Viral meningitis Puns

Someone else's post reminded me of this story, so I'm going to tell it. I had had a migraine for three days straight. The only room in my condo that had no windows was the bathroom and some closets too small to fit in. I eventually crawled into the bathtub and blindfolded myself. My flatmate came home, and had officially had enough. She insisted we were going to the hospital. Neither of us drove. My other friend came and collected me and her, and we sat in the ER waiting room. I couldn't handle noise, light, and almost slapped/screamed at a doctor who flashed a flashlight in my eyes to check my pupils. Totally my bad, it was just reactive. I was crying. It was bad. They gave me a bunch of pain meds via IV and I was finally able to tolerate the pain. My neck was sore, and I couldn't turn my head. My friends were asked to immediately leave the room because they thought I had viral meningitis.

They were allowed to return in full body suits and masks. My flatmate called my mother who said she was busy, but would arrive shortly. They said that if it was, I could go deaf. That I could have permanent balance issues, fluid around the brain, and spine, etc They needed to do a spinal tap. My mother finally showed, and asked my friends why they were even here. She stayed for ten minutes, went and got a coffee, and came back, stayed another few minutes than said she had to go shopping for new curtains.

I remember her saying,

"Call me if anything changes."

My friends returned to the room and stayed with me for hours, and through the tests, the spinal tap, and everything. Spinal taps are NOT fun. None of it was fun. I was held for near 20 hours and at least one of my friends was with me the entire time. My mother never called or checked in on me again until two days later when I called her. Because apparently the possibility of viral meningitis isn't scary for a twenty-something year old, and isn't serious. I remember being upset that she left, but the pain and fear out-weighed most of that until I was a little older and realized she didn't care at all. Shopping for curtains was more important. I was lucky, and the tests came back negative. They rehydrated me via IV, gave me a large script for painkillers and muscle relaxers, and told me to come back if anything changed. The hospital wasn't all that great, tbh, but nothing to be done about that now.

She wonders still to this day why we're no contact, and this isn't even scratching the s

Hello! I’m currently in hospital for viral meningitis. This is my eighth night here. Firstly I have CVID (an immune disorder) basically my body doesn’t make antibodies (low IGG, IGA and IGM) About 2 weeks ago I came down with flu/ sinus symptoms. Temperature, chills, sore throat, lots of phlegm, night sweats fatigue etc. Then about 11 days ago my temperature worsened and my headache was unbearable. The pain was going down to my neck. I couldn’t even walk with the head pain. I waited 2 days to go to A & E but finally gave in. They did a spinal tap and my lymphocytes were high, also the protein in my spinal fluid was higher than it should be so I am currently on iv vancomycin, iv acyclovir and iv ceftriaxone. Also said I have a sinus infection and haemophilus influenzae.

My night sweats have gone, but my headache is still persisting and very debilitating. Waiting to see a neurologist and then will probably be sent home. Anyone who has had viral meningitis- how long did it take for the headache to improve??? Also sensitivity to light and sound. Thank you!!

Hi y'all, So my mom was admitted to hospital last Sunday via ambulance. At first we thought she'd had a stroke or COVID, because she'd been really sick the couple days before she collapsed. They told us she had pneumonia and a stroke as well, then flopped back and forth on the stroke four times, eventually settling on that she did not have a stroke or pneumonia, but she does have viral meningitis.

But the thing that I really can't understand, is they took six days to put a feeding tube in her. Meanwhile she has been slowly getting worse each day, went from barely able to form words and swallow to unable to talk, could move all her limbs to barely able to move her hand/arm, went back in the ICU after a couple days and is now on a ventilator. Many of the nurses at this hospital just seem like they barely know what they're doing, and no one wants to meet with me in person, they want to do everything over the phone, which makes it more difficult to get the right info and make sure they're doing their job.

I'm not allowed to see my mom due to COVID, so with her not speaking, she has no advocate in there for her; she's 59, and I don't know what I would do without her.

