Hi, it’s my first time posting here. I spent 6 weeks in hospital having an emergency, completely out of the blue, surgery, followed by several complications. I am 2 months post discharge and really struggling. Every muscle in my body hurts so much. My brain is still foggy and I feel so down and anxious all the time.
Is this normal? Can anyone relate? Thanks.
I prefer to us the word ‘usual’ rather than normal’ - nothing we experience in and after critical care can be described as normal - as you say - most ICU admissions are unplanned so they throw normal life up into the air.
My muscles took months to recover, for me, it was through regular specific strength building exercises. If you are ever interested - I found these worked cc-sn.org/exercise-group
The emotional & mental chaos took quite a long time too - I found reaching out to others really beneficial
Thank you so much for replying to my message and for sending the link, I really appreciate it. It all happened whilst I was out of the country on holiday, so I feel like I have no real follow up other than gp who seems to be struggling to make sense of what happened as much as me.
I hope your recovery is going well Sepsur
be patient with yourself but appreciate that recovery takes effort too - we won’t mend by magic, nor do we mend nearly as fast as we deteriorate. 10 days for every day of hospital was a good approximation for me.
You may find these links helpful too
Thank you, I really appreciate your replies and the links too.
Hello, what you are going through is definitely well known to those who have been in ICU.
I am not saying my case (or any case) is "typical" but I have been home for 22 months now and still have physical, mental and cognitive issues.
It is - or can be - a slow, incremental, process. I found that trying to rush things can be detrimental, being patient, however frustrating at times, is for the best.
absolutely not unusual! I was in my coma 3 years ago and only now starting to come to terms with the effects. Unfortunately whether you were at home or abroad the post icu experience can vary considerably. In my case my gp who had years of experience had only ever had one other patient who had been in icu. Also I came out of hospital into lock down and there was absolutely no support. For me I have memory issues, I have lost 3 months of memory from before icu. The delirium (Halucinations) are out of this world. I had CBT which helped me a lot and also CCSN was very supportive both mentally and physically. In particular there is a regular drop in on a Thursday evening at 7-30. Also various exercise classes through out the week which start with being chair based and although done as a group are tailored to the individual. All of this is free and on zoom.
Hey Colin,
Just wanted to say hello and hope you start to feel better soon. Your experience is very typical, I can assure you. The road to recovery is very long and very slow. You need to find that balance between pushing yourself enough physically while being gentle with yourself emotionally. Like our other compadres here I was in ICU for two weeks, had terrible delirium and it took me a long time to get back to full health.
The folks here are brill so come often when you need to talk. You will get better. The fog does clear and eventually the legs will take you up hills again.
Happy New Year brother.
L
While others describe the delirium as "fog", for me it was a very vivid alternate reality, or rather several realities which played out. I was in ICU for three weeks and I had vivid flashbacks to events that had happened to me in ICU. Or rather I thought had happened. I was pretty much ok after 6 months, including my physical health, although I still get the occasional flashback moment. Nothing too vivid and reasonably easy to dismiss. It was about 20 months ago now for me and I live my normal life, albeit with more determination to enjoy it.
It really does get better. It's terrifying at first though. A lot also depends on the underlying condition which put you in ICU in the first place I think.
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