Hey, so it’s been a year since my ICU stay, they told everyone I wasn’t going to make it, I was in a coma for a while, and when I woke up.. I didn’t know I was going to wake up. (Trying to be sensitive here) even now, I’m still remembering things everyday from the stay, from them waking me up, to me ripping all the tubes in my attempt to run because of the delirium and fear and confusion. I’m still having nightmares. Still flashbacks. Still questions I want to ask that no one will answer. What do i do. Where do I go from here. My family won’t talk to me about it because it’s too tough for them to hear or to speak about and the ICU doctor told me if I hadn’t of done what I’d done another lady would be here because he had to pick between us for the bed.
ICU intubation and coming out of the coma - ICUsteps
ICU intubation and coming out of the coma
What you’ve experienced & are feeling is notunusual under the circumstances - we run a drop-in every Tues/Thurs on zoom - they are run by families for families affected by critical care
What you are experiencing is not unusual. I was experiencing flashbacks (still am in some circumstances) currently having EMDR which I am finding useful. The other thing I have done is apply to the hospital and ask for clinical notes whilst inpatient. That has helped for me understanding what was a reality and was not. Hope this helps, but you are certainly not alone in this.
Thank you so much for letting me know I’m not alone. They’ve suggested EMDR for a previous trauma and they are assessing me soon so I may ask about it for this. It’s so so tough and tonight I’ve had to come back to the hospital it happened. So hard.
As others have said, what you are experiencing is not unusual. Hopefully you know you are not alone or unusual in what you are feeling.
These things below have helped me:
a) My GP has put me on a local CBT course
b) I speak to a therapist from the ICU I was I was in once a month
c) I ordered my medical paperwork from the hospital, for when I feel confident to know all the details of my illness.
All the best going forward.
I am so sorry you are going Through this too . I totally understand , my delirium went on for over 3 months and it’s the worst thing I have ever experienced . Getting my medical notes has helped fill some gaps but also made it perfectly plain that I had no support or
help and I was in hospital for 6 months .It’s been an uphill battle . I am 14 months post op and have been having emdr which is helping with the hallucinations etc . I think unless you have experienced this then it’s Very hard to understand which makes for a very lonely and hard place for patients . Please feel free to message me if you need to talk x
Regarding Hallucinations and Dream states while in an induced coma in ICU
Problems after Intubation and ICU
THE ICU
Swallowing difficulties after long stay in ICU including incubation and tracheostomy 
Second stint in ICU and afraid 