I stood outside the ICU doors and pretty much told them I wasn't leaving until I could talk to her Dr face to face, which I know makes me sound like an asshole, I know he's a busy man with an important job, but half the nurses there are flat out rude and I can tell they just want me to shut up and get off the phone or leave. They just seem like they're dragging their feet and half the time barely understand her medical chart.

I fully appreciate the hard work nurses and other hospital staff do. I know I could never ever do what they do, especially this last year and half, I can truly not imagine the hell they have worked through.

But I can't see how this is normal, especially waiting six days to give someone a feeding tube, when by the second day she couldn't speak or swallow, all the while saying she's getting weaker and you don't know why. Maybe because she's starving?

Does anyone have any experience with this? Or know what to do? My brother and I have a phone meeting with a social worker this afternoon, we are gonna try and get her transferred to a better hospital with more attentive staff. I just hope it's the right decision.

Hey, so how long did it take you to feel completely normal again after viral meningitis?

I have gotten sick end of May. I've been in hospital for two weeks just laying all the time on painkillers. Now i have been home for one month and the recovery is going super slow. I used to be pretty active before this. Now, if I go for one hour walk i will feel fatigued after. Occasionally even a bit of vertigo. Its a really weird feeling, like I hadn't slept for 2 days and i need to lay down. I hate this so much. I will also get very sick if i am in a car.

Would love to hear your experiences to get a feel on what to expect.

This is going to be long, but I need some help sorting through what I’ve been through in the last few days.

TLDR; Had a sore throat for a few days, then developed a sudden high fever + neurological symptoms/physical impairment, resulting in a trip to the ER. Days later am developing HFMD rash on hands and feet.

For context, I have a six year old and an almost two year old. I have been home with them for almost two weeks while daycare was closed due to a C-19 outbreak. I am immunocompromised, and fall sick easily. I have been 100% vaccinated for C-19 since round one in February.

My oldest had sore throat and lethargy. She didn’t seem too unwell. No rash noted. My youngest had no symptoms of being unwell. She did recently recover from C-19 which presented as a cold. We had her tested and she came back negative on the rapid but positive on the 72 hour. I had been feeling unwell for a couple weeks and went to my PCP to check for a UTI. It was positive and he prescribed a five day course of Macrobid. I had a sore throat but not terrible. Didn’t think much of it, just assumed I had a touch of whatever my oldest did.

2:00PM: I started feeling very, very unwell. Body aches, tired, brain fog, stomachache. It was extremely sudden and immediately my internal “something is WRONG” bells started ringing.

3:00PM: My temp was 98.6F (I usually hover around 97.6F, so I knew it was elevated). I took 800mg ibuprofen for the body aches, no Tylenol in the house.

6:00PM: Incapacitated on the couch, stiff, and extremely tired. Fever was 100.03F.

7:00PM: I messaged my partner and asked him to come stay with us in case I couldn’t care for the children.

8:30PM: My temp was 102F and I was officially in panic mode.

9:15PM: Partner arrives, I am struggling to breathe regularly, delirious, unable to really verbalize my need for help. I was not able to take my own temperature. He isn’t the most intuitive, and didn’t realize how unwell I was until

9:45PM: Partner notices my eyes are rolling around and my breathing is extremely shallow and fast. Takes my temp. 103.5F. He calls my dad to come watch our children and we get ready to go to the emergency room. Head is pounding, I have trouble walking, unable to take control of the situation (not typical.)

10:15PM: in the car to ER, my hands get tingly which I am able to verbalize, but my symptoms subside. I start to come around. We arrive at the ER and I tell the intake nurse that think I have a kidney infection (not uncommo

So long story short. My dad had a spinal tap after going to the hospital a few times with bad headaches. They said it shows evidence of viral meningitis. My dad is completely fine now. This was on June 16th that he was at the hospital. We just got the results today. She is panicking that we are all going to get meningitis from him now and everyone he's come in contact with. He never had fever cough or any flu Symtoms. Just headache and some tingling in his hands which has completely resolved. I googled it and found a lot of articles that says the meningitis itself isn't contagious but the virus that could give someone meningitis is. I'm so confused and my mom is making Herself sick over this. How likely is that he could/would give her or anyone else meningitis? Especially at this point?

