I am competing in my first powerlifting meet this Saturday. I have been sick for about 3 weeks now. The first two weeks were just cold-like symptoms, and about a week ago I got hit with another respiratory infection that felt more severe. So I finally went to the doctor yesterday and she told me that I had two infections: one bacterial and one viral,. She took some tests and sent me on my way with a prescription for an antibiotic.
Well I got a call today from the nurse at the office and she said that my test for mono came up positive, and that I couldn’t participate in any sports for a month, not even my school gym class. Now for any of you that are familiar with mono, you will know that it causes an enlarged spleen, and this enlarged spleen is apt to rupture if it gets hit, and thats why you cant play sports. I didnt even bother asking the nurse if I could still lift weights, because I figured she would just quickly say “No” without putting any thought into it.
I would be very disappointed if I wasnt able to participate in this powerlifting meet that I have spent so much time preparing for. I dont even care about all the fatigue and malaise I feel; My only qualm is the enlarged spleen. I can imagine that the intra abdominal pressure when Im under a heavy squat or deadlift would be the most dangerous part. If any of you guys would give your two cents, especially if you have a medical background, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
[quote]Brian14 wrote:
I am competing in my first powerlifting meet this Saturday. I have been sick for about 3 weeks now. The first two weeks were just cold-like symptoms, and about a week ago I got hit with another respiratory infection that felt more severe. So I finally went to the doctor yesterday and she told me that I had two infections: one bacterial and one viral,. She took some tests and sent me on my way with a prescription for an antibiotic.
Well I got a call today from the nurse at the office and she said that my test for mono came up positive, and that I couldn’t participate in any sports for a month, not even my school gym class. Now for any of you that are familiar with mono, you will know that it causes an enlarged spleen, and this enlarged spleen is apt to rupture if it gets hit, and thats why you cant play sports. I didnt even bother asking the nurse if I could still lift weights, because I figured she would just quickly say “No” without putting any thought into it.
I would be very disappointed if I wasnt able to participate in this powerlifting meet that I have spent so much time preparing for. I dont even care about all the fatigue and malaise I feel; My only qualm is the enlarged spleen. I can imagine that the intra abdominal pressure when Im under a heavy squat or deadlift would be the most dangerous part. If any of you guys would give your two cents, especially if you have a medical background, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks [/quote]
Get better and lift another day. Are you really at a point in your life where you can go “If I die bench pressing or squatting I’ll be happy and no one else will be affected.”?
If your spleen ruptures and you’re at the meet, what are you going to do, how long is it to the hospital, if there’s not one close by, how long would airlift take?
Ultimately it is up to you on what you want to do, but if you’ve been this sick, I would let the body heal.
EDIT:
If this overall concern about possibly getting an enlarged spleen I would go by feel, generally if the spleen is enlarged you can feel it through your skin. If it’s not poking out entirely.
So I would go by feel and what you think is best.
I got mono training for a meet last summer. Here’s basically what happened:
I had pretty mild symptoms, comparatively speaking. I was tired, but not exhausted, like some people get. My tonsils swelled up to the point where it was hard to sleep and really painful to eat, but that was the worst of it. I don’t think I ever had the fever–though I got the sweats and the chills at night.
An enlarged spleen is, in my understanding, a pretty rare side-effect of the illness, and I never felt it (though I’m not sure if I would even be able to). Yes, a ruptured spleen is obviously dangerous. It was something I considered before going back to training, and it’s why doctors advise against high-impact activity while you have mono.
But with that said, the advice of most doctors is to remain as active as possible during the illness. I’m NOT trying to sound like bad-ass–and I’m not trying to tell you that you should do this–but I made the decision to continue training every day after the diagnosis. I ran my meet prep as normal–though some days I was admittedly pretty flat–and made it through with no serious internal issues. I even ended up having a very good meet, so in the end, it was worth it.
Just decide what’s best for you. I got different advice from my doctor as you–mine was that it’s OK and even advisable to stay active, provided it’s low-intensity activity. I took that advice and applied it liberally, and nothing bad happened. But everyone suffers different symptoms, and everyone’s different.
So, I’m definitely not going to tell you to do it. If you decide to do this based solely on my anecdotal evidence–and you die in the process–then that, in my opinion, would not be smart. But I figured I’d give you my experience, since I was going through what you’re now experiencing: I caught mono a couple of months before a meet and had to make the same judgment call.