Feb 6, 2007

Post Viral illness ....How it began

As I’m still feeling a bit ‘viral’ today with a wheezy cough I thought it was about time I explained how I ended up in France with a post viral illness.

It was during December 2004 that I contracted a virus, a bit like bronchitis. A few weeks off work should have put me right but I was really busy at work and looking for a promotion and time off work wasn’t on my agenda. In addition it just happened to be one of the busiest periods of the year and I had to organise my son’s birthday party, Christmas presents, Christmas dinner and attend a few Christmas functions etc. I also had to work over Christmas and even though I was feeling pretty rough I didn’t want to call in one of my colleagues off their holiday. It was my turn to work over Christmas and I wasn’t going to do it.

Looking back that was a big mistake. I continued to push myself until the first week of January 2005 when still coughing like a barking dog for near to 4 weeks I ended up triggering a spasm in my neck. So not only was I barking like a dog I also looked Quasimodo whilst doing it. I was exhausted. With tears of frustration I went for my 3rd doctors visit. Each time they had told me that I had no chest infection and I didn’t need antibiotics. But I knew I needed something so I demanded them and eventually they gave in and gave me a short course of antibiotics and told me I needed time off to recuperate. Fine, I do anything to shift it and by the end of January I was walking about without wheezing and coughing. Great, the antibiotics worked. The only trouble was I still felt exhausted so I went back to the doc’s and she told me that it could be at least 6 weeks before I was feeling like my old self.

Ok, no big deal. On the positive side I was able to spend more time with my children and I had more time to help my daughter with her reading and spelling. It’s amazing how that extra bit of time helped her and before I knew it she was reading everything. And the kids loved coming straight home after school rather than going to the childminder’s house. Not that they didn’t like her, but it was a novelty having me at home. I still couldn’t do much without feeling exhausted so although the school was only a few minutes walk away the childminder still walked them home for me. The weekly shopping became a major event. I was exhausted walking around the supermarket, putting the groceries in and out of the trolley, packing them, putting them in the car, taking them out of the car, into the house, out of the bags and into the cupboards.

I can’t remember exactly when it all started to go pear shaped but some strange things were happening to me. For instance, the lights in the supermarket always seemed way to bright and I’d feel wobbly in the aisles, I felt like I had a lead weight on the top of my head and that a vice was squeezing my head together, the muscles in my arms started ‘popping’ up and down, my eyes kept twitching, I lost my concentration and had to read simple text several times before I could get the gist of it, I had no short term memory, I couldn’t get my words out let alone think what I wanted to say….. the list went on and on.

I realised that I had some of the symptoms that Mr P had over 15 years ago when he had ME/CFS. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.)

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