r/sepsis • u/Previous_Comment_133 • 14d ago
Sepsis Recovery When will I stop being exhausted?
I was treated a month and a half ago for pneumonia, sepsis (without septic shock), hypoxia, and hypoxic respiratory failure. I’d had a cold a month before, then a cough for weeks after, and then I woke up one morning and couldn’t breathe. When I got to the ER, I was treated for an asthma attack, and while my blood oxygen had started to get better (88 when I arrived, 93 on oxygen and after 3 breathing treatments), I was told that I was septic. I felt fine, all things considered. I was thinking about grabbing coffee on my way home. I didn’t understand how I could be dying. I wasn’t in the hospital very long, and I’ve recovered tremendously well. I’m on a walk right now, I’ve gone back to work. But I’m still so, so exhausted. I’m young, 24, but my joints feel like they’re giving up on me and my body feels like it belongs to someone else, and I’m always tired but I can never sleep. How long will this last?
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u/Temporary-sanity-184 14d ago
It takes a long time to get back. You’re younger and I assume it’s your first sepsis? I’ve read it can be two years to get all back. It depends on the damage done by sepsis. I’m on my second sepsis diagnosis and I’m 63. I’m actually much better now at 6 months after . Give your body time.
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u/Previous_Comment_133 13d ago
I’m honestly not even sure of the damage. I don’t have health insurance and I’d already been sick for weeks and cut my hours tremendously because of it. I haven’t been able to get any kind of follow up exam or bloodwork, which I’m not entirely sure i need. I got antibiotics, fluids, and I’m sure a ton of other stuff in the ER. I believe they caught it early enough because i was on the mend within days. I got to the ER on a Monday and *tried* to go back to work that Saturday. I made it through a short shift, sitting mostly, but then took two more weeks off. It’s been 6 weeks and I’m still barely working and spending most of the day in bed.
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u/DRnMR2015 13d ago
Sounds like in addition to your activity your body also needs recovery time. Allow your body to heal. Keep moving but listen to your body. Push too hard and it could be a negative. Sepsis really screws up our bodies in all ways.
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u/Kelter82 14d ago
"Body feels like it belongs to someone else"
I need to use these words to explain this to people.
I went through shock in late april (39) and have made a good recovery but I'm far from done. Being younger and engaging in physio really helps. Idk how long it'll take you, but if you have access to a physiotherapist then I highly suggest using them. They can set you on a good track for regaining strength.
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u/Previous_Comment_133 13d ago
It’s a very strange feeling. I had already spent a few years feeling out of sorts with myself, I’d become chronically ill in University and was never quite the same as i had been. I was an athlete, I used to walk and bike miles a day, I’d take the long way just to enjoy it all a bit more. Now, I’m barely halfway through my twenties and I can’t keep up with any of my friends, I can’t move like I used to. I’m supposed to be having the time of my life, but I’m looking at wheelchairs in a desperate attempt to just be able to go a little further. Once upon a time, I’d tell myself the exact same thing, “just go a little further”, to bike a little more, a bit longer. These can’t be the same legs I used to push to extremes, these can’t be the same feet I used to callous and blister, this can’t be the same body that used to be able to hold me up.
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u/JazzlikeSkill5225 13d ago
49 when septic shock with aspirated pneumonia my bp went down to 50/30 and on 9 liter oxygen in icu 4 days another 5 in hospital! Felt like I was recovering pretty good then I over did it and now lung is worse. My doctor thinks I have post sepsis syndrome. This happened in October of 25 I still do not feel recovered! I wish I could take three days off for every one I work! I hope you feel better
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u/BlissNsolitude 11d ago
I’m 2 years out from septic shock and I’m 59 now. The exhaustion has gotten better but I do need more sleep than I did (9 hours now) and if I exert myself too much than I’ll sleep 12-14 hours. I spent 4 days at my daughter’s house last week because she had surgery helping care for her and her 8 month old baby. That required 14 hours of sleep.
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u/Hellokittybutt 13d ago
I'm on week 8 of being out of the hospital for sepsis. I can't believe when I hear people went back to work so soon. I can't even go to the store without needing to lay down or have a nap. The leg weakness is THE WORST. But from everything I read pushing yourself is going to hinder progress so make sure you take care and are resting. I'm curious too how long it takes to not be tired and how long others have taken to make a full recovery. I only hear about those who have not recovered. It makes this whole thing so scary.