Wave electric-type symptom

[VM2020]

I have been combing this site for mentions of this weird feeling I have been getting. I am now 7 weeks post viral meningitis and when I lie down especially at night I get this weird symptom that is hard to explain- sort of intense wave of pins and needles that starts at the top of my head and comes forward. It only lasts a few seconds and seems almost electric. It seems to heighten all my senses sound, sight, tactile.

I also have a question about the anxiety that some have mentioned. Is this anxiety a primary symptom of meningitis or is this secondary from the results of what this disease does to our lives? In the past week I have noticed some bouts of anxiety and I am trying to understand it better.

Thanks a bunch! This website has been amazing at helping me understand what I am up against. I particularly love Jonad’s posts. That guy should be a professional writer!

[Jonad724]

I have something very similar to that but mine is more like an electric shock which suddenly shoots up my spine and across my head causing an involuntary twitch, I worked out that this is triggered by caffeine. Adding this to intolerances to nuts, alcohol and cocoa and maybe this explains why I do long distance triathlons, let's face it if you couldn't drink coffee, eat chocolate and have a drink now and then you would do long distance triathlons!

If you remember that your brain has been subjected a trauma, and that the medical profession only understands about 10% of the functions of the brain, this would explain the odd sensations you are feeling. No one really fully knows how the human brain recovers itself. With billions of connections and nerve endings when the brain literally gets literally bent out of shape there's bound to be some strange things going on.

Anxiety is a natural human response to a trauma and so it's not unusual to feel this way after VM, anxiety is what our ancestors used to stop them getting either really badly hurt or eaten. Trouble is the modern human brain hasn't evolved to stop these feelings and so when something goes wrong, or you think it might go wrong, the anxiety pops up to try to keep you safe but the problem is that the dangers we face now aren't quite as bad as being severely hurt or eaten, well not in my part of the world anyway.

The problem is that stress and anxiety can slow down VM recovery because you need to rest, a lot, so it's worth trying to find ways of relaxing using breathing exercises similar to 3:3:3:3 (Breathe in for 3 seconds, hold for 3 seconds, breathe out for 3 seconds and hold for 3 seconds) for 5 minutes, then if you're still feeling anxious do the same but for 4:4:4:4 and so on.

As you probably know I'm a volunteer community ambassador for Meningitis Now so please do PM me if you I can help further (and I'll clear this with the charity) and I'll happily share my email address with you. Finally thank you so much for your kind words, very much appreciated

[Eli_Acct in reply to Jonad724]

Thank you for replying to VM2020's post. I had VM september 2019 and just now, about 5 months later starting to feel more like myself. If I have a rough night, like last night where I only got about 3 hours of sleep, I can feel the after-effects intensify. Seems like it is all a normal part of the body's recovery. I do have to mention, acupuncture has turned my life around. I have been doing that every week for about a month and now going to every week and a half. I did consult with my neurologist to make sure this was OK and based on her evaluation of me, it was OK. It's worth asking your doctor about.

[Covenham in reply to Eli_Acct]

Hi Eli_Acct. Your Reply to Jonad 724's Post, is very interesting. I have had several successful sessions of acupuncture over the years but never thought to have it specifically for post-VM/Encephalitis; thank you fo bringing it to my attention.

[Eli_Acct in reply to Covenham]

I have consulted a second neurologist and he found that I have muscle spasms on my neck. Prescribed a type of nsaid for the pain and suprisingly, this has relieved my neck for now and has triggered less migraines. He recommend I start physical therapy on my neck!

[Claudeminh]

Yeah I had it too after viral meningitis and it was called central sensitisation of the nervous system. For me it’s controlled with endep at night and when I came off it that sensation came back. Viral meningitis for me was 8 years ago