For context my dad is 56 years old. 5'8. 230lbs

EDIT: Hi all, I replied to a comment below with more details regarding my meningitis as it turns out it was a pretty abnormal case. Long story short, my meningitis was a resurgence of the Varicella Zoster (VCZ) virus, which is the chicken pox virus, from when I was a kid. This makes sense since with all of the COVID protocols I had no idea how I could have caught viral meningitis, but apparently I didn't, it was just how VCZ decided to show up again when my immune system was weak enough. More details can be found in the comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/Meningitishelp/comments/lg2g8i/just_viral_meningitis_but_man_this_sucks/gop0pg0?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

TL;DR - Diagnosed with viral meningitis. Doctors prescribed pain meds and essentially said wait it out, could take up to 10 - 14 days. How long did it last for others?

Hi all. Friday evening I started feeling unbelievably exhausted but I thought it was just from taking care of my baby (I’m on pat leave) as it had been a particularly tiring week. Woke up around midnight Saturday with the absolute worst headache I’d ever had in my life, but not much of a fever. I’ve had migraines before and thought if I just took some of the usual pills (Tylenol and Advil) it would go away. Eventually I fell asleep again and woke up with a bit of a fever but less of a headache. Think I sweat it out a bit.

I did a Covid test Saturday morning just to be safe. The rest of the day Saturday was pretty much the same. Worse fever, nausea, and the worst migraine I’d ever had. Started thinking maybe it was the flu. Slept it out most of the day.

Sunday morning I woke up at 2am in so much pain I had to sit under hot water in the shower just to ease my headache. My body had started aching a lot worse, general muscle pain, hard to walk. I couldn’t open my eyes without pain surging through them. After I got out of the shower I vomited and finally felt better. This made me think that damn this is a really bad stomach flu. I couldn’t eat or drink anything without feeling sick so at this point I’d basically had two bowls of soup broth and a slice of bread for two days. Thankfully I found out the Covid test was negative, but I still didn’t like how this felt.

Yesterday early morning the pain came back again and I finally went to the hospital. While they ran blood tests the only thing that would help my pain was hydromorphone. Eventually they did a lumbar puncture, and sure enough after waiting for the results

In 2022, a new arbovirus pandemic explodes that manifests as a core fatal condition that presents like viral meningitis. All survivors will see roughly 5% annual compounding increases for 5-10 years in intellect, creativity, empathy, and memory recall/recall speed. The changes are permanent but not hereditary. It impacts any live human, regardless of age, and a pregnant woman will pass the condition in utero to children.

No surviving human is unaffected. 1 in 500,000 humans will see up to 20% annual increases in all areas.

The virus comes out of Central America and is naturally occurring, spread airborne from the beginning. ARBO-22 is first observed in early April 2022, and by September is in every nation on Earth. By Christmas 2022, at least 500,000 people will be dead worldwide. Vaccines will be quickly cracked as we're already sick of this shit from COVID.

The vaccine itself conveys the side-effects that those recovered go through, so virtually all humans globally will be impacted, across all demographics, either through vaccination or direct infection.

