Mono Question

I have seen mono barely impact a player and I have seen it cost others an entire season. I contracted mono at age 52. It was not so much that I was tired, but that I was uncomfortable to an extreme so much of the time. What resolved things for me was time (about 12 weeks) and more Vitamin Water than you would believe. Best of luck to your son, but tell him not to rush things. It will just make it last that much longer and it will be impossible for him to be anything close to his best.

His senior year in high school, my son came down with mono and missed about two weeks(4 games). He had also had it for a few weeks previously and was able to play well but was tired. He felt much better after the two weeks off and was able to pitch as well as play outfield with no further problems. We did have the doctor monitor him and I would advise taking the doctor's advice.

I got it the summer between my junior and senior year in high school. It cost me most of my senior cross country season.

It was 25+ years ago. but my recollection was being very tired to the point of not being able to stay awake in the afternoon. Lots of naps... My Dr. said I had an inflamed spleen, which prevented him from signing my physical release until there was no inlammation (might have been a few weeks after I started competing, but things were different back then).

In the middle of it, I went out one day and tried running. I made it about 200m before I wore out and walked home (I was running 70 miles a week prior). After that short distance, I felt like I had run a marathon. .

Luckily I was able to start school on time and within a month of school start (two months from diagnosis), was able to start training again.

I had a very mild case but wouldn't wish it on anybody. Being tired garners no sympathy.

Good Luck with it. NEver had it but saw kids who did have it. No energy and enlarged spleens. They don't have the energy to play and they shouldn't play do to the risk of life threatening injury from a lacerated or burst spleen from a sports injury. Take the time to come all the way back. If it makes it easier, just consider it tendenitus of the immune system and treat it like any other injury.

My son got mono in the middle of his Sr season last year. He was out for 6 weeks from the onset (which was about a week before we realized he had it) He lost about 10lbs and was weak when he returned and since it was in the middle of his season he had to ease back in. It takes some kids up to 6 months to fully recover and some less than this. He should be under the care of a Dr who understands the disease. He should be getting liver enzyme tests and some other blood work. (I forgot all of the tests he had) The danger is that the spleen becomes enlarged and contact (or aggressive weight lifting, etc) can cause it to burst. The more rest he gets the earlier he can come back. There is all kinds of information available on it, here is one reference.

Bottom line, he should be resting under Dr care not his friends.

http://archfami.ama-assn.org/c...eprint/9/10/1122.pdf

VARHP,
Ask your son if he wants to take 3 weeks off now, or 5 weeks off during the season. He'll need the time off to recover and rest. He can push it now, if he feels like it, but MONO will catch up with him.

I had it 25 years ago......don't over do it, and make sure he follows Dr.'s orders. The enlarged spleen thing is no joke! No lifting, no sports, until Dr. clears himm

Thank you for all of the responses. Our doctor didn't say anything about follow-ups and the hospital did not detect an enlarged spleen which kind of adds to the confusion. I feel like we were given an arbitrary amount of time to sit based on the date he saw our primary doctor rather than when he actually had the symptoms. (He was diagnosed while we were out of town for the holidays.)

We figure that the onset of symptoms was about one month ago, but he didn't get diagnosed until after the reaction with the amoxicillin which was after he started getting his energy back (about two weeks after he started feeling tired). So he probably is on the tail end of his recovery. He seems to have plenty of energy and ended up going to the first day of baseball conditioning (after he told us he was going to skip the first week).

I kind of expected him to be dragging for awhile but it seems that every case is different. That is why I asked about relapses since the fatigue cleared within two weeks.

I had mono as I entered HS as a sophomore (a gazillion years ago). My experience might not be that relatable to others, because it came as part of this weird bout of autoimmune issues that led to me getting viral meningitis, mono, and iritis all within three months - they sent my bloodwork to the CDC trying to figure out the trigger, and everything. Weird, because before that, I hardly ever got sick, and after dealing with that (and a mono relapse a year later) for about a year, I have since been a very healthy person who hardly ever gets sick.

BUT, in my experience, this is an illness where relapse is a very real risk. Make sure your son eats properly, and gets PLENTY of rest. With that said, life is too short to sit on the sidelines. Be prudent about the precautions and don't overdo it, but otherwise, get back in the game.....

Our son got it this summer, out four weeks. Felt he could play after two weeks but concern was enlarged spleen so they made him wait a month until exam said he was no longer in danger.

Came back for playoffs but was 15lbs lighter and you could tell he was sluggish. Playoffs ended early for his team so he got three more weeks off before back to college for fall season.

Didn't have any effects during fall season and seems ok now.

Best advice we can give is make sure the spleen is no longer swollen before he does anything.

I had mono when I was 19. My concern would be whether his reflexes/reaction time are impacted. I recall being very sluggish, like swimming through molasses. For me, it was more than being tired, it was being weighted down with fatigue.

Good luck, here's hoping for a speedy recovery. Some people seem to recover quite quickly.

Mono will linger....feel ok but not 100% for months if you don't spend the first 6 weeks resting. I wouldn't rush, better to lose January rather then February....he will pay the piper, your only choice is when that happens. Seems he has a pretty good window right now and I would hate to have him play at less then full strength and make a bad impression. Coaches understand Mono since it's such a rite of passage for these incredibly busy kids. I wish him a speedy recovery and watch that spleen, nasty business a rupture.