Eventually, after his symptoms worsened, Suman, from Croydon, Surrey, was taken to hospital after passing out at home, where it was found he had contracted meningococcal meningitis. He tells his story:
“It all began with constant headaches, which I turned a blind eye to. I became used to taking paracetamol 3/4 times a day.
“Eventually, after being sent home one day by my manager to take it easy I passed out that same night in front of family, who called the ambulance. Initially I had a lumbar puncture, which showed clear(ish) liquid - a good sign - and I was let go for the night after some monitoring and paracetamol drip.
“The next day I woke up with a painful headache again, only this time I started vomiting violently.
Five different antibiotics
“Back at the hospital a second lumbar puncture was taken and examined under a microscope, which confirmed that I had meningococcal meningitis. Five different antibiotics were applied via drip and after a process of elimination they found one that was helping my recovery.
“A few weeks later I had made an astounding recovery with the awesome help of the NHS, who I owe so much to.
“After being discharged there were a few issues I had to overcome, the first being my ability to walk as the lumbar puncture did not go 100% perfect and had hit a nerve. I struggled to walk for a few weeks.
“The second issue was a partial loss of vision in one eye, which I noticed at work working on spreadsheets.
Visit our Instagram profile @meningitis_now.
