Can any long term side-affects appear after suffering from viral encephalitis?

Hello,My name is Brittany. A person who suffter of Encephalitis will most likly have problems with short term memory loss,Persoanlity changes.Life can be diffcult after the illness happends.A person will be filling different from the way they wore before.Life can be difficult

Hello, I read your post and well my daughter is only 6 years old she does have simular problems as you.Regarding your anger and crying.My daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsey just resently and they said all these symtoms are from this.I'm not saying you have this but you did have lose of oxygen to your brain and that is what causes cerebral palsey.My post is on here to under MEL. Maybe we could help each other.

Hi, I had it @ 7mos in 1967. I have an entrie in this forum @ 8monnths ago mark. steeltoedgloves is the entrie name. I started having petit mal seizures @ about 7yrs old then temporal lobe seizures @ 9 that would occassionally turn into grandmah seizures. I do remember being kicked out of joining a school band & after practice, the teacher said that I was not paying enough attention & that it seemed that I was just staring into space. I didnt remember most of the time I was in band practice because I guess I went into the petitmal szrs & then get tired. I would have szrs when stressed or excited - major emotional changes. I never could stay focused & ways of learning for me was different. I could look at the words I was reading & get lost (stuck) into the word I was reading & STILL do that to this day. I have to read every word becuz if I try to speed read, the words dont sink in & I forget what I read. When I was on the anti-szr meds, there were times I would try to read & the b&w letering/pages i was reading would give me such a headache & the teachers just thought that I was making excuses. Right before my 15th b-day , I had neuro-surgery to remove a scar tssue that rested on a vessel created from a hi-fever early in life (related to the V.E. @ 7mos.) & the Epilepsy was cured. I never have been a note taker because I cant write fast enuf & my skills of connecting the notes with the subject get lost in my thinking process. I'm 46 y.o. now. @ 21y.o. I had gotten a sinus infction & a new symptom showed up. A feeling of being not quite connected to reality. I just had an MRI done today for this but from looking @ the entries of other people on this site, it'll probbly be a waste of $. I know right from wrong & actually know when I'm awake but I just feel so disconnected. A Waterhead kind of feel.

Hello Sotso,
I'm from Waterloo Ontario Canada to be exact.It is my daughter who had V.E. at 15 months.I have a post on here I think it's on the 7th page (Mel).She caught it in Jan. of 2008. I keep trying to find out how she caught and where do all these people live that have had it .It has been a long road that is so tireing.She lost all of her speach it is coming back but there is still so much for us and her to figure out.
Hope this helps you.
Melodee

Lisa, I completely understand. I had West Nile meningoencephalitis in September and suffered your exact symptoms. You are not alone! Thank you for speaking out. A fellow encephalitis "snob " LOL June

Lisa,
I completely understand. I had West Nile meningoencephalitis in September and suffered your exact symptoms. You are not alone! Thank you for speaking out.
A fellow encephalitis "snob " LOL
June

I had encephalitis when I was 38 years old. Still don't know what caused it. But since then I have had the falling down and loss of balance episodes. It is quite embarrassing when it happens in front of others. Some of the loss of balance episodes have been scary as I could have been hurt seriously. I have considered going back to my original neurologist to determine if that could be an after effect of the E. I am getting really concerned. I have had several falls just this past week.

How long it took u to recover? I will b 24 in 3months & was diagnosed with viral encephalitis last year.

how long it took for u 2 recover?

I think it's important to understand that the word "encephalitis" means swelling or inflammation of the brain.    In typical cases of encephalitis (herpes encephalitis and vector (mosquito) borne encephalitis) that swelling comes... and goes.   It causes damage to the brain, where some skills and abilities can be lost.  Each person has different after-effects, as encephalitis can happen in different areas of the brain, and at different levels of severity.

Once the swelling is gone, the brain begins the struggle to re-learn skills and abilities which were lost.  In the past, this recovery was measured in a two-year time frame.  In more recent years, studies have proven that the recovery is ongoing... continues for the rest of your life... due to the plasticity of the brain.   

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Hope this helps!

 

Wendy, survivor, HSE 1999President, Encephalitis Global, Inc.