I'm 34 now but one day when I was 14 I developed acute, severe pain in the back of my head/neck (basically, right where the spine meets the skull). I was in football practice so I sat out, put some ice on it, and called it up to a funky hit. I went to a massage therapist, chiropractor, my GP ordered some xrays and an mri with no results and it wasn’t getting any better. My doc ordered some physical therapy and I did it religiously but it still wasn’t getting any better. I went to see an osteopathic surgeon who saw nothing wrong in the bones in my neck, I saw a neurosurgeon who saw nothing wrong with any previous scans. He ordered a bone scan and when I was on the scan table I had a petite mal seizure which the tech caught and called the on call neurosurgeon in. He ordered a new mri and found that a tumor had developed on my brainstem right where my pain was. I had been misdiagnosed and undiagnosed for almost two years. In that time I was in intense pain all the time and throwing up daily, basically only my mom believed me, everyone else thought I was lazy and/or making it up. I got a lot of apologies after all this. The doctor ordered emergency surgery that day, luckily it was benign but because of the tumor placement it had been blocking spinal fluid from draining out of my cranial cavity which, in turn, caused pressure to build up and my skull to become incredibly thin. Nobody knew this so during surgery the doctor severed an artery in my brain causing total paralysis for about 6 hours and left side paralysis for about a month. While recovering in the hospital I developed a severe constant headache. It was no normal headache it was the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life, including the time a couple weeks prior that I got my brain cut open. My mother was spoon feeding me for 3 days in a dark room by I couldn’t move or open my eyes. Turns out I had viral meningitis. I’ve recovered fully but my dexterity is about 70% on my left side so I can’t play guitar anymore but other than that I’m pretty good these days.

Hi all - I've experienced two bouts of what appears to be viral meningitis since 'recovering' from covid. My doctor thinks it's still covid-related. Has anyone had a similar experience? (extremely painful/stiff neck & fever after otherwise experiencing a lull in symptoms).

In the Spring of 2010 from having a low T-Cells count because I was unaware I am HIV+. If it weren’t for a local infection specialist doctor I would have died.

Hey it’s 2019 and yes I caught rare disease! It’s like winning the lottery but not.

Also that spinal tap... that was fun!

AMA

As a young child probably around three years old i had viral meningitis.less then a year later I developed horrible epilepsy. Then around 6 or 7 years old one day it just stopped. No more seizures. Doctors took me off the meds and nothing has happened since. Even twenty some years later i have been seizure free.

Anyone know if this is common or something rare? Would the seizures one day return? Anyone else have a similar story?

Hi there, thank you for looking at least. I hate to ask but at this point is a bit of a necessity. I am a veterinary assistant at a veterinary hospital that has been voted best in Durham 5 years in a row. Before that I worked for the SPCA of WAKE County. About three weeks ago I was diagnosed with viral meningitis after a nasty battle with the flu. As a result, I was out of work for a week, and as a result of that, my wife and I have found ourselves unable to afford food for ourselves after all my bills, medications and doctor's visits.

We have several pets that rely on us, and always put them first (A dog, five cats, and two fosters). We currently are about $250 in the negative. I was praying that anyone might be willing to help us out?

I made an amazon list with cheap bulk items, snacks, and a couple of toiletries, just to get us by for a little while, while we get out feet back under us.

Any little thing truly would be a god-send right now. I also truly appreciate you taking the time to read my post.

https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/J45HHUYVBKL8/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_gm__wl

About two weeks ago I was hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis, it started with a stiff neck and headache but that actually went away and what got me calling the ambulance was what seemed like a stroke to me. I recently saw a neurologist who says she doesn’t want to make any assumptions yet. I’m on Topiramate (anti migraine/seizure medicine) which I was prescribed after I was discharged, and when I didn’t take it for three days (refill issues) I had another “stroke” episode making it my third one. They honestly scare the shit out of me. I guess what I’m wondering here is what you guys’ recovering experiences were like and how long they took? And if this symptom is normal?

Hi docs...

Thank you for your time.

Me F 80kg 177cm 32yrs... healthy

I was hospitalized for viral meningitis 3 weeks ago for 11 days.

After the lumbar puncture I had massive headaches that got better when I laid flat, no pillows. I was constantly told by nurses and neurologist to not sit up too much and never given an explanation.

This is better now, but it’s been replaced by crazy lower back pain that shoots down my legs.

They tell me it’s nothing and will go away, but it’s extremely debilitating as I have a toddler.

I’ve been really low on energy and very clumsy. I’m super energetic and have high pain tolerance. But now I’m extremely sore and I’m absolutely exhausted from feeling constant pain.

