#COVID19 is leading to increased cases of autoimmune neuro disorders, including #ADEM, which happened to me some years ago from a different virus. I hope sharing my experience will help ppl understand how dangerous Covid is even for healthy young ppl. 1/
theguardian.com/world/2020/jul…
theguardian.com/world/2020/jul…
I had a cold, not mild but not terrible either, and I recovered fine as I always had. The next week, I started getting a headache, the worst I’ve ever had. After a few days of this, my text messages and speech stopped making sense. My friends and family got worried. 2/
I went to the ER, failed the cognition tests, and stopped being able to pee. They did a spinal tap, found elevated white blood cells, and admitted me. My brain wasn’t working well, and I was very confused. My memory of this time is in flashes of images and sensations. 3/
I was in the hospital for about 3 weeks. In that time, I stopped being able to walk and my body from the sternum down was sensitive to touch, meaning the nerves hurt like fire. They mistakenly thought I was suffering from a virus, and I just kept getting worse and worse. 4/
At one point it seemed like I was going to die & they put me in a private room. A new neurologist did an MRI of my brain/spinal cord, concluded that it was autoimmune, and put me on steroids. Another doctor said that it probably saved my life that they rotate the neurologists. 5/
The steroids helped, but it was a slow recovery even for walking; I had a walker and cane for months. From the article: “Some patients are left with long-term disability, others can make a good recovery.” I’ve been lucky, considering what happens to some. 6/
I have some permanent disability and get pseudo-flares from stress, allergies, infection, etc.—“pseudo” because they aren’t caused by new lesions, but still very real. Some things can be helped with physio but will never be the same as before. But again, I am lucky. 7/
This is why I am being so careful. I got my dream job in Toronto, where I’ve long wanted to move, but I’m staying put in Edmonton for now. It’s not worth risking my life when even lack of sleep or dehydration can trigger an autoimmune reaction. 8/
I wanted to tell this story because lots of people are getting ADEM from Covid. I was young and healthy and it happened to me, and it can happen to you too. It doesn’t matter how mild your covid infection is; it's a novel virus and your body can respond unpredictably. 9/
Please take care of yourselves, and take care of each other. We are lucky Covid is not as communicable as, say, measles, and there's a lot we can to protect ourselves and our communities. Love and solidarity ✊🏾💞 10/10
