Coma Recovery

[Dembezuma]

I was in a coma from October til just before Christmas. I've worked so hard to regain strength and balance and memory. I'm finally at a point where I'm starting to feel more like a normal person but I fear I'm never going to feel like "me" again. It's like I'm learning to live in another person's body and am having to train it. I had to learn to walk again. I had to adapt new characteristics like altered spatial recognition, sleep patterns and a completely different palette, I can't stand anything sweet anymore and I crave things I never craved before. It all makes me feel very isolated. I have a tremendous support network yet I often feel so alone, as if I am the only person who has ever been through this. There is no one in my life that can relate to me and I just want to talk to someone who has been through it, someone who knows. Is there anyone out there who can relate to This?

Lisa

[Sepsur]

I never drank tea especially green or black tea. I only drank real coffee. At first, I couldn’t stand coffee post ICU- coma. Now I almost don’t ‘mind’ the taste but it plays havoc with my system so I only drink tea without milk. I also couldn’t stand too sweet or salty - in fact, everything tasted over flavoured.

I, too, have regained my ability to balance, walk, talk, eat & drink. I can lie on the floor, crouch & kneel, get in the bath & get out of the bath with ease ( something I couldn’t do after leaving hospital in Aug 2016).

The conditions I suffer from after critical care leave me with a melancholia & feeling of isolation that is best relieved by talking to people who have been through the same.

[Andihe]

Hello! I was in a coma twice during a 4 month hospital stay in 2015 after surgery which went wrong. I too had to learn to walk again, my sleep pattern was all over the place and I didn't have a clue who I was. I accessed therapy and it really helped, I hadn't realised how much anger I was carrying at needing to adapt. Take each day as it comes.

[RichardNeill]

I was in a coma 3 years ago and I too struggled to get back to my old self. The physical recovery was around about 6 months but the mental trauma has been the hardest thing for me.

My main response to your post is that you are not alone. There are many people like us out there. If you can find a icu steps meeting point, then please go. They changed my life around.

I have also been lucky to read and chat with some great people on this forum. Best wishes.

[68mill]

Almost 8 years and My strength is better but now I have alot of arthritis and plantar fascitis and still have the spatial problem

[healthagain]

Hi Dembezuma, Is there an ICUsteps support group near you? (details for these can be found on this website) or have you had the opportunity to attend the follow up service at the hospital you were in? Both can be hugely beneficial to help to make some sense of why everything feels so different.

[stevet11753]

Hi Lisa, you are certainly not alone. This site has made me aware that so many people have been through this experience. I was six weeks in critical care and spent five weeks learning to walk again. I'm three years down the line now and still have problems with my balance and memory, although some of this could be down to age! My biggest craving while in ICU was for water and I was desperate to be allowed to drink again, so it was a terrible disappointment when I had my first drink of water and found it tasted bitter! It took some time for my taste buds to return to normal. If you can, I would suggest arranging a visit to the ICU; I found it so helpful to be able to meet some of the nurses who had been caring for me while I was critically ill.

It's a long road to recovery so do not despair! Good luck.