I have memory lapses, like I don’t remember what I’m doing or how I got there... I burnt soup the other day... I burnt liquid... LIQUID!

Another thing I complained about is hearing loss, it was all brushed off. I got a hearing appointment and they said I have moderate to severe hypoacusia but I need to be checked in a month for a real diagnostic.

None of these things are in the reports, if all gets brushed off like it’s nothing, like in a few weeks it will clear up. Tomorrow I’m getting a catscan as per my neurologist just to make sure it’s all okay.

I’m just worried, I’m so exhausted and in constant pain, forgetting everything.

I’ve never been like this for more than a day, ever. Will it go away? Will my hearing get better?

It’s making me crazy because all the docs are so blasé about it.

My short bio: I wasn't really sure where to do this...but here goes. This is a throwaway account, for obvious reasons.

I am an original survivor of viral meningitis, that was hospitalized 2 days post partum. I also had pre-eclampsia that was undiagnosed until after my delivery. (This is what it states on my discharge paperwork.) I was infected while giving birth to my son.

I was originally discharged after giving birth to my son, and re-admitted 2 days post partum. I had a spinal tap done with a fluoroscopy (machine used to X-ray and guide the needle in - CT guided lumbar punction says on that discharge paperwork), and was diagnosed/admitted immediately. I was hospitalized for several weeks, which I do not remember most of.

I had several seizures before being admitted and after being hospitalized. Naturally, I have some long term memory issues, as a result. My husband is sitting next to me, to help answer questions.

If you have any questions for me, now is the time. (Be warned, I am not a doctor.) I have decided to do this, to help raise awareness of the effects of meningitis.

My Proof: Here is part of my discharge paperwork (I removed identifying information), to prove that I did have it.. I have also been privately approved by the awesome moderators.

Edit: Looks like I am done for now. If anyone had any other questions, feel free to PM me and I will get to them when I can.

I am done with this thread. Thanks for all of the positive support and thought provoking questions.

Update: I wanted to do a mini-update for any lurkers going through old posts. I wound up trying to stop using my 1 cigarette a day as a stress reliever, by stopping cold turkey. I wound up having a mini-stroke (thanks to the blood pressure issues and my stress no longer being managed!). I did speak to my primary physician and was advised against attempting to go cold turkey again. Under my doctor's supervision, I did wind up kicking the "habit" completely (again...this was never an addiction issue, but more of a medical issue). I have been smoke free for 6 months and chew gum instead (outside during nap time in my "spot").

I was not shamed into attempting to quit via the AMA respondents (which, is extremely tacky of everyone that attempted to do so), but because I was tired of the hassle of smoking (smoking jacket, etc). My husband is down to 4 smokes a day now. In the future, please keep in mind that attempting to shame some

I'm a third year medical (MBBS) student and there was this patient diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder. I took his history and did some examination and found it to be rather odd. Hope anyone can provide some insight to this:

Male , 41 years old. Records prior to 2017 is lost and untraceable (still being traced) so realied on some recent reports and patients history, which could be unrealiable considering the nature of the patients condition.

In 2015, claims to have meningitis. At the time, he says that his left side of the body was weak and paralysed and he couldn't open his eyes well. He had protrusion of his tongue to one side and facial muscle weakness on one side as well. He was on medications for this and claims that the symptoms greatly improved, but then he stopped complying with the medications.

Complaints now : Has weakness (almost to the point of paralysis) on his left upper limb and lower limb. Walks using crutches. Right eye vision blurring. Memory loss... Cannot remember somethings did yesterday. Also claims to have broken a TV and bike at one point last year, but doesn't remember how he did it. Pain in left knee joint for one year with swelling.

Ocassionally gets headache, feels dizzy and presyncope. Eye pain. No nausea or vomiting, no chest pain or palpitations. No other points of importance in history.

No HT, DM, dyslipidemia, BA and claims no history of CVA.

Doesn't drink. Smoking stopped one year and occasional when he did.

