High blood pressure,underactive thyroid and anemia

[vickylou36]

Hi all just wondering if anyone has had any problems with high blood pressure, underactive thyroid or anemia. I had pneumococcal meningitis in march i was in a comma for 7 days and on iv antibiotics for 8 weeks. I lost my hearing completely (now have a cochlear implant). I have suffered with exhaustion, muscles aches, headaches, dizziness, visual problems (mainly on moving), moods, depression at times, emotional, struggle with decision making(even the simplest of decisions), probably lots more but cant reall think at the moment. I have had high blood pressure for a few weeks now, my gp is trying to find out the cause and it has come down slightly so not on medication but am having regulat 2 week doctors appointment. my last 2 readings where, 170/100 and then it went down to 160/93. I have had some blood results yesterday which show i am anemic and i have a very low thyroid underactive thyroid. I am starting on medication for the thyroid and anemia today. Has anybody else on here had any of these problems after meningitis. I was a healthy busy mum before this.

. thanks vicky

[sorba]

I had bacterial meningitis some 23 years ago and have suffered high blood pressure and underactive thyroid for just over 10 years. I take medication and manage to keep going!

[vickylou36 in reply to sorba]

Thanks Sorba, am struggling with the tiredness at the moment, how long did it take for you to feel something like normal after the meningitis and also after you started to take medication for underactive thyroid. Thought i was getting better slowly but feel like i have been hit with a brick am also having headaches again which for 3 months where less frequent. Vicky

[sorba]

I think it takes quite a time to feel 'normal' VickyLou but after about 3 or 4 months I was feeling OK and have been able to work part time, travel etc. These things obviously affect different people in different ways. All I can say is be grateful you are still here, and hopefully have the understanding of friends and family that you will tire out easily, follow medical advice, hope you feel better soon, Sorba

[Cassie]

Hi Vicky I'm sorry to hear that you are still experiencing side effects following pneumococcal meningitis. I was diagnosed in Oct 2010 with pneumococcal meningitis /encephalitis and spinal shingles and to date I still have side effects

Once I had learned to walk & talk again learned to tolerate noise & light to live with the tinnitus and reduced hearing and the headaches and the debilitating muscle spasms In my thighs and the short memory span the mood swings ! The thing that still floors me on a daily basis is the sudden bouts of fatigue. I was put on thyroxine way back in 2010 and my bloods are okish but it hasn't helped the fatigue I think it is just the body saying enough is enough the body's way of making us rest and recharge "the batteries" so my advice is if your tired rest more as what I found was everything was exacerbated when I tried to push myself especially the decision making process my emotional state my balance and coordination - I just felt lost and I felt angry that I couldn't do things the way i used to ! and I'm sure you feel this too. Take as much rest as you can you know when enough is enough learn to pace yourself do what is important and limit the rest to when you can Life will be different but it's doable. If you listen to your body you'll get there. Try not to worry that your recovery is slower / different from others - that dosent matter I remember I had a budy from the meningitis trust - she was supposed to be there to support me but after speaking to her I felt worthless because she - had made it and I was still struggling like you - and I didn't understand why i couldn't recover like she had ! Now I look back and think what wasted energy and emotions trying to compete with someone else because we had the same diagnosis ! but -

If I was you I would want some more test re the anaemia and the BP so hopefully your GP is on top of this

Wishing you and yours a peaceful festive season and a healthy 2015

[vickylou36]

