Mononucleosis and marijuana

[Shadow]

Hey all,

 

I'm aware that this is not a drug forum and that drug related questions get frowned upon at times, but this is a question to which I want an honest answer from experts in the field, based upon empirical evidence, previous research and existing literature and not some pothead answer who's knowledge is based on street myths.

 

I got sick a month ago, and two weeks later was diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis. I'm not sure if it's done the same way here as it is in other countries, but with me they tested for the amount of white blood cells in my body, which was found to be thrice the normal amount (I remember the number being 29000, I believe the unit was [number of cells]/mm^3, but I'm not sure) and then the level of some kind of enzyme that (if I remember the answer to my questions correctly) is secreted by cells in the liver. I don't know the name, but going through Wikipedia, it seems like transaminase is the one. Anyway, my levels were 14x the normal amount, which is supposed to be 0.5 (again, don't remember the units, I only remember that their name sounded complicated, ie. it was some kind of medical unit), I had 7. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks, and in that time my white cell count went back to normal, and the last test I had showed my liver tests at 1.30, they've been dropping as fast as 1.0 in 2-3 days. My doctor said she's never seen anyone get better so quick. I also had enlarged lymph nodes, which are gone to the best of my knowledge. Both my spleen and my liver are enlarged, majorly (and will be for a while), but by how much I wasn't told.

 

So, in a nutshell, my diagnosis was pretty severe, but my recovery very quick. I am now at a point where pretty much all of the external symptoms of mono are gone (ie. the tonsillitis, fatigue etc.), only thing I'm supposed to do is stay on a strict diet for at least two months and refrain from engaging in any physical activity, which is (after asking a couple of friends who have had mono before) standard procedure with mono, regardless of it's severity.

 

Will smoking marijuana affect me negatively in any way? If so, how and why? I've done quite a bit of searching on the internet, coming up with mixed results. Some say it's fine, usually people talking from personal experience (although I also found this). Then you get people saying it'll slow down your recovery or rupture your spleen and stuff like that, but those same people also say you should "finish taking your antibiotics [for viral mononucleosis]" and "find something more constructive [than destroying your life] to do" etc., so I'm not entirely convinced about their credibility, it may as well just be stupidity or prejudice respectively talking. I've looked at Wikipedia and determined that THC is metabolized mainly in the liver, from which I deduce a possibility of it straining the liver and slowing down the regeneration process, but then again so is most of the stuff I ingest, and that doesn't do any harm as far as I can tell.

 

I'm aware that it's better to be safe and refrain, but I'm past the acute phase, and I want to know if it'll actually do me any harm; is there some way marijuana negatively affects the liver/spleen, or slows their regeneration, or could it react with the virus in some way (I know that's not possible but just throwing out examples)...?

 

Thanks for any and all answers.

[tkadm30]

It appears delta9-THC can inhibit the synthesis, maturation and cellular transport of HSV2-type glycoproteins.

 

See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3033681