Chronic Typhoid - Story of my miraculous escape

I have suffered from Chronic Typhoid for 7 months. As time passed by, I found it increasingly difficult to manage my illness and the resulting weakness from Typhoid. I started believing that I would have to deal with this reduced stamina and depressed state of mind all my life, as I had seen some of the sufferers from around the world commenting on medical sites about their struggle to fight Typhoid for years, and even decades. Then I came across some amazing home remedies to fight against the disease and tricks to control my delirious mind that helped me immensely to recover. Along the way, I’ve made some greats friends from all over the world that have suffered from the same flavor of typhoid and have come out winners.  I’m writing this blog for all those who have come down with long running Typhoid caused by the dreaded Salmonella Typhi and are finding it hard to cope with the situation. The biggest problem is that no doctor says the illness could be long running – it’s always said to be a 21-day illness, divided into 3 phases, at the end of which one is said to be completely cured. But, to us, it’s this never-ending weakness, lethargy, diarrhea that makes life miserable as it renders one useless for any sort of activity – at home or at work. When I searched for online content about Typhoid, NOT ONE webpage talked about long running Typhoid. However, there were hundreds of people complaining about the perpetual weakness they inherited and how the feeling of “being normal” had been long lost, in some cases for decades!

In this blog, to begin with, I will talk about Typhoid in general, what causes it, symptoms, treatments etc. Later, I will share my experience about long running typhoid and all the learnings I’ve had talking to people across the world who’ve been in the same boat. For those of you that don’t like reading long stories, the miracle remedies are - Neem leaves (Azadirachta Indica), Honey & Cinnamon and Yoga Pranayam (Anulom Vilom, Surya Namaskar).

My Story - from onset of Typhoid to complete recovery

I had delivered my second son in end of January 2014. I suffered UTI and diarrhea 7 days after the delivery. I was admitted and treated for UTI and the diarrhea went away in a month’s time. Everything was going well for 3 months. Then I decided to start exercising. In June, I went back to work and it was very hectic at work. Then I started dieting in the month of July and August. By September I was losing weight, even on weeks I was not exercising. I went down from 60 to 51 in a month. But I was feeling fit as ever. Folks in the family asked me to visit the doctor, I instead got my thyroid checked and it was normal (I take 25mg and 50 mg Thyronom alternate days).  

Then one day, I had a lot work in office and was feeling exhausted (we all have those days, don’t we?) and came down with a sore throat and fever by 5 PM in the evening. The fever started with 99 Fahrenheit, 100 & went up to 103 Fahrenheit.  Paracetomol (Crocin) just didn’t help and sponging with tap water also did not help. Later I was told that I should have used ice water for sponging, which my husband had insisted was the right way from the beginning, but husbands are never right, right! ;)  

The fever remained for the next whole day and subsided the day after. I resumed work and that week went by fine. Then one day, while sitting on a chair, I realized that I had lost all the cushion in my bottom, the bones in my buttocks were hurting as they were pressing against the hard surface of the chair. This was like a fire alarm – what was happening?? I planned to visit a doctor in internal medicine (amazing lady!). She initially wondered if it was TB but examined me thoroughly. She touched my tummy and realized there was tenderness all over. Since I didn’t get loose motions yet, she was not sure if it was really stomach related. She asked me to get a CBP, Widal and ESR done. The results came a day later and whoa! it was Typhoid. The titers were as follows 

