Hi and welcome home

I'm home from the hospital now.

It's official I do have meningitis. It's Mollaret meningitis.

Recurring meningitis without identifiable cause that leaves no residual damage to the nervous system. Benign recurrent aseptic meningitis is also called Mollaret meningitis.

The cause of benign recurrent aseptic meningitis is not known.

Benign recurrent aseptic meningitis is distinguished from viral meningitis by its recurrent character with symptom-free intervals between episodes. Symptoms include headache, neckache, fever, and neck stiffness and last from 1 to 7 days. There is usually rapid onset of symptoms of meningitis and resolution without residual damage to the nervous system. Symptom-free periods may last from weeks to years.

A distinctive feature of benign recurrent aseptic meningitis are peculiar cells in the spinal fluid, called Mollaret cells, which are most often visible in the first day of the attack. Other causes of meningitis are typically excluded by testing, including tests of the brain, blood, and spinal fluid.

There is no specific treatment for benign recurrent aseptic meningitis. Treatments that are used include medications for pain and colchicine.

I feel much better knowing that there actually /is/ something wrong with me and it's not psychosomatic.

The downside of this is that I had Friday off (Good Friday), missed Monday (wound up passing out and ending up in the ER), Tuesday (as I still felt like hell and followed up with my GP) and then Wednesday, I was in work for four hours and had it get much worse. I called my GP and he directed me back to the ER. I was admitted and kept overnight while the results of the lumbar puncture (spinal tap), blood work, and a contrast MRI/MRA were done and worked up. All came up normal except for excess white blood cells in the spinal fluid (marker of infection or inflammation). I was released about 2pm this afternoon and came home to get some more sleep.

I'm going to go to work tomorrow and hold out as long as I can. I can't afford to miss an entire week of work. I've demolished the small pile of savings I did have in doctor visits and prescriptions.

I'm still looking at the bright side in that it's not a "damaging" condition, just a debilitating one when it does flare up.

I'm off to sample the candy collection on my desk and call it a night.