I have a question about that too. My friends DD never slows down, she is a VERY active child. She is in several gymnastics classes each week and when she was sick last year she was in even more. I know that when you have mono, you are supposed to rest, right? So the other day, she was running a fever, my friend knew it was from the mono so she gave her meds, fever went down & she went to the gym. I would think she would need rest, right? The only reason I am thinking this is so that her "body" can get some rest & heal. OR, does it not matter? Just thinking on here... I don't care one way or the other, I was just wondering if the lack of rest is what brought the Mono out of it's dormant state.
You can also get it as an adult which I did not know
For some reason I always thought once you were past college, you didn't get it. You are also only contagious in the beginning. And some people are apparently immune to it.
Anyway, I got it in late August and still have occasional symptoms. I've been fighting through it as best as I can because I am trying to plan a wedding (which is this weekend). I have not taken any time off (I can't), but I do sleep more than usual on weekends and after work whenever possible.
When I first got it, I had no idea. I just thought I had a bad flu, and like I always do when I get a bad flu, I went to work anyway because otherwise I could lose my job for taking sick time. I'd get up, go and come home and try to stay awake and work on wedding stuff as long as possible but I really just wanted to sleep. No interest in doing anything else but sleep. And zero appetite. Worst sore throat ever.
After about 2 1/2 weeks of symptoms not going away I realized it wasn't just the flu and went in and was diagnosed with mono. I was horrified because I'd been going to work, using the same dishes and cups as my fiance etc. I was scared that I gave it to other people but they told me that while it's contagious, not everyone will get it. It's very likely that my fiance is just one of the lucky ones. Also, you can't really pass it on from just breathing in the same room as a person with it. And since I thought I had the flu, I was washing my hands and avoiding being near people anyway.
They told me I could continue going to work but to avoid any strenuous activities and close physical contact with people. They did warn me I would be exhausted and that it would be that way for sometimes 8+ weeks. They said that once you get it, it does stay in you pretty much forever and usually you won't get it again, but it's not impossible. (like with chicken pox
most won't get it twice, but plenty do).
I'm probably at about the 9th week now and I'm doing much better. The only real change I made to my daily life is I take a train to work now, instead of driving (for safety because of the tiredness) I probably would have been better sooner had I been able to actually sleep a lot and rest though. I'm sure someone will be angry that I went to work, but I'm not in a position where I can give up my job and I would have been fired for taking too much time off. It's sad that we sometimes have to choose between our health and our jobs but many people do.
So while your body craves sleep more with mono, it's not impossible to continue just doing what you normally do. You'll just feel like crap and be really tired, but it is possible.