Viral Meningitis can I still be infectious

[Fable2]

Diagnosed with VM in July 2017 and suffering headaches mostly brought on by noise and bright light, dizziness, nausea and hearing loss any advise on how to overcome these symptoms would be great. I do wear dark glasses when out and have found they help a bit. I still feel I have the symptoms could I still have VM, I’m slightly concerned because friends have just given birth and I do not want to risk harm to the little one.

[Jonad724]

First and foremost VM is usually triggered by a virus you already have in your system like chicken pox so it is very highly unlikely that you were, or are, indeed infectious. If you’re worried though please seek medical opinion. Speaking from my own recovery from near fatal VM, what you’re experiencing is pretty normal and are the after effects of the attack. The medical profession will tell you that you should and in my case had recovered in 2-3 weeks but in reality that’s because they are taught this generically about meningitis and are told that VM is never serious. The reality is it can take some time to get over an attack and the trauma that your brain has been put through, for me I was off work for nearly six months and have been left with after effects which are now permanent but everyone is different. The key is rest, rest and when you’re feeling a bit better rest some more. If you try to ignore the symptoms and press on you will most likely just go backwards in your recovery. The good news is most people do make a full recovery and that permanent after effects occur in a minority of cases from what I’ve read and seen over the 15 years since the VM attack for me. Good luck and as I am now a MN Community Ambassador please do message me if I can help further. Good luck, Jonathan

[Fable2 in reply to Jonad724]

Hi thanks for that information I am going to take your advise and rest. Some days are better than others and I’m see the neurologist beginning of January.

[Helpman]

If you did not take it easy for 2 month after you are not giving your body the rest it needs to heal. The best I thing is take it easy listen to your body if it hurts stop good luck helpman

[AHamilton11092016]

As Jonathan stated rest is the key to recovery. But you had it in July and we are now in December. The symptoms you suffer are exactly what I’ve been experiencing since November 14th 2016. Rest wasn’t an option because I’m in the military and they believed I was going to be good to go in 3 days. If you work around fluorescent lights and outdoors bothers you look up Theraspecs. I had to purchase them on my own but that helps keep the nausea down from the headaches. My dizziness is caused by moving to fast I call them the spins. Slow down focus on something directly in front you and take deep breaths. Meditation helps with the headaches when in bed playing some soft sounds to try and not think about the pain. When I lose my hearing I call this a trigger because soon my balance will give out so once again take it slow. I suffer from slurred speech and seizures when my headaches are really bad but during that time my balance suffers the most. During your headaches looks for abnormal lights even if you think you didn’t see something those are Auroras and these are warning signs that your headache is either coming or about to get worse in my case. I do Botox and was prescribed Relpax to relieve the some of the pain. I also take Zofran for the nausea since it’s with almost every movement makes it worse. Last thing YOU ARE NOT CONTAGIOUS. Yes it can come back but these are the results of having VM. Accept the “good” days you have to be around friends and the baby. And accept the bad days meaning be honest to yourself and today is a bad and I’m not able to hang out lay in bed all day and never feel guilty about it!!!

[Fable2 in reply to AHamilton11092016]

Thanks for the info. I’ve got myself a pair of specs for photophobia which helps. I try to rest but it can be difficult at times. When I came out of hospital I had aura everyday for 25 days and the headache. They have slowed up a bit. I feel very unsteady a lot of the time but I’ll get there thanks for taking the time to write a reply