Post ITU

As a regular hospital attendee I am in and out all the time I am sure most of you can relate to this. This time after my admission seems so different. I had the usual few days on a vent few days on a ward with i.v aminophyline etc and usually bouce back into 'being normal'. This time however I have no energy, hate being at work and so so tired. Has anyone ever had this problem? I mentioned it to my not so understanding GP and he said 'oh it's probably a bug you've picked up and to take it easy, not the reply i wanted really. Does anyone know of a pick-me-up or way of trying to feel so pants?

thanks for reading this hope all of you are ok x

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Hi there,

I'm really sorry to hear that you've had a rough time. Even when you seem to 'bounce back' in the normal way, I know that being ventilated is always difficult and stressful.

I know from my own experience that every ventilation is different, and that sometimes there is no apparent reason why it can take longer to recover on some occasions. Obviously the length of the ventilation makes a difference - longer ventilations are always going to be more difficult to recover from than short ones - but sometimes there is no logic to it. I have had short ventilations that have left me with after effects for months, as well as longer ones.

If the way you are feeling does not improve, it is worth going back to your doctor. They may want to do some basic blood tests to look for signs of infection and to check that you're not anaemic and so on. Another thing that you may want to discuss wth your doctor is whether you have become a bit depressed. Depression can present with exactly the sort of feelings that you have described, of tiredness, lack of energy and hating work and so on. Having to cope with brittle asthma and frequent ventilations is certainly enough to cause depression. It is worth discussing this with your doctor, as there is a lot that can be done for depression.

If there is nothing specific like anaemia or depression causing the way you are feeling, then it may be a case of waiting for your body and mind to recover from the whole experience. As I said, it can be very variable how long this takes, and I am sure that most people who have been ventilated will have experienced that sometimes it just takes longer to get over for no apparent reason. There isn't really a specific 'pick-me-up' that you can take to speed things up - the only things that will help are being good to yourself, eating well, sleeping well, resting a lot, talking to sympathetic friends and relatives about what you've been through and generally taking care of yourself and giving yourself time.

There are plenty of people on here who know what you are going through, so please do continue to talk to us and share what you are going through.

Take care

Em H