1. Seek Prompt Treatment
If you contract meningitis, you must seek immediate treatment to determine its severity. Depending on the exact strain of meningitis and the severity of the infection, your doctor may treat you with oral or intravenous antibiotics. You may need other treatments to ensure a full recovery. Meningitis can cause fluid buildups in the brain or sinuses, which might need to be drained by a doctor. Dehydration treatments are often necessary, as are medical interventions against shock, swelling and seizures.
2. Get Plenty of Rest and Watch Your Nutrition
Consider yourself lucky if you've suffered only a mild case of meningitis. Rest in bed, drink plenty of fluids and take over-the-counter pain relief medications and you should recover fully. Usually, muscle aches and fever symptoms linger for a while after the infection has been treated. While you recover, you can give yourself an extra boost by taking a multivitamin every day and eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
3. See a Specialist
Unfortunately, serious, lingering side effects sometimes occur after a meningitis infection, and these can be permanent. For example, about one in 10 people recovering from meningitis experience temporary or permanent hearing loss. The degree of hearing loss ranges from tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, to deafness.
Problems with bodily balance also occur in a significant percentage of cases, and the brain damage that is sometimes seen in survivors of serious cases can permanent debilitate mobility. Cases of meningitis involving blood poisoning may result in minor amputations. Occupational and physical therapists can help patients recover lost physical abilities, or adapt to these disabilities if their effects are expected to be permanent. Patients also can recover with the help of a support group for meningitis survivors.
4. Recover Mentally and Emotionally
A range of long-term mental and emotional changes also may occur in patients who survive serious meningitis infections. These include violent mood swings, mania, aggression and depression. If you're suffering from any of these symptoms, psychological therapists can bring them under control through therapy sessions and medication. Ask your regular family doctor to suggest treatment.
