Viral Meningitis

[Lordsnow]

Hi,

I am a 34 year old male who has just had VM for the last 7 days. I feel completely lost and do not know what to expect or how to react or what to do.

I've had the Lumbar which confirmed cells were well over 3000! CT scan and ECG have all come back good but I've noticed that over the last few days, I seem to be losing myself, I struggle to remember, continue to have headaches and I really have no idea what to expect as potential recovery time.

[Kerryg72]

Feel for you can be a scary time i am 20 months on and still struggle every day. Unfortunately no case is the same and the side effects are different for each individual case. Just know not to push yourself too much it will take time to recover. Fir me the headaches are only once a month i still have trouble remembering things i get numbness in my arms and legs alot of spine and neck pain almost daily and still feel tired oh and blurred vision. However i have improved i did have vertigo daily headaches servere back neck pain sensitive to light double vision memory was utterly useless! So probably forgotten a few lol.

Just take your time dont be hard on yourself other people wont understand unfortunately but there are heaps of people like me who you can chat with if you need that support.

Best of luck rest up.

[Jonad724]

I'm 15 years post near fatal VM so I hope I can provide at least some insights into what to expect. The medical profession will try to convince you that VM is never more serious that flu but this just isn't the case, it can be serious and the after effects can last a long time. First and foremost you must rest, as much as I'm sure you want to get back to normal you may have to adjust what normal means. It's very early days and recovery does usually take some time but there is every chance that you will be OK but it's very difficult to say how long your recovery will take. Doctors will tell you that you should be feeling better after 14 days as most people do after meningitis but very few doctors have treated VM and it's worth asking those that say you should feel better soon how many people they have treated with VM. If you're in the UK then give the Meningitis Now helpline a ring on 0808 80 10 388 as they are experts and can really help. I am also a community ambassador for Meningitis Now so please feel free to message me via this site and I am happy to share my contact details with you if you would like, I'm happy to help. For now though please rest and when you're body says you need to stop then please do, just ignoring it will only slow down your recovery. Good luck, Jonathan

[Clinta]

Hi I am 5 months in from VM, couldn't speak at triage of emergency. Finding a neurologist that has treated VM is key. Most doctors are inexperienced. I am improving but still have side effects today, including blurred visions, light sensitivity, headaches and fatigue.

[Julii]

I suffered VM a good 10 years ago. From my experience you are being far too hard on yourself! You're only 7 days in. It will get better! As other posts have said you must rest and sleep as much as you can so your body can heal. I almost went through a personality change post VM. I went from being an energetic mum of two who could laugh at herself and find fun in everything to being a lethargic, depressed zombie. I returned to outpatients about 6 weeks on and one of the nurses (fabulous woman) asked me "and how are the mood swings". I could have kissed her! Nobody warned me about this and as I had been treated for the symptoms, I had been discharged once they had been dealt with. The nurse explained that as the Menenges can't swell upwards because the skull is in the way, they swell downwards, putting pressure on the brain which can affect all sorts of things. One more thing I would suggest is eating lots of good food even if you don't fancy it much, but eat! Good luck!

[Lordsnow]

Thank you all for your kind words and support.

I have never had to stay in hospital for so long and I think it was the fear of not actually knowing what was going on that was making it very hard for me.

I'm still in hospital and I'm hoping that the 2nd lumbar puncture will be done this week, not sure exact date but I'm just hoping the results become good so I can eventually leave to go home.

The doctors and staff have been great, they found out the strain of the virus was Chicken Pox *I had this when I was 3 and I've been vaccinated too* so I was kinda shocked that was the cause of my meningitis.

I think I am slowly coming to the terms of the recovery period, I've never been one for just laying around watching TV all day (still don't do that in hospital as they don't have TV's or radios) but I'm just hoping I can get back to work.

I'm having days where one minute I feel on top of the world, no pain or symptons but then within a few hours or another day, I feel so terrible, headaches, pains, blurred vision sometimes and forgetfulness too. It's something I still cannot work out why it happen despite being only 34 and loving life... oh well one of those mysteries.