Flash of insight: Viral Meningitis

[SilverbladeTE]

Hey, it's OK, I'm hearing it in my head with a Scottish accent, so it fits, .


I wonder if your mum or anyone involved in that outbreak ever found out what the virus was. It must have had long-term consequences for more than one person! Some people here have had their illness triggered by the Hep B vaccine or a Hep B infection. Or by the live polio vaccine, which was still in use at the turn of the century in the U.S.

Lol sorry just very bad at moment due to westher etc, brains in low gear
Honestly no idea what it may have been beyond "meningitis" which is actually a pretty broad brush as it was just what we ordinary folks knew

I've got herpes as had that since kid (cold sores),
that bout of "mengi-whatever-the-effski" ,
and then just before I came down with M.E. there was toxic damp proofing put down in our house made me and workmen dreadfully ill but we couldnt afford to move out or get it chemically tested or whatever so maybe an organophosphate (was meant to kill mould and be a sealant)
And same time as dam proofing almost damn ans y flublike bug swept region and I got it
Plus dad was probably bringing in radium from his factory on his clothing, which is horribly nasty stuff
I got poisoned by weedkiller as toddler (copper sulphate, moss killer, acts as corrosive in soft wet tissue, burned my insides to hell) and my entire area is terribly polluted by heavy metals

So I often think these kind of illnesses we suffer may have such variety as it's mix of some underlying base, retrovirus or genetics that predispose
Then complex stew of things over years triggering "M.E.", immune system jammed partially on the ON switch
Variations in the stew and person giving variations in the outcome.

Interesting stuff if we didnt suffer it, lol

 

[anciendaze]

@picante

The suffix -itis means inflammation, though exactly how you determine this is a problem. In the extreme case mentioned in that book there was no change in soft tissues seen on MRI, so this would not meet some older requirements for encephalitis. The abnormal EEGs and the presence of leukocytes in cerebrospinal fluid strongly indicated an inflammatory process. The damage was taking place at the level of individual NMDA receptors, which are too small to be seen with current imaging technology.

You can't simply base the definition on the inactive presence of an infectious agent because all DNA viruses are likely to remain in cells for life. Even in the case of bacterial pathogens like Rickettsias you are unlikely to achieve a true "sterilizing cure" with antibiotic treatment. The goal of medical intervention is to reduce the problem to the point the patient's immune system can control the pathogen.

 

[Asa]

Thank you, @anciendaze. All very helpful info.

 

[picante]

@SilverbladeTE, I keep this site in my bookmarks toolbar to remind me what "CFS" actually means:
https://constantfuckingshit.wordpress.com/
That's what your history reminds me of. Glad to know you better.

 

[SilverbladeTE]

@SilverbladeTE, I keep this site in my bookmarks toolbar to remind me what "CFS" actually means:
https://constantfuckingshit.wordpress.com/
That's what your history reminds me of. Glad to know you better.

Lol,.I like that one, constant f' s', hehe, yes indeed it is!

 

[picante]

You can't simply base the definition on the inactive presence of an infectious agent because all DNA viruses are likely to remain in cells for life.

OK, now I get it.

But what if the virus periodically reactivates? How to find out if that's what's happening? Spinal tap? (Eeeek!) I was getting the neck spasms/headache every time I exercised moderately. So I stopped. I was getting them every time I had a period. (Eventually I stopped doing that, too, LOL.) The most severe episodes are accompanied by vomiting. Nowadays I experience this whenever I have to travel.

I wake up with a stiff neck almost every morning, and for a few hours I throw different supplements at it depending which side it's on. I've had numerous theories about causation over the last 23 years. The weird part is that my sister has the same exact episodes, although she doesn't have ME/CFS. They last 1-3 days for both of us, just like in the description of Mollaret's meningitis (thanks, @Hip).

 

[Sushi]

Moderator Note: The posts on Paraneoplastic Syndrome have been moved to a new thread entitled: Paraneoplastic Syndromes.