recurrence of viral meningitis

[fran39]

Hi, I am new to posting! I first had VM in 2014 and spent a week in hospital where I had a lumber puncture to confirm diagnosis. For several months I had headaches and tingling in my legs. Apart from tiredness my recovery was not too bad.

About a month ago I started having back pain and headaches. I did not think much about it initially but come the following Sunday it had become too much. I spent the night in the local hospital and was discharged the following afternoon armed with aciclovir, (7 days) codeine. trimethoprim and paracetamol.

The aciclovir course finished and although I felt better the headache and neck/back pain continues. I have since been put back on aciclovir 800mg and over the counter pain management. The pain is worse at night and early morning, on one occasion I had to crawl on hands and knees to the bathroom because it was so intense. Any suggestions to alleviate pain? I am certainly going to try cranial osteopathy.

[Dreamgnome]

If it is recurrent viral meningitis, it is called Mollaret's Meningitis. Check out mollarets.org for information. There are lots of people that have different things work for them. I am allergic to most pain killers so I only do morphine when I am hospitalized and use over the counter meds when I can. I hope you figure out what works for you.

[abracad]

Oh you poor thing, i know this scenario & you have my sympathy big time. The acyclovir is to keep any virus at bay & not going to be treating any of the symptoms directly. You should check back with your GP regularly for advice to alleiviate these. Mine said it was ok to keep taking paracetamol so long as not exceding dose. For quite a while, i set alarms on my phone to remind me to take the next dose and to eat & drink regularly. Making up flasks & larger bottles of water and keeping snacks nearby limited the trips to the kitchen. It's still very early days so you need to rest as much as possible. Meningitis Now would say you need to give your body 3 months to recover & a chance to repair itself before embarking on Cranial Osteopathy. I would agree with that. After about 2 months I started going for massages which helped enormously. I was very lucky to get a recommendation from a friend for someone who works in an osteopath practice. I really do hope some of this helps. Do ring the Meningitis Now helpline for support & tips or even just a good old cry. (Yep, done that more than once). Take care, things will get better for you in time.

[fran39 in reply to abracad]

Thank you that was really useful. I went back to the doctor who advised that I should reduce the paracetamol with a view to phasing it out. She also prescribed 10mg or amitriptyline at night. The low dose apparently acts as a pain reliever. I almost slept for 24 hours and during the waking periods felt totally spaced out!

useful advice about osteopathy. Is there a possibility that massages might exacerbate the meningitis? I have a chiropractor appointment next week and am in two minds whether I keep it.

[abracad in reply to fran39]

Great to hear you are feeling a bit more supported. The osteo told me that anything i do needs to be gentle especially around my kneck & head. Follow your gut instincts. I found that my muscles were so tight that i had to do something. The trick is getting a good recomendation. good luck.