Hi Steve. I am so very sorry to hear of your wife's illness, and I also understand your frustrations.
Three years ago, I was diagnosed with viral meningitis at an ER, given a prescription for pain meds, and released. i collapsed at the pharmacy, and was taken to another hospital, where I was hospitalized for a week. Since that time, I have suffered residual headaches. Yes, it is a long time, but I can say at least that I have not had to visit the hospital for the headaches in over a year, so they are lessened in intensity.
I have tried numerous "migraine" meds, none of which had any success. I am wary of over use of narcotics, so have kept use of them to a minimum. At this point, my greatest success has been a combination of Lyrica, Cymbalta, and a small dose of beta-blockers (Propanolol). For the most part, this daily regimen keeps the migraines and lesser headaches at bay. For breakthrough headaches/migraines, I have some hydrocodone, and also keep steriods in case I can catch the pain early and use the steriods to avoid the onset. Though I have recently been diagnosed with a severely deficient immune system, apparently the result of the meningitis, I try to eat well and stay as healthy as possible with light regular exercise, and plenty of rest.
My best wishes to you and your wife. My husband has been by my side throughout this whole frustrating ordeal, and though it is very difficult for him, he has been my best support. He often deals with the feelings of frustration and helplessness, as he can't do anything to "fix" me, though he doesn't know how much just his support and presence helps. Many people don't realize how difficult the after-effects of meningitis can be, and since the individual doesn't "look" sick, they just can't have anything wrong.
Best wishes,
Laurel
--- On Sun, 8/10/08, Steve Beck <Solj4life@...> wrote:
From: Steve Beck <Solj4life@...>
Subject: RE: [PostmeningitisHeadache] Re: Wife recently diagnosed with viral meningitis experiencing severe headaches
To: postmeningitisheadache@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, August 10, 2008, 1:59 PM
Thank you so much for the prompt reply and info. Knowing that my wife, Erin, is not the only one is somewhat relieving. Unfortunately, Erin's doctors did not warn us of possible reocurring headaches. In fact, when we went back to the same hospital that diagnosed her with the viral menginitis 2 weeks later for strikingly similar symptons, the doctors (an ER doctor and a neurologist) told us it was rare for such symptoms to reoccur! Thus, we were very worried when it happened. After the second headache early this morning, I decided to do some research on my own and thankfully found some info and this group. To top it all off, we are in Destin, FL on vacation (which the doctor said would be okay to go on). We plan on finding a neurologist or headache specialist back in St. Louis when we get home later in the week. Erin is resting now. The headache went from a 9
to 3 on a 10-point scale. One thing that worries me is that her temperature climbs into the 99 point somethings a few hours into the headache. Her temp as since stabilized. This episode was almost identical to the last. Erin also experiences vomiting with her headaches. Finally, so far the headaches have only occurrerd during the middle of the night after she went to sleep. She wakes up with the pain, vomits about 30 mins in, and has the headache for about 8-12hrs. Any more info will be much appreciated, such as any drug that was helpful to you or doctors' contact info that are familiar with such headaches. It seems as though the doctors at the hospital she went to have no idea, which makes me very nervous. Thanks again!! Steve
To: PostmeningitisHeada che@yahoogroups. com From: lbstadler@hotmail. com Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:08:22 +0000 Subject: [PostmeningitisHead ache] Re: Wife recently diagnosed with viral meningitis experiencing severe headaches
Hi, Sorry to hear about your wife's illness. I had viral meningitis in June 2004 and suffer from chronic head pain. It does change in intensity and character - it is considered mixed type (tension with migraine- features)... Anyway, you can find all the info that I was abele to dig up under the files section: http://health. groups.yahoo. com/group/ PostmeningitisHe adache/files/Hope you find some info that is useful. One of the most important things I have learned is to find balance in my every day life with stress reduction and other pain managemnet techniques (balancing activity with rest). I cannot stress this enough! Daily relaxation, exercise, diet -- it all has an affect. It may not take the pain or headaches away, but it does have influence on how severe and how often
attacks can occur. Hope this helps. Best, Laura --- In PostmeningitisHeada che@yahoogroups. com, "stevenbeck_ 710" <Solj4life@. ..> wrote: > > Hello, all. My wife was diagnosed with viral meningitis about 3 weeks > ago. Since then, she has had 2 very severe headaches, each occurring > about 7 days apart. The first occurred about 10 days after she was > released from the hospital where she was treated for the meningitis. > We went back to the ER and they just gave her a steroid taper and some > pain meds. The second about 7 days after that. The headaches > accompanied with vomiting. > > I feel helpless in not knowing what to do. After some research on the > web I realized that post-meningitis headaches are not that uncommon. > Any feedback
will be much appreciated. Thank you. >
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