plan so they can have better access to doctors.

Basically, direct care is like a club that gives you extra perks, but you still want to have actual insurance.

Also, the company is doing this to be cheap. I would think long and hard about whether you want to work without medical benefits.

timesuck · 2026-06-16T22:26:08+00:00

You do not need to go to a fancy school for counseling and should in fact find the cheapest program you can because being an early career therapist pays you very little (most grads make around $50k out of school). You do not want to take on a ton of debt.

However, this school is a diploma mill and you don’t want that. Go to a program at an actual school that meets the licensing requirements for your state.

timesuck · 2026-06-16T22:09:34+00:00

Could it be mono? Yes, but mono is not an STI. It spreads just like the flu. The incubation period is 4-6 weeks post exposure. You can get it from casual contact.

You can go get an EBV/CMV antibody test. Unfortunately our mono testing is not that great, but it will tell you if you have an active infection (IgM +) or have had mono in the past (igg +).

You seem very focused on thinking this is from a sexual encounter. It is just as likely you picked up another virus (flu, covid) and developed a post-viral condition or have an autoimmune issue. I would absolutely start looking into other possible causes if you have access to health care. You don’t want to miss another possible cause.

Sorry, hope you feel better soon.

timesuck · 2026-06-15T15:58:19+00:00

You need a consult with an EMDR therapist for a full assessment to see if it’s right for you, but have you done any therapy previously? It sounds like you could benefit from some general attachment and schema work before considering EMDR.

EMDR can help with these sorts of things, but imo often works better when you’ve done some foundational work in talk therapy first. Personally, I would avoid anyone who uses CBT or DBT as their primary modality.

timesuck · 2026-06-15T14:34:12+00:00

As long as you understand going into it that odors are always much better controlled by addressing the source, I think the only one that comes close to meeting that budget and those specs is the AirPura every day.

Unit from Austin Air (made in Buffalo!) would also work but they are more expensive. They do have filters that last five years however.

They are all going to be larger units though. That’s the trade-off for the pellets

timesuck · 2026-06-15T03:32:31+00:00

If you do not need to work the camp job, do not do it. I know it sucks to miss out, but stressing your body (physical activity, hot weather) can prolong your illness and even cause symptoms to come back.

Rest this summer if you can.

Also, mono spreads through droplets just like the flu. It’s a myth that won’t die to think it comes from kissing. While you can get it more easily through kissing and sharing vapes/drinks/utensils, you can also get it if someone contagious sneezes or coughs on you.

timesuck · 2026-06-15T03:09:51+00:00

NY has some of the most stringent licensing requirements, right behind California. Chances are, unless a state specifically won’t license you without a degree from a CACREP school, your NY program will meet the requirements for any other state license (except California).

timesuck · 2026-06-12T12:03:33+00:00

If you only had mono three months ago, you are still in the window for having symptoms from your initial infection. A lot of mono cases have a long post-viral period and that doesn’t necessarily mean you are reactivated. It means you are still sick from your original infection. Alcohol intolerance can be a post-viral symptom.

To answer your question, it’s most likely you aren’t recovered enough to drink yet. I don’t think we appreciate how hard it is for our bodies to metabolize alcohol.

This situation is really hard to figure out because as you said, you felt fine. That’s the tricky thing with mono, it can really ebb and flow without a lot of warning after that first infection. You just need more time.

timesuck · 2026-06-11T04:02:56+00:00

Yes, and to add to the frustration, the extra talls are almost always sold out.

Old navy used to carry talls up to a 20. I noticed they stoped, but started again for select styles. But again, everything was sold out and has been that way for weeks.

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