Hi Cassie, your story mirrors mine i to had encephalitis along with the meningitis i was in a induced comma for 7days, icu for 11days and stroke ward for 5 weeks i continued the iv antibiotics because of swelling on the brain for a futher 2 weeks at home. The hospital organized this as i didnt cope very well in hospital i couldnt sleep was taking lots of painkillers for the headaches which endeed up making them worse. At one point i was taking paracetamol, gabapentin, codine and morphine, this concoction increased my confusion and the headaches eased in the day time when i reduced them to just paracetamol. I was taking zopiclone to help me sleep these didnt work, was on meds for seizures which i came off in october as i hadnt had any the hospital put me on them as i was at high risk. Since coming out of hospital i have had the amazing support of my partner and family i have made huge progress. I was unable to walk around the house without holding on to things, the hospital never referred me to nero physio as the neroligist told them i would need to see them. I am constantly tired and get sudden onsets of fatigue i get very emotional at times sometimes over silly little things. I get stressed and angry when things dont go to plan. I manage to do thing around the house now but only in small intervals. I feel weak and tired constantly and every day feels like a fight although some days are better than others. I am grateful of my cochlear implant and how fast i got it i was 4 months without any sound so i am pleased to be able to hear my family and friends once again. I am ok with one to one conversations but struggle so much with groups and busy places. When there is lots of noise it zaps all my energy, it is better than when i first had my implant as then even a 1-1 conversation left me drained. I still struggle with my balance especialy in the dark or if i dont have a clear line of sight. I also struggle outdoors in large open spaces or busy places lots of people moving around me or wind blowing things around makes me go off balance. I also still have problems with dizziness which has improved imensley since the begining but is still there at times. when i am walking or traveling in a car i cannot focus my eyes so am unable to focus to cross roads for example i cannot turn my head when moving as i go off balance. My GP reffered me to nero physio that the hospital didnt i went for 2 seasions the first he did the eply menover with me and gave me some exercises to do at home, i went back 2 weeks later where he asked me how i was getting on he refused to understand why i was feeling so tired all the time told me to carry on doing the same exercises said it would take upto 8 weeks for my balance to recalibrate and i was discharged. This sent me into a major dip i was deppresed thinking it must be something i was doing wrong, i couldnt understand why i was so tired and why there was only a small improvement with my balance. I went back to my GP who was not very happy about this and has reffered me to a different nero rehab team i am currently waiting to see them. I think the problem is they get you to walk accross a small room which i have improved enough to do so i dont look that bad. I think they think as long as your walking i have done my job but i need more than that. I need my balance to to my job i need to be able to turn my head to cross a road i need to be able to carry things while waking not just be able to walk accross a small room. I am usually a positive strong person but this has floored me one thing seems to improve for something else to go worse. I know i wont ever be the same person i was because this illness has changed me i just want to be able to function day to day and vet back to work. Vicky

[Jcrome]

Hi Vicky,

I had Viral Meningitis in July and still have fatigue, some headaches too. In September my GP did some blood tests because of the fatigue and they also found that I had an under-active thyroid - who knows if it was triggered by the VM or whether it had been on the way down before then. I started on 25mcg in Oct and am now up to 75mcg - I had my latest blood results today and it looks like my Thyroid levels are all optimal now - including TSH, T4 and T3. I'm a bit disappointed as I hoped all of the fatigue was due to thyroid, but with my levels all looking good it doesn't appear to be the magic fix. The Thyroid UK health unlocked board is amazing and people are very helpful if you have questions. I've made a real effort to get my doctor to print out results and teach myself about Thyroid to ensure I'm on the right track.

One thing I would say is that it can be important at some point in my opinion to ask them to test for the cause of your Thyroid issue - 90% of under-active thyroid patients have the problem because of an autoimmune disease called Hashimotos whereby the immune system mistakes your Thyroid for a foreign invader and attacks it. It's not as scary as it sounds - but if this is the cause then it's good to know as there are things you can do to manage it better. If you want to find the cause you just need to ask your GP to do blood test your TPO Antibodies and Tgab antibodies. I've had to do a lot of reading and research into this so if you ever want to message or ask questions then go for it.

I've also got low ferritin levels, probably not anaemic level but still very low so I'm started seeing a Nutritionist to supplement iron to help me restore this - you may be able to get support from your GP for this as you must have low levels.

Try and stay positive and focused - I know it's hard. I'm nowhere near 100% but I've definitely made improvements in the last month - not sure if its the Thyroid meds, the supplements and vitamins I've been taking, or the light walking I've been doing - but definitely subtle and gradual progress. Hang in there