My name is Adam I’m 35, I was taken by blue light ambulance to hospital mid November where they discovered I had very severe pneumonia, within one day I was fully sedated, and incubated with a tracheotomy in my throat, I finally woke up 3 weeks later after clearing the pneumonia, since then I’ve struggled with drop foot, shortness of breath and very low depressive moods, I’ve been out of hospital around 2 months now and am beating myself up for not being 100% work decided to sack me this week also as they couldn’t wait for me to get better! I was in probation period still, even though they loved me working there and praised me fully they said it’s best for the company.
my main question really is has anyone had similar to me, and does the depression and fatigue get better with time or is there something i should be doing? I do light exercise 3x a week and I’m waiting on talking therapy.
thank you all x
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Hi - yes, fatigue and depression do improve over time, but it does take time. You are younger than I am, so you may recover much more quickly, so don't let my story or anyone else's discourage you. However, it does take time. More than a couple of months. I too had severe pneumonia, ARDS, spent two weeks sedated, and had a tracheostomy. Sorry you had to go through it, and have lost your job. I did too. It really isn't fair, but that's the world we live in.
I and others here know what it is like, and how hard it is to explain to family and friends who have not been through it. It can be life changing, so the key is to make the most of what, if anything, has changed, be patient with yourself, and keep moving forward.
PICS is the clinical acronym for what you are experiencing: Post Intensive Care Syndrome, which includes the physical, cognitive, emotional and psychological impacts of an ICU stay, and any or all of these can be significant.
Exercise is definitely important, but it will take time and a lot of work to regain your previous strength and stamina. Eat healthy, and sleep as needed. Most of us found we needed a lot more sleep after an ICU stay. That too improves, but it has taken 3 years for me, but I am 60 now, so age makes a difference. Depression lasted most of the last 3 years, so it takes work to try to regain a general sense of happiness. For me, a new hobby has helped quite a bit.
Talking through your experience with a family member who was there with you, a counselor, or another ICU survivor can help quite a bit as well. You have been through an extremely traumatic event. Our bodies and minds take quite a while to cope with what has happened, on top of restoring previous abilities. There is no fast path to recovery, so be patient with yourself. Do you have family or friends that can help if needed?
I wasn’t the patient, my mum had 6 weeks sedated on a ventilator and a week with a trach. They started her on antidepressants once she woke up, and is still on them now over a year later. She’s had times where she’s tried to wean them down but her mood does take a turn and so she feels better on them. From what we’ve been told by the critical care team low mood & depression are very common after such an event. My mum also has dropped foot, hers is much better - keep on doing the exercises occupational therapy advise especially with the resistance band. The critical care doctors told us it takes two years to recover after an ICU stay (I’m not sure if that time frame was specific to her age 59). So be gentle and rest, sleep is very important. It’s very bad that your work dismissed you, that very cruel - I’m sorry they did that.
Fatigue should get better over time. You are doing some exercise there which is a good thing. Keep at it and it will improve. Mine did. It was slow and tough at the start but as I regained muscle it became easier. I'm still nowhere near as fit as I was, but I am at a level that is acceptable to me and allows me to carry on my life such as I would like.
Whilst it is not talking therapy, they do say it can be good to talk!
If you are not near any of the ICUsteps patient groups (some are face to face, others are online)
Hi Adam, I’m so sorry you’ve gone through all of this. Firstly, although I’m sure it won’t help to hear this but your experiences and feelings are pretty common and completely understandable reactions to quite a life changing experience. I was rushed to hospital in 2020 in the middle of Covid with pneumonia and sepsis. It wasn’t actually Covid ironically! I was put into an induced coma and fitted with a tracheostomy too. I was very confused. I didn’t understand this tube in my neck. I didn’t understand the feeding tube they put up my nose. I didn’t understand why I suddenly had no strength whatsoever so I couldn’t lift my head or turn over in bed, let alone wash myself. It was a truly humbling and horrifying experience. I don’t know if you suffered from very strange dreams. That is known as delirium and it can be quite difficult to differentiate afterwards what was real and what was not. I then had to learn to walk and talk again. I was exhausted all the time with very low mood. It took months and months of being very strict with myself to do daily but gentle exercise to rebuild my strength. As it was during Covid, when I was released two months later (still very weak and unwell and considerably lower in weight) I was offered no follow up with the hospital. Last year I was offered post icu counselling and support and it was invaluable for helping me feel less alone and start to put the puzzle pieces back together. I would suggest while waiting for talking therapy you reach out to the hospital and ask what specific icu support is available. Often they also offer groups so you can meet and talk with other people who have gone through similar experiences and it’s so helpful to realise your experiences and reactions are shared by others. You can sometimes as I did visit the icu ti help put into context where you were and what happened. This isn’t something you have to do though if you don’t want. The fatigue, the depression and low moods is completely normal. Something really quite devastating and frightening happened to you. It would be remarkable if such an experience didn’t leave you feeling shell shocked. And yes it definitely will get better in time. But in my case at least, I did need help and advice. I needed to understand what had happened and why. It’s hard to do it on your own. thinking you’re the only one. You’re not. So keep using forums like this. Reach out to icu steps if you haven’t already. Take care and be kinder to yourself xx
Im 2 years post ICU for IGAS which put my through alot with being sadated and put into a coma for 6 days.I also had to learn to walk, talk and eat again which took 16 weeks and alot of help from my family. Im still suffering the shortness of breath now, along with life changing results of being ill.