Summary on examination : Upperlimb: Wasting in left forearm, left upper arm, thenar and hypothena. No left fasciculations or tremor. Left hand fingers are contracted. Right hand normal. Tone slightly increased on the left upper limb Power normal on right upper limb but level 0 in wrist and fingers of the left. All other movements in elbow and shoulder is at level 3/4. Hands outstretched, weak and drops on left side. Reflexes negative on left but positive on right. Cordination : Dysmetria/past pointing to one side on the right. Even with weak eye closed. Finger nose test not possible on left.

Sensation: All intact on the right, but at times proprioception confused on the right. No pain, light touch, or vibration sense and proprioception impaired on the left. Except for regions of T1/T2.

Gait : Hemiparetic (circumduction of right foot with clutches on the left).

Summary on examination : LOWER LIMB : Wasting in left thighs and calfs. No left fasciculations or tremor. Right LL nor

In mid-December, I came down with symptoms of what seemed to be a run-of-the-mill virus --- dizziness, nausea, stiff neck, chills, fatigue, and headache. I went to urgent care several times over the next two weeks, with an awful headache, face pain, and a stiff neck. They diagnosed me with a sinus infection (despite having no sinus congestion), gave me medication, and sent me home. With time, all the symptoms resolved and went away on their own... except the headache.

There's no way to be sure now, but my neurologist believes I may have had undiagnosed viral meningitis. We're trying to confirm it (an MRI is scheduled in the coming weeks), but it's hard so long after the fact. Apparently it's really common for viral meningitis to leave sufferers with daily headache, and my neurologist is optimistic these symptoms will go away within a few weeks/months.

At this point, (2 months on) I have been having frequent, almost daily facial pain and headaches. They're been gradually getting better, but I'm still suffering daily. My eyes and face ache, I have frequent short-duration migraines, and there's a persistent whisper of a headache between my brows. Putting pressure on my neck or the back of my head causes a severe headache which dies off as soon as the pressure goes away. My neck is still sensitive and aches sometimes, but there's no stiffness.

How long does it usually take to recover from viral meningitis? Will all of these symptoms go away with time, or should I worry about it developing into a headache disorder?

3 weeks ago I went for a bike ride, nothing to crazy, and came home with a headache. A headache that persisted for a week.

After seeing my PCP (who thought migraine) and Urgent Care (who thought sinus infection), I finally went to the ER who did a CT (all normal) and Lumbar Puncture. My CSF showed white blood cells, so the Infectious Disease Dept of my local hospital decided I was likely suffering from viral meningitis.

During this episode of intense persistant headaches, and now two weeks after, I still get a stabbing headache temporarily when I go from laying to standing.

My blood pressure is high, my heart rate slows to what the Dr thought was abnormally low given my height/weight, but Im a fairly active healthy guy who had always struggled with excersion headaches after strenous activity.

If this isnt a true POTS case, are there other things I should have my Drs look into?

fuccboi wins

I know that this question is going to sound a little stupid but I am fine with that. Which type of meningitis is more common, viral or bacterial? As far as I know is VIRAL. Second: if viral is the most common etiology, why do lists of pathogens for meningitis in different groups of age have bacteria as the most common causes? I don’t get it. I’m seeing a table right now that establishes the most common etiology by age: newborns-group b strep; infants-strep pneumo; adults-strep pneumo Why is this? I am confused Thanks in advance

So long story short. My dad had a spinal tap after going to the hospital a few times with bad headaches. They said it shows evidence of viral meningitis. My dad is completely fine now. This was on June 16th that he was at the hospital. We just got the results today. She is panicking that we are all going to get meningitis from him now and everyone he's come in contact with. He never had fever cough or any flu Symtoms. Just headache and some tingling in his hands which has completely resolved. I googled it and found a lot of articles that says the meningitis itself isn't contagious but the virus that could give someone meningitis is. I'm so confused and my mom is making Herself sick over this. How likely is that he could/would give her or anyone else meningitis? Especially at this point?

For context my dad is 56 years old. 5'8. 230lbs