I was discharged today after contracting viral meningitis. I thought it was just a seasonal bug until still neck, pain to look at lights, and a rash on my neck developed - my GP then told me to call 999 which obviously panicked me massively. All this, 2 days before my birthday. I ended up in a side-room for two days.
I’m scared. I’m usually brave but in this case I’m petrified reading about the after-effects, and not being told a single one of them by the doctors. How can I mitigate them? How likely am I to receive these? What do I need to know?
I’m so scared and would really appreciate any advice you can give.
Alex
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alexande
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Ok. First thing is don't panic. Unfortunately it can take some time to recover. I made the mistake of thinking I had 'dodged the bullet' went back to work after two months and did way to much and paid the price. Give yourself as much time as you can. A doctor told me. ' you gave yet to realise how ill you have been, how ill you are and more importantly, how ill you are yet to be. There is great support about as and Meningitis now is the place to start.
Alex, I know this is a frightening time for you. I'm post encephalomenigitis 4yrs, you need to rest. That's the most important thing to do. Your life is going to change so you need to learn a new normalcy. This site has helped me feel not alone. Everyone here has a story of survival. Ask questions, listen to them you will learn that the best thing to do is rest. Remember what you are feeling, experiencing is common among us who have endured this illness.
I know the feeling. Teeth clenching,sensitivity to light, over thinking, ruminating. It can.all be enough to.drive a person insane. My suggestion. Learn to.calm yourself down. Listen to.meditation and realize that you are not your thoughts. See a therapist and tell.them.what you are feeling. Light sensitivity is a bit$#. Best thing I did was start listening to guided meditation on Utube. Try it. Can't hurt. Best.
I’m sorry you’ve had this illness. It is hard to heal from but finding this website so early will be a huge help to you because you will know you’re not crazy and not alone when any after effects happen. My suggestion, rest as much as your body tells you to, then more. Drink lots of water. Seriously. Stay hydrated. Let those close to you know how you’re feeling so they can be there for you. Even show them this website. And if you start to develop anxiety and depression, talk to someone or get on meds right away. This is the part I still very much deal with after over 3.5 years. I will pray for you!
I'm so sorry you are going through this. But don't panic! Everyone is different. The most important thing is to not rush your recovery. Not everyone had after effects. I am a recurrent VM sufferer and to be honest? I didn't have many after effects of my first bout. It took quite a while to get back to normal but I didn't really have long term effects from the first time. So don't put a lot of things in your head that may not happen. Rest and listen to your body. Take it one day at a time. Be positive!
Hey everyone. 14 hours of sleep down today and already feeling a bit more of a prince than a jester - I’ve bulk ordered Robinson’s Squash to help me improve my intake of water, because I do love squash.
I’m grateful for every single message you put and will be applying everything that I can. I’m resting lots and lots, and then some. Petrified for the future but I’ve always been scared of the future.
Just glad to know there’s a lot of us here going strong. I’m very proud of each of you for your journeys of recovery you’ve taken as well.
Wishing you a happy birthday! Hope you have taken all of the previous advice as rest is what you need. Try not to worry so much as stress makes any after effects more intense. Find what makes you feel better physically & mentally. There are some mighty scary effects but not everyone gets those. We are all here for support!
Hi Alexande. First and foremost, you are not alone. 2nd, NOT EVERYONE has side effects after. As a person who's had this 4x, I can tell you that I had a full recovery the first 3x with no after/side effects and once enough time had passed it was all but forgotten.
You asked what you can do. I suggest you google foods to avoid to prevent Herpes as generally Viral Meningitis is in the Herpes viral family. I know peanuts are near the top of the list, but there are others foods as well. This doesn't mean you need to be a maniac about this, just mindful. There are a couple of vitamin supplements that may help as well such as Lysine or L Lysine. Also, please don't panic if your neck starts to hurt, etc. There are many things that might seem like a warning sign, but really aren't. Suggest you have crackers at home and eat regular meals too, or a bunch of small meals as nausea can be caused by lack of eating. Stay in touch.
I’m about 2 months post viral meningitis and it’s a unique journey for everyone. For the first month fatigue and feeling like I was floating was scary... but eventually it gets better... hasn’t gone away completely but better. As of right now the headaches have pretty much gone away l haven’t had to take any medication and I can do small errands but I give myself time to rest in between. To be honest it takes a lot to get use to and some days are better than others.
Everyone’s recovery is different but I’ll share my journey... as of now Leg cramps and muscle (back) pain and spasms seem to be new symptoms and I also have more palpitations and periodic numbness in my feet and hands. It’s doable because I am leaning into to the acceptance stage that this is a process and because I choose to remember how sick I was before hand... it helps me to stay in a grateful state of mind and constantly reminds me of how far I have come. I’m fairly early in the recovery process so I’ll keep you posted, but you can do it just take it one day at a time or you can get overwhelmed with the journey of recovery.
no don't panic Alex...the worst thing Is with vm... is stress and fatigue so don't do that to yourself....go on with life as you did before you got it, hopefully its not Mollarets. take good care of yourself keep really healthy noise and lights may effect you for a long time even forever not to the extent of when you have it though, look after going thru v.m. if you get thru that pain you can just about face anything as theres nothing like that pain its so dam cruel, and ive had it 4 times full blown and just got over another mini dose which is still lingering on since the 16th feb, the more pressure you put on yourself the more you set yourself back...so no pressure or stress, take it all easy as it could and probably will take you a year to get back to normal....the worst is over ok ... take care ... goodluck
the good thing is .. you got thru it, its behind you the worst is behind you.... now take good care of yourself, don't stress and take really extra good care of your health baby youself eat healthy make your immune system healthy now... it will probably take a year, but its a slow journey and the more you push u may set yourself back a bit, just have patience and you will get there don't worry ... as I said the worst has gone that pain ok goodluck x
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