Hi, I had viral meningoencephalitis in 1969 and know your post viral symptoms even down to the disbelief of the medical profession which still goes on today, 44 years down the track. I was not diagnosed properly neurologically until 1973 so 4 years elapsed with me thinking I had polio, MS etc. As a Life Mentor I used my skills to come through all of this to today, but I know how hard it can be especially when we are told " pull yourself together" !!! My point here is that life has changed for you and you will come through this. We have all had a very serious illness and survived, albeit not in the way we would like, but by taking it one day, and for me one hour at a time, at times, engaging my brain, dealing with the migraines, vertigo and all the attendant other effects, working with creativity ( I was a dancer as well) you will come through this with the wonderful support of this forum. I found it helpful to accept that I had had this, even though here in NZ no-one seems to know much about the long term effects of E, so I have decided to do a research paper and educate people about this... pipe dream... I think not as I can do this on the "good " days. So pace yourself, ask the questions to the right people and try to stay away from the unsupportive ones, not always easy but know you have survived this and you will continue to learn to deal with it. So gold stars to you for coming this far !!!!!

At the age of 5 I too became ill with encenphalitis I am now 32 years old and have been struggling with a lot of things.  Before I got sick I was thin I would talk a lot,  know math, spelling and would learn with just one time being shown or told would play run and be a normal child.  after the fact I gained weight would have to be told things over and over struggled with reading was told I have dysslexia.  When I became ill I was in a coma for a few days like a few of these people I had to relearn everything. My parents were told that I would wake up from the coma with full or partial paralasys and that would be if I even woke up at all.  The doctors and nurses named me sleeping beauty.  I woke up from the coma and beat their odds no paralysis but the struggles were there not knowing it was the after effects of encenphalitis.  Again I am 32 have my family but recently have been noticing things more than before memory loss has been far more frequent and I don't get things done because of it.  I always thought it was just me but I know that it isnt just me its the after effects of encenphalitis.

hi Jack
my sister has the same problem . Doctor diagnosed viral encephalitis 4 years back. She is regularly taking medicines and i guess she will have to continue the same all through her life. She gets that fits problem after 5-6 months, recently she got the attack 6 timesin a row witha gap of 5 mins, After which she got very weak again . My parents have been working on her health , she takes rest properly and eats well, But after this recent episode agian we hav reached to stage 1. I don't know if these episodes hav e anything in relation to her thoughts, i mean my parents have noticed this that whenever she gets emotional and feels sad she gets this problem , it can be focal or full seizure. Does this has any relation to the frequency of seizures? She sleeps 12 hours a day (approx). we try and keep her calm .Buts still she feels sleepy. all time lethargic, she finds difficulty in reading, she walks as if she's drunk .....these all are side effects of seizure. How long will she take to recover

hello, i too have been affected by this  disease.. at age 12 in 1976 never really gave any thought to my issues over the years untill reading this site...amazing.. i have had boughts with loss of concentration, confusion, memory loss as an adult.. i am a father of two girls , successful in my career,49 yrs. old but have had issues with thought process all my life.. was amazed when i found this sight and realized i wasn't alone.. had to litterally fight back the tears when reading this site and typing this, in '76 had mumps encephilites and could not walk. talk for a week before parents took me to a doctor who diagnosed me spent about 4 days in hospital and was brought home and continued school and life.. thank you for sharing.. you are not alone...

I had encephalitics in 2004 at 53 and still have seizures and the medications have ruined my teeth and still have more problems trying to think about what I can still do. I can never work again or do many things. I always prided myself on doing anything I wanted to do but now can only do a little less each day. So one can only take pride in what can do and not think about the past. Like today I unscrambled the puzzle in the newspaper which was a huge success for me. But I can not go fishing with my best friend who does most of the work because I have to worry all the time if I am trying to do too much mentally or physically for it can trugger another seizure. I also have to worry about Xmas when my family will get together and even loving emotions trigger another seizure. So I do sleep a lot with our dogs and try to read other problems that come up daily and what may be the cause of them. So I wish you well and try to think about funny situations which help me for I have my joke folder near which I read when I get depressed. And I think of the slogan Niagra Falls slowly I turned step my step inch by inch. Etc which helps me slow down and not to think too much like now. I wish you the best and try not to think of all the problems and enjoy what you have and can do. Not like me who tries to push the limits every second of the day. For I like fighting with agencies who want to take away my rights. I have fought with numerous agencies legally for them saying I was doing things wrong or recently the VAfor them trying to declare me mentally incompetent for not being able to handle my financial affairs and taking away my gun rights and withholding my disability payments for which I fought for in a time of war. I get so angry at agencies that have tried to take away my legal rights for many different things but I enjoy the legal fights for them because I have done nothing wrong but I have to allow others to do it for me now. So be happy on what you can do and not like me who is all consumed in arguing for what is right! It is not only unfair that we have our problems but what can we do about it? It is not like arguing for what one has the legal right to do. But it is trying to accept what we have and trying to make the best out of a terrible situation! So live on and try to be happy with the most smallest things in life like I am right now with my dog by my side and with a full tummy. Love Jim