Hi all,
I have been diagnosed with pulmonary TB. After months of struggling I finally am seeing a difference with medication. I still have a long way to go with the medication. My question is why do I feel so tired. Lately I have been sleeping more and eating less. I can only stick to one meal a day and even that is a challenge to finish. I thought that my appetite was getting better but I seem to be put off by food. I drink lots of fluid.
Thanks
Hello Amija, 👋
I have no first hand experience with TB, but I do know that fatigue is a symptom. It is a serious condition and I would imagine feeling very tired would be part and parcel of it. Also, consider since you've been ill, you have been unable to eat as you normally would. Your body is trying to fight off the disease and not getting quite enough nutrition. You may also have had trouble sleeping along with all the other stressful symptoms of TB. You must give yourself time to heal. Please take it easy and I hope you feel better soon.
Cas 💐☕
Thank you so much for this, I will definitely try to rest more because this illness is so draining.
This is a very serious infection, and powerful drugs are used over a long time to fight it. Just keep taking things a day at a time, and you will get through this. Do what you can and don't push too much.
My late husband Bob found out he had had TB in the 1960s, when he first saw a consultant for chest problems in the 1990s. He thinks he picked it up while he was working for the Ministry of Agriculture, going from farm to farm to help with the slaughter of infected cattle during the 1960s foot and mouth epidemic. The conditions were very poor, and he and his colleagues were paid in whiskey to stay on the farms and never go anywhere other than where they were sent.
You are so tired as you are very unwell and your body is using all the energy it has to fight the tb and keep everything working
Omg where did you pick this up from? It was almost eradicated in the UK at one time. It's a very serious disease , you will need to give yourself time to get better, try to eat little and often and take good care of yourself x
Hey I don’t know exactly where I picked this up from sadly!! I went to A&E after weeks of coughing and night sweats and was told I had it from a CT scan. Thank you for your response. I have been resting more and more.
Could u m anage complan or build up to help with not eating.hope you gradually improve with meds,and rest x
There’s been a known pocket of TB in west wales for the last 10 years or so, although it’s believed the risk of infection that centres around a pub actually dates back to 2005 onwards, to the point that when the child was persistently ill from spring 2019 her consultant requested she be tested fairly early on, just in case - we lived in the same (large) county as the outbreak, but didn’t frequent the specific area. I think positive cases to date including latent ones is up around 100 for the entire outbreak. The annual TB rate in the U.K. to the end of 2018 was 8.3 cases per 100,000, so although massively decreased, there was still the better part of 5000 diagnoses as recently as 2 years ago. When you consider this was 14 times lower than the international threshold, there’s still quite some way to go to meet the aim of global eradication by 2035.
Thats interesting Charlie G, did they do a immunisation programme in that area to see if they could eradicate it? I wonder if the shot I had when I was 13 still covers me ? thanks for the info x
No additional vaccination, although anyone born in the UK between 1953 and 1992 would have already had it: I only discovered this year that the U.K. did away with the BCG vaccination in 2005 for all but a tiny minority - I was looking to see when Bod would have it, only to discover she won’t! They don’t know exactly how long cover lasts for, but reckon it protects 80% of those who have it for at least 15 years from some severe strains. The upper estimate is that it may be effective for up to 60 years. I think the decline in rates coupled with the knowledge that it’s not entirely effective, nor guaranteed effective for life, went some way towards the decision to scrap it. As for the Llwynhendy outbreak, despite knowing there was an issue from around 2012 onwards, they didn’t even set up a screening programme until the end of 2018. At that time they were aware there were still active cases of illness circulating, so put a bit more effort into trying to control it, but for all there are some brilliant individuals, NHS Wales as an entity is absolutely dire on their best day. I would love to know what the national stats for last year were, but they’re not currently available.
Thats a worry, not much chance of controlling this then x
I'm so sorry to hear of your diagnosis, you are bound to feel very tired. It's good to see that you are starting to feel the benefit of the medication, as you improve and start to get your appetite back you will probably feel less tired. In the meantime make sure you get plenty of rest, fresh air and tlc. xxx
Thank you so much. I’m starting to see a change in my appetite thankfully ❤️
Hi I have an appointment at a TB clinic on Wednesday. I’m not certain I have it but I had a nodule & lymph node removed by keyhole surgery on 16/10. results show no malignancy but necrotising granuloma. I’m a bit anxious.
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