Thursday afternoon I developed a pounding headache. I get migraines occasionally, so I figured that was what it is. I took some pills and went to bed like normal. Friday morning I woke up with the pounding headache; it was worse than before. My neck also hurt and I felt pretty sore. I also felt a little shaky in the morning. These are all symptoms of Meningitis. Despite this, I went to school. I felt like shit, went to the nurse and took some Advil, barely made it through the day, came home and slept until 8:30. I woke up, took some more medicine, and slept until 8:00 this morning.
Now, I’ve been on pills almost continuously for the past 2 days, and when there’s a gap the pounding comes back(when I am on pills the poundings mostly subsided, but it’s still there a little). Last night I took Naproxen, today I took Advil and Tylenol (not at once). I haven’t felt any neck/muscle pain since yesterday morning, so either it was due to a bad sleep (which happens a lot with me), or the pills are doing a good job and I really do have meningitis.
I don’t have a fever at all, and I haven’t been bedridden (I was out all day, and I felt mediocre). I just still have this pounding headache. It 'aint going away. It seems that if I haven’t gotten worse after 2 days, it probably isn’t Meningitis. Am I right? Meningitis is usually sudden and devastating, it almost certainly doesn’t take more than 2 days to kick in.
And yes, I did call my doctor who told me to take the Naproxen. If I get any worse I’ll surely go to the hospital right away.
So, is the fact that I’m not bedridden any indication that I don’t have meningitis? I feel quite fine, and I am quite active, though I feel like there’s a heart pulsating in my brain. Would tylenol have numbed any neck pain from Meningitis? I don’t feel any pain right now, and I’m a little worried that the painkillers are hiding all the symptoms. That wouldn’t be good.
Just a WAG, but my sense would be that anyone who could write 4+ paragraph question entitled, “Could I have meningitis”, doesn’t.
Actually, I suppose a person could have viral (or other non-bacterial meningitis) and actually write about it in real time. Doesn’t really matter, though, since there’s no specific treatment for, nor any real danger in, having viral meningitis.
More seriously, the absence of fever, the (apparent!) absence of delirium, and the fact that you’re talking about it three days after the onset, are quite reassuring …
I’m pretty sure I don’t have a brain tumor. I’m guessing it’s one of my migraines. The reason I posted this was that my mom (a nurse) was worried I might have it, but concluded I probably didn’t. I decided to look it up online and while it listed the symptoms, it said that not all may be present (I had several of them). It also didn’t really describe the severity- I don’t feel like I have a fatal brain ailment, but I did have the symptoms, and who knows? I just want to see if my behavior is what a meningitis victim’s could be.
From reading online, it goes from bad to severe-possible death-brain inflammation quite quickly. Is it possible that I could go from fair to near-death overnight? If I wake up tomorrow still with merely a bad throbbing headache I’ll discount the meningitis theory. I don’t think it could linger for nearly 3 days.
Sometimes if I go to sleep with a headache I wake up with a sore neck because I either don’t move around as much or sleep in an unnatural-for-me way to “protect” my head or whatever. If your neck pain just seemed to be related in that way to your headache, it’s probably nothing. If you don’t feel bad in any other way, it’s probably not a deadly illness. But if you have headaches that last days like that, you definately need to see somebody about them.
I may be a little hyper-sensitive to the issue, but if I were you, I’d make a Dr.'s appointment soon.
My sister’s best friend just passed away last month (at the age of 27 - on her birthday, in fact) from what the doctors said they were 99% sure was meningitis.
Her symtpoms were that of the flu, for not more than 2 or 3 days. She had just started a new job and didn’t want to make a bad impression by taking any time or days off.
She seemed to be tolerating things well, until she started bruising all over, at which point her mother took her to the ER, where she passed away within hours.
I’m promising myself to never put off medical attention.
Actually, I should add to that. The doctors also said that her reaction was so incredibly rare, most people would have responded to treatment or medication, even at the point that she did make in to the hospital.
My son had viral meningitis when he was an infant (2 months old.) While I know viral is not as risky as bacterial, he was young. He was in the hospital for a week, but he came out 100% A-OK.
I’m curious to the fact that your mother thought you might have meningitis. My friend lived in NJ, and while I’ve not seen or heard anything publicly about an outbreak, I wonder if medical professionals on the east coast have seen a rash of cases recently.
Anyway, I didn’t mean to cause alarm, like I said, I know I am hyper-sensitive to the issue right now. But the Dr. telling you you’ve got the sniffles is better than the (extremely rare) alternative, IMHO.
Well, I’m still here, and I still have a throbbing headache, though it’s subsided a little.I only get them once or twice a year, and my mom recently concluded that it’s a climatic/change of seasons thing. It can’t be meningitis if I haven’t gotten sicker in nearly 3 days.
I also read a site that mentioned that Migranes and Meningitis have the same symptoms, and actually have the same effect on your brain. I guess the only difference is that Meningitis you can get blood spots and Migraines usually go away without you having to go to the hospital.
psycat90 , as for my mom, I don’t know if she’s seen a lot of cases but she works in a NICU (Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit). I wouldn’t be surprised if she sees a fair amount of Meningitis in babies, but she hasn’t mentioned an upswing in it recently.
So yeah, it doesn’t look like Meningitis but if I don’t feel better by tomorrow I’ll head to the doctor and see what’s up and what I can do about it.
