enchephalitis

[caz2009]

Is there any information on the after effects of suffering with enchephalitis aprox 10 years ago


This discussion is related to Long term effects of encephalitis.

[WifeofHeroicMan]

My husband had both meningitis and encephalitis in 2010.  He spent about a year unable to work afterwards and has had serious problems since then dealing with sensory overload and an inability to tolerate crowds, loud noises, and changes to his routine.  Within the normal parameters of his life, he functions quite well:  He can work full time, drive a car, and hold normal conversation one on one. But he has damages to his brain that are hard to live with and can make him feel emasculated.

Outside of those normal daily parameters, he begins to lose function: for example going, say, to a family dinner with 30+ people  on a Saturday, will wear him out.  He will begin to experience profound delays in speech, loss of balance, and trembling that can mimic seizures in its severity.  he will lose the ability to tolerate eye contact, his speech will simple peter out, he'll tremble and have muscle spasms, stare at the floor without blinking, and he will be completely unsafe to drive. In some cases, he can barely walk.  In addition he has serious memory loss, usually older memories from ten or so years before the illness.

We have learned to protect the margins of his life so that he does not have to face this very often, but sometimes he has no choice (example: at our own son's wedding). The neurologist says he will experience incremental gains--  but so slowly that we may not notice-- this has been true. His mental processing is better now than it was 5 years ago, but still stunted in terms of where he was before the illness. He can tolerate small groups now, and we can usually do one activity each weekend, whereas before he would sleep all weekend just to be able to go to work again on Mondays.

In the meantime, a daily anti-anxiety medication has helped, and we have found caffeine functions as a buffer for him when taken in the afternoon instead of the morning. It helps him remain steady and finish the day strong. Trying to explain his issues to people is a problem, since he looks perfectly fine and holds down a white collar job 5 days a week.  Travel is a big no-no for him, which has limited his career somewhat.  I have found that some people believe he is "faking" these symptoms.  I invite them to come sit with us after a public function and watch his motor control and cognitive abilities disintegrate into spasms, tears, and unconsciousness.

[trc09]

So my boyfriend had encephalitis about ten years ago. He suffers from qutie a few of the long term symptoms. They still aren't sure whether or not it was caused by a virus or bacteria. Is it a good idea for him to obtain a flu shot?

[Dr Rajgopal]

Hi,
Unfortunately, there are many long term side effects that can appear after any kind of encephalitis.Many people experience long-term consequences following encephalitis. Post-encephalitic problems may persist for several years after the illness.  People can have chronic pain due to encephalitis, particularly chronic headache.  Central pain (altered sensitivity) can result from encephalitis.Patients may have many cognitive problems, like lose of memory, certain learning disabilities, poor concentration, speech problems and others. Because of that many of them become depressed or angry. Also encephalitis may cause lack of muscle coordination, paralysis or hearing or vision defects. Hope this helps you . Take care and regards  !