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| Tom |
St. Louis Encephalitis, then and now:
In 1978, I was a member of a field survey team looking for birds that harbor this arbovirus, and for mosquitoes that vector it. It was a Sunday late afternoon when we were collecting mosquitoes (no repellant applied to skin) that I noticed that the females were unusually active and biting for that location and time of day. I felt extremely tired that evening and the next day, but after that, felt OK.
Three weeks later, almost to the day, I awakened with an incredibly bad headache and stiff neck. My wife and I were due to leave for vacation that day, but in light of my condition, we postponed. I was admitted to a local hospital later that day for suspect encephalitis.
Because I was a member of this arbovirus survey team, I knew of the symptoms and risks,
but being thirty years old, figured that it wouldn't happen to me. Well, I caught the
disease, was in and out of lucidity, and was scared to death of its implications (at the
time, many cases were fatal).
In 1978 there was no vaccine, only symptomatic treatment, and I would look forward to the
regular injections of Demerol. After a week or so, I was allowed out of bed, and couldn't
walk; I cried like a baby. I didn't return to work for two months. When I did return,
people would tell me that I didn't contract the virus there.
The 1980's and 1990's were filled with a series of sleeping problems, depression, motor
control, balance, hearing, and migraine headaches. I kept in regular contact with the
attending neurologist for prescription medications and long-term follow up.
In 1994, I decided to seek psychiatric help, because my emotional and mental states
were going out of control. After five years, my psychiatrist decided that I should
seek a second opinion because I had been a series of psycho-active drugs. This second
psychiatrist specialized in brain biochemistry. What follows next is a listing of his
opinion on the subtle yet profound effects that this arbovirus caused.
Major depression, due to medical problem, encephalitis.
Major depression, due to medical problem, sleep apnea/encephalitis.
Encephalitis, St. Louis viral, complicated by:
*Common migraine headaches
*Cerebral ataxia
*tinnitus and nystagmus
*Auditory closure deficit
*Vestibular balance and motor control (positive Babinski)
*Hypothyroidism, hypothalamic, following encephalitis
I know now why I lost three jobs in the last ten years: depression going out of control;
auditory closure - I simply cannot focus on conversations within a group, so I tune out,
giving the impression that I'm not interested in the thoughts and interests of others;
migraine headaches so bad, even with medications, that I had to leave staff meetings.
My own friends, those who stayed close to me these twenty years, now say that they noticed
big changes in my personality. My family, especially my children, grew up not knowing me
as a "normal" father; all they saw was a man with mood changes and depression, lots of
headaches, unable/unwilling to do things that required good balance, and tuning out of
dinner conversations.
There's hope that a change in medications can resolve or minimize some of these problems, especially thyroid and hypothalamus and depression, and I look forward to improvements.
Thanks for the opportunity to unload.
Finding this Web site has given me some measure of emotional relief, because there's nobody who understands if they haven't been through it.
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Tom
Naperville, IL U.S.A.
Posted: October 24, 2000 |
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