Hi, I am 7 months into recovery, following viral meningeoencephalitis. Recovery has been a journey, like everyone says but I really felt I was on the mend, getting there.
In the last couple of days I feel like I've hit the wall again. Extremely tired and at its worse, struggling to have a clear thought process or find my words and the sense of drifting, where I am not really taking onboard everything.
I think I have been working too hard and there have been other distraction s as well.
In your experience, is this what it will be like? Better times and then push yourself and you are struggling again?
If this is the case, how do you manage work commitments and not appearing to be reliable, as I am sure that is what colleagues think who don't understand the nature of the affects.
It is so frustrating!!!
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GreenBamboo
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Wow, after reading about your ordeal, your situation was almost a carbon copy of what I went through! I was diagnosed with viral meningitis and encephalitis after the same battery of tests including the CT scans, MRIs, and the lumbar puncture. Thankfully, I was in a semi state of consciousness at the time. I don't remember any of the tests at all. I spent 3 days in the intensive care unit and another 7 in the hospital.
Not being a doctor, I cannot say if you will have endless cycles of "better times", then "hitting the wall" after pushing yourself. It sounds as if pushing yourself might not be a good idea, especially if you know that it can/may cause the resulting tiredness and thinking confusion.
Myself, I am now totally disabled with the fatigue being the main problem. If I push myself too much, then I know I will "pay for it" and need to sleep quite a bit more for the next couple of days. (15 hours at a time!)
What I would suggest, is keeping a daily log/diary of how you are feeling, including the level of work/activity from the previous day. That way, you can come up with a concrete database of sorts that will allow you to be able to understand and manage what you are going through. It is also a good reference for the future if you want to check your progress. (I did the same thing, including tracking my awake/asleep hours. My doctors found it to be a useful tool in helping with their diagnoses.)
If you were able to go back to work so soon, then that is a miraculous ability, in comparison to myself. I only wish I were able to go back to work! This is something for you to be very happy about!!
Also, if you have a loving and supportive husband, then there's another great reason to be happy!! (I go though my ordeal in solitude. I'm not looking for any sympathy, merely trying to point out a positive point for you to focus on!)
Here's to hoping you improve with lightning speed!! Take care!
I am grateful, every day for the support of my lovely family. I am also very aware that I am so lucky to have made the strides I have in recovery, particularly after reading others stories.
I am grateful to even be in the position to be working when it could have been so different. I hope that you have access to support, being able to share on forums like this is a good outlet.
Your suggestions are really helpful. I have an appointment with my neurologist next week and so I will have an opportunity to share with her & ask her advice.
I am feeling quite a lot better today & pacing myself to slow mode, just to get to the weekend & rest.
Hi Ya again, yes this is a great platform, I personally prefer it to facebook, there is too much on there. On here we can chat about our problems among other sufferers as you can on fb but the groups on there can be huge. It is interesting for me though to read about how other people cope with encephalitis and brain injury because our symptoms and recovery can be vastly different. Take care all. Adrien
Hi ya, sorry you are going through this, 7 months isn't long, your brain is telling you it needs time to heal, you must listen to it, because it will shut you down if you don't, it has been damaged and needs to repair itself, the brain is a very clever piece of kit, it will sort itself out but it will take time, give it time, you will be ok. I had my encephalitis in 1975 and I still struggle with it. Don't let that worry you because we are all different, your symptoms were probably different to mine plus for you there is much more awareness now to what there was about encephalitis back in the 70's. Perhaps your job is too much for you to cope with right now, maybe your boss could find you some lighter work, the encephalitis society has loads of info and the helpline is very good, they have been supporting me since they started in 1994. as I said though, give your brain chance to heal, it may take months or even years, don't give up though. Take care Adrien
Hi Adrien,. Thank you for your wisdom, you have been on quite a journey.
The problem that I have with work is that with a lot of conditions you show signs of recovery and that's done but with Enc you can be doing well & then you have a set back and need time to get over that, it is not a straight line trajectory. I find it hard to give in to it to the point where I am really struggling.
To be fair my work are brilliant I actually think it's my own dogged determination that pushes me, but of course, that is the wrong approach!
I suppose I will never out smart my brain and should heed the words of the poem A Letter From Your Brain. I read this early on in recovery and the words have stayed with me.
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