“Reaching out to Meningitis Now has really helped me to not feel so alone.”
Amy, from Salford, fell ill with a horrific headache and a sore scalp. This progressed to light sensitivity, visual distortions and relentless vomiting. She tells her story here.
“In August 2024 I got in the shower and washed my hair. As I stepped out I felt an excruciating pain in my head and my scalp became hot and sore to touch.
"I went to bed, assuming it was a migraine (I’d had them very rarely previously) and tried to carry on with my life for the next couple of days.
“My daughters were 4 and 10 months of age at the time so we were (and still are) very busy!
"Soon I started to develop light sensitivity, nausea and visual distortions. I also kept falling asleep and passing out.
"Eventually I saw a GP who said I’d pulled a nerve in the shower - I wasn’t convinced!
Started vomiting
“Not long after I started vomiting relentlessly and a close friend who is a nurse urged me to go to hospital.
“I had brain scans to rule out a bleed or tumour, which was terrifying. Then I had a lumbar puncture. I spent my ninth wedding anniversary in hospital with my husband by my side.
“I was discharged without any answers and still vomiting to the point of not being able to keep anything down. I’d had IV anti-sickness in hospital, but even once that wore off, the sickness remained.
Glad to be home, but bedridden
“Whilst I was glad to be home with my two young girls and husband, I couldn’t do a thing and I was bedridden.
“In time the GP helped me and gradually over a few weeks of anti-sickness meds I recovered.
“I still get horrible headaches, scalp sensitivity and some visual impairments. I wonder whether they will ever leave me.
Don’t feel so alone
“A few weeks after my hospital stay I got a phone call to say I’d had viral meningitis. It was good to know what I had been going through, but terrifying that I’d been left to deal with that alone.
“I first heard about Meningitis Now on Facebook and reaching out to them has really helped me to not feel so alone. Now I largely manage the impact of meningitis, but still deal with some physical and mental after-effects.”