S. TYPHI O Antigen: 1:80
S. TYPHI H ANTIGEN: 1:160
S. PARATYPHI AH: <1:80
S. PARATYPHI BH: 1:80
ESR: 35

Now, there was good feeling about the whole situation and I was enjoying it – why? Because this lovely typhoid had given me a sleeker body, love and care from all the dear ones at NO COST. I was feeling fit and fine as ever, no fever, nothing. Given how I was feeling and the fact that the Widal was not insanely high, the doctor just asked me to take rest and have probiotics and controlled diet (more about this in the Diet in Typhoid section). She didn’t start me on any antibiotics. She also asked me to visit her a week later. I continued with work and saw her a week later, only to discover that I had lost another kg. She was worried with the weight loss and put me antibiotic treatment for a month (Ciprofloxin 100 mg, twice a day, for 3 weeks). I was still feeling fine and energy levels were high, so even though she recommended bed rest for 2 weeks, I continued working. Meanwhile, I had another bout of fever (similar to the kind I had earlier), only this time it was accompanied by severe diarrhea and nausea. The fever, like before, started in the evening, around 5 and lasted the whole of next day, this time too, it didn't go down with an sort of antipyretic (One BIG Learning - If you can't get a fever down with antipyretics, it is likely a bacterial infection. The fever I experienced during the UTI episode was also associated with ECOLI and antipyretics didn't help there too). The fever came down the following day. I visited the doctor again and she checked my BP was down to 90/55. I was given symptomatic treatment immediately– IV electrolyte replacement (to provide electrolytes, such as sodium, potassium and chloride ions, lost through vomiting and diarrhea) and rehydration. The BP was up to 110/70 after the IV was administered. The same IV followed the next day. Though the BP was controlled, I didn't feel good. This marked the onset of Typhoid for me as I kept getting weaker and weaker from here on. There was no fever, no vomiting, but I would feel weak all day, head would hurt once in a while, eyes were always heavy and hurting , started losing hair, diarrhea all the time. This continued for 3-4 months and I took another course of Ciprofloxin, this time 400 mg, two times a day (4 times as strong as the last dose) for 4 weeks. I didn’t have the fever always, instead it would set it when I exerted myself physically or mentally. So I came to realize I needed break from work. I took Leave of Absence in February 2015 and researched my way to recovery. Here I am, writing this blog in March, feeling great, as never before. The reports still indicate slight infection in the body, though all the associated weakness and other symptoms are all gone.



Weight loss in Typhoid - I lost 12 Kgs in 2 months!!

Risk Factors - Where did I pick up Typhoid and why only me? 

I highly doubt that the panipuri (popular street food in India) I had at the road side to have caused the illness. I am not the only one, “all” the people I met at the hospital, and a few from India that I got in touch with online indicated that they often partied on the roadside panipuri. Now if that be true, one may wonder why some continue to have street food and never come down with Typhoid?  I was accompanied by my mother when I had panipuri, why did she not get it? I’ve spent the most of the 7 months I’ve suffered thinking about it. No online content gave me that answer, so I went ahead studying people you have suffered from typhoid, TB, Dengue, Malaria and similar deadly diseases. And I really didn’t have to struggle getting the answer – these people had low immunity and were clinically weaker when they caught the illness.  In my case, I had come out of child birth, was nursing my little one, had resumed work and made the mistake of dieting & exercising, in hope to get back to pre-pregnancy shape. I tell you, Mommies, we shouldn't do that.

Other likely risk factors for Typhoid are: 

1. Immunosuppression due to diabetes - As we are aware, diabetes increases the blood sugar levels and impacts body's ability to fight diseases. I came across two ladies that were suffering from chronic Typhoid for years (with Widal as high as 640!!) and both were diabetic. As with any disease, it's very important to control Diabetes to stay away from Typhoid.

2. Reduction in stomach acidity increases the chances that Salmonella Typhi gets the right, acid free environment to thrive in the stomach long enough to bring one down with Typhoid. Popping antacid pills is therefore not recommended. I had issues with digestion post-delivery and would regularly take antacid tablets to settle the acidity. Later I learnt how Cinnamon and Honey mix helps a great deal with acidity but that was after I had picked up the disease (More about Cinnamon and Honey in a later section).   

If you are suffering from Typhoid, please leave a comment sharing your symptoms, what worked for you and any other learnings you may have about the illness that can help the millions of people impacted by the disease every year.