I was 6 mths before i tried to go back to work and looking back it was too soon, even through i think i was ready.
The mental side takes along time to recover from but going back to ICU helped me and the ICU staff put me in touch with ICU steps, this group and also arranged for the post ICU mental health team to speak with me. Its taken about 3 mths for them to get to the bottom of what i was feeling and for me to understand what ive been through. Only now can they start to address the issues ive been left with.
So yes you will get better but its not as easy as a few weeks, you will need alot of mental health support for years after, it took 18 mths for me and my family to ask for the help but that was when i was ready.
I am really sorry to hear about your illness and the cruel and rotten way your employer has treated you. You are taking proactive and positive steps to help yourself and the ICU Steps Charity has helpful guidance available along with support groups someone here posted for you. Take care of yourself and you are very strong and will continue to make improvements. Best wishes for your recovery
First, I want to say that I really feel for you. I’m so sorry to hear that you lost your job, especially given everything you’ve been through. It’s incredibly unfair and unnecessary, on top of everything else.
I understand how hard it must be, having gone through a life-threatening experience myself. I was placed in an artificial coma for three weeks, with multiple organ failures, including heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver, due to a severe pneumonia (pneumococcal pneumonia) and sepsis. I spent a long time on a ventilator, including a period with a tracheostomy. It took me months to even begin to feel somewhat like myself again.
During my recovery, I had to learn almost everything from scratch—standing, walking, speaking, eating, and even relearning how to cook dinner for myself. It was a slow process, but with time and effort, I made progress. I also had to retrain myself to sleep independently again. It was tough, but each small achievement felt like a huge victory.
While I didn’t experience depression, I definitely struggled with extreme fatigue and exhaustion, and that’s something I’m still managing. The road to recovery can be long, and the process of healing may take more time than you’d expect. It’s important to focus on finding a new normal for yourself, even if it’s hard to accept that you might not return to exactly how things were before.
It’s great that you’re doing light exercise three times a week—keep it up! It will definitely help you regain some strength. But also, don’t rush yourself. Healing takes time, and small steps really do add up.
While you wait for therapy, try to connect with others who understand what you’re going through. In Norway, I didn’t find specific ICU patient support groups, so I initiated one myself with the help of the hospital. It really helped me to talk with others who had similar experiences. If you can, try to find a group or online community where you can share your experience and receive support.
Take care, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you ever need someone to talk to. I’m here to help if I can.
It does get better, we are different and it does take time. I’m over twice your age had pneumonia, sepsis and amongst other things open heart surgery. I was in my coma for nearly 2 months and unfortunately for me was discharged just at the start of Covid 5 years ago. Hopefully you will get all the support you need. I had CBT which I found very helpful. I put a blog on here when I had it.
CCSN has already been mentioned they offer amongst other things 6 days a week exercise classes via zoom and at no charge at varying levels. In addition there is a drop in every Thursday at 1930 everyone there has experienced ICU and the consequences and on a Tuesday there is a similar drop in for loved ones because they too suffer a trauma.
I won’t bore you with the details but I had a similar experience to you albeit after open-heart surgery to replace my aorta. Recovering is tough (even more so for those of us who exited ICU during Covid when there was zero support). There can be a lot to it, whether or mental.
But the good news is that time and effort should pay off. Every few months I look back and can’t believe the progress I’ve made. Now, although I would never want to go through it all again, I actually find my life enriched and different to how it was before.
So, there is lots to hope for! Do read the ICUsteps literature (I only came across it two years after leaving ICU, and so wish I’d seen it much earlier) and do look for a support group which will give you more informed and relevant conversations than talking therapy might (if only because the talking therapist is unlikely to have been through ICU - but do try the talking therapy too).
And do not hesitate to come back here and ask futher questions or tell us how you’re doing if you want to.
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