[sarahobarski]

I would love it if somebody with experience could give me a little insight about the onset of the disease. Last night at about 2:30am I went to the kicthen for a snack and suddenly had to grab ontot he counter before me a drop to my knees, as I was instantly losing conciousness, passing out, etc. Everything became spotty, my head started pounding, and I was nauseated beyond belief. I came to some time later on the kitchen floor, and couldn't make it back upstairs- so I crawled to the couch. Still horribly nauseated, I managed not to throw up. but my head hurt to the point that I was positive I had just either had a stroke or an aneurism(sp?), my entire head was POUNDING (and I don't get headaches) and at one particular spot on the back of my head if felt like someone was drilling a hole in my skull. I woke up this morning feeling almost hungover, with the worst, inexplicable neck pain. I didn't do anything to it yesterday but I have never had pain like that in my neck. Very limited movement, occasional pain in my back. Bad headache this morning, but seemed to diminish throughout the day. Took 975mgs of Asprin (and I never take that kind of stuff) and my neck still hurt considerably. Ate breakfast this morning, then came the nausea, can't even look at food rest of day. But no fever! But here's why I think something may be up- my best friend and business partner had the EXACT same experience at the EXACT same time last night- she also passed out or whatever it was on the kitchen floor at 2:30am. She called me from the docs office, thought she had strep (I also have sore throat) they said she was tired and sent her home, but she couldn't breathe later and went to emergency room where doctors said again she was just tired, but she has all same symptoms as me- my eyes were killing me today and the sunshine about killed me- when I looked at the kitchen light it was doing this weird crap like I was on acid or something (don't do any drugs either). We shared dinner from the same plate the other night, and all of her private clients are people who do not have access to decent health care, mostly children. So can anyone tell me if this sounds like it? When should I be concerned?

Thanks,
Sarah

[cherubic]

Hello Sarah,

While I'm not an expert on Meningitis I can share with you what happened to me. Around 6:00 pm on April 3, I suddenly became ill and developed a terrible headache. After taking ibuprophen with no relief I went to urgent care. The doctors there treated me for food poisening and sent me home about 9:00 pm. I seemed to fill better, however, my headache remained. Apparently I passed out sometime that night (Thursday) and wasn't discovered until Sunday afternoon by my daughter. I do not remember anything after coming from Urgent Care and being put to bed by my sister. When my daughter found me she stated that my house was in a wreck (I'm a meticulous housekeeper) and there was dried vomit from the bedroom into the kitchen. Also, the coffee table was turned over (it's glass) and I was found on the bed in a feetle position. I was very unresponsive to her calls and appeared to be delirious. EMS was called and after being taken to the hospital it was found that I have a temperature of 104. They immediately began running test and determined that I had Bacterial Meningitis as well as pneumonia. I was in a semi-coma ( I never closed my eyes even when it appeared that I was sleeping) but I was unresponsive. I do not remember anything about this incident until about 2 weeks later. I slowly began to respond but could not remember how to spell, did not recognized my loved ones and had all types of problems. While recovering I discovered I couldn't hear anyone talking to me that clearly. Hearing test were run and it was determined that the hearing in my left ear was completely gone. I still had limited hearing in my right ear but each day I heard less. I understand that due to the high fever I was given super doses of antibiotics which caused me to lose my hearing. As a result of this experience I have developed Vertigo.

I am sharing this with you because I feel you need to request that you be tested for Meningitis. Your symptoms sound a lot like mine did and I would not wish that anyone should go through what I experienced. I'm sure by now you have found out what the problem is. To this day I have no idea where this disease came from. However, I am very careful about washing my hands especially after using a shopping cart. Also be aware of your surroundings. There are so many diseases out here that can be life threatening. Good Luck and I hope they are able to diagnosed before any permanent damage is done.