Being Diagnosed with Viral Meningitis as an Adult

It started as an ear ache with a low grade fever. Within a day my ear ache had caused my neck to painfully swell. I decided to go to urgent care to get it checked out. The doctor at urgent care told me that my swollen neck was simply the ear infection draining into the lymph nodes. I was given an anti-biotic and told that if I still had a fever in the morning not to go to work. The next morning my fever had spiked to 103.5 and I could barely hold up my own head without my neck feeling like it was going to snap. The headache I was experiencing was excruciating.

Friday night I was in the emergency room with what I thought was the world's worst inner ear infection ever. I was given an IV that pumped fluids, a variety of antibiotics, and pain medication that didn't seem to touch what I was experiencing. My brain scan came back negative for Mastoiditis, and my neck scan came back showing that my lymph nodes were in fact swollen, though you could see it just by looking at me. By 2am Saturday morning an ER doctor decided he wanted to do a bedside lumbar puncture, or spinal tap. He wanted to test the spinal fluid for infection and determine whether I was struggling with Meningitis. After 45 minutes of being forcefully held in the fetal position by the ER nurse because the pain prevented me from doing it myself, the doctor was unsuccessful in gathering any spinal fluid. I was then sent to an Observation room to wait for Monday's Radiology staff to do a Fluoroscopy-guided Lumbar Puncture.

The weekend seemed to take forever. I lay in a completely dark and quiet Observation room waiting for the week to start. Lights, sounds, and any type of movement made me dizzy and nauseated. Nurses came and took blood from me three or four times a day for testing. My mother never left my side. She walked me down the hall to the bathroom when the nurses were busy. She fed me my meals, and kept cold wash cloths on my head and face. By Monday, I still had a high fever, and was still in excruciating pain. The IV antibiotics and pain medications were still not working. An Infectious Disease Doctor was assigned to my case. After his visit, he said if I still had a headache on Monday, he would move forward with the spinal tap. Monday afternoon I had a fluoroscope lumbar puncture. During the x-ray guided spinal tap that gathered the fluid surrounding my spinal column, I felt pressure on the lower left side of my back, and my left leg jerked slightly. The doctor performing the procedure said that these things were normal reactions to the puncture. When I was returned to my room I was told to lie very still for 3 - 4 hours as to avoid getting an additional headache from the spinal tap.

Tuesday's preliminary results showed that I did in fact have infection in my spinal fluids, and I was diagnosed with Viral Meningitis. According to the Center for Disease Control ("CDC"), viral meningitis, or "aseptic" meningitis is the most common type of meningitis. Meningitis is an inflammation of the meneges, or the tissues that cover of the brain and spinal cord. There are several types of viruses that can cause Viral Meningitis and the symptoms can vary. The CDC lists symptoms to include fever, severe headache, a stiff neck, aversion to bright lights, drowsiness, confusion, nausea, and vomiting. When the diagnosis came the doctors took me off the antibiotics but kept me on the fluids and pain medications. My fever started to drop on Wednesday to 99.7, though my neck pain and headache was still at an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the worst).

I was sent home from the hospital on Thursday afternoon. An alarm clock was set every two hours to take the course of medications that I was sent home with. My longest stretch of time to really relax was from 11PM to 3AM. My mom stayed with me for five days, feeding me because I couldn't hold my head up without feeling dizzy, and walking me to the bathroom making sure I didn't fall. The pain medication that I left the hospital with was doing a number on my stomach and intestines but wasn't really touching the neck and head pains. I was on medication to sooth the stomach issues, on medication for the pain, on medication to keep the fever down, and feeling like I was never going to get better. The doctors gave me two weeks off work to recover and told me to take it easy and not over do anything.

I stopped taking the pain medications 8 days after my hospital release. I had a dull ache at the base of my head down into my neck. It was the first day I could walk on my own and I wasn't dizzy. I remained on the stomach medications to try and sooth my intestinal discomforts, and on the prescription strength IB Profen to help with the neck and head aches. Day 13 of my recovery the doctor released me to drive again. I was allowed to go back to work the next Monday, or day 18.

The first week back to work my eight hours a day were exhausting. I had muscle aches on parts of my body I never knew existed and I was still taking the IB Profen hoping the head and neck aches would disappear completely. I also found myself confused about things I once had an expertise in. I was asking my coworkers for help with things I had once taught them how to do. Before I contracted the virus that caused my Viral Meningitis I was working out for 45 minutes before work, and doing a P90X workout video after work. Before I got sick I was doing up to 150 crunches before bedtime, and now I barely had enough energy to make it through the work day and walk through my door when I got home. I called my doctor concerned about my weakness and confusion and was told that I had a very serious virus that requires serious recovery. I was also told that it could be a couple months before I get energy back and I was back to the state I was in before this all happened.

I've been out of the hospital now for 25 days and I'm trying to keep myself strong emotionally as I deal with the weakness. I seemed to have lost the confusion I experienced my first week back, but I'm getting depressed when I try to ride my exercise bike for 30 minutes and can only make it 7 and push myself to 10 before I feel completely spent. I started to do some of my own research and found there are temporary and permanent after effects of Viral Meningitis that can be physical or emotional. Just as everyone reacts differently to the virus, everyone's after effects are also different. The Meningitis Research Foundation lists after effects from residual headaches and clumsiness, to memory loss and dizziness. Some more permanent after effects include deafness or hearing problems, epilepsy and seizures, to speech problems. For a full list of after effects please click on the Mengingitis Research Foundation link above.

Though I experienced every symptom of Viral Meningitis, I am lucky to have the temporary and less serious after effects of my illness. I am now taking vitamins every day and exercising as much as physically possible. I am looking forward to when my body has fully recovered. I hope this article about my experience with Viral Meningitis as an adult can help others understand the symptoms and severity of this type of illness. If you or someone you know are suffering from severe symptoms don't hesitate to seek medical attention.

Fluoroscopy-guided Lumbar Puncture
Wikipedia: Mastoiditis
Meningitis Research Foundation: After Effects
Center for Disease Control