Sepsis: What's your experience recovering from sepsis?

Hi @tickleme1, Mayo Clinic Connect is a community of patients to connect with one another. To discuss weight gain and sepsis, please contact your doctor. If you're a Mayo Clinic patient, you can do this through the patient portal.
I'm tagging @andreab, an ICU nurse practitioner, as she may have something to add to this conversation.

I've gained back all of the weight I lost within the first 6 months after leaving the hospital. I was hoping to keep it off but that hasn't been the case for me! A huge part of that is joint pain and fatigue. At 2 years post septic shock I am finally finding the energy and strength to do yoga 🙂 I know it's not enough for weight loss but I am hoping to gain enough strength and endurance to start walking/running. I am definitely getting stronger and slowly, but surely, my joints hurt less. I am also enjoying the relaxation and stress management techniques - very helpful for PTSD. As we move into spring I will start to walk more and, fingers crossed, lose weight!

Hi, @psd0972 Maybe you could join our virtual walking group. This link will take you to the discussion about it. We’d love to have you! https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/lets-go-walking-join-me-for-a-virtual-walking-support-group/?utm_campaign=search

done! I followed the group and saved the 12 week plan 🙂 Thank you @becsbuddy

OK. I had Sepsis. It developed into Septic Shock. What do you mean "living with" Sepsis. Can you explain this. Do you mean I still got it.
I felt deadly chills that day. I knew death was soon to follow. I believe God saved me. There I said it.
I feel very tired. Is Sepsis a condition?

Good morning, @507 Oh my goodness, you went through a harrowing experience having survived septic shock. I’m sure it’s terrifying thinking it will return. It’s not a condition but a very serious systemic infection which is often fatal. But once treated, the infection is no longer present. So you don’t have to worry about that.

However, some lingering side effects have been reported from people who have survived having sepsis. You are not alone in feeling tired. I found these sites regarding some long term potential side effects which include being tired, sometimes accompanied by PTSD and other symptoms. It has a term of PSS ~ Post Sepsis Syndrome
https://www.sepsis.org/sepsis-basics/post-sepsis-syndrome/
https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/life-after-sepsis/index.html
Another member, @muriel66, did have septic shock twice but both were associated with major surgeries.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/133823/
But as you can read, she also has some long term emotional issues after her experience.

How long ago did you go through this? Would you be comfortable in sharing your experience and how you ended up with sepsis?

April 13 to april 23.

Oh that’s really recent. It’s no wonder you’re still so tired. That’s a lot of trauma to the body and mind…it will take time to recover from this! So give yourself all the time you need and don’t push. Listen to your body ~ it’s one of the hardest things to learn. But your body tells you when it’s time to rest and that’s when you need to stop and nap.

I found this article on recovering from Septic Shock which has a host of valuable information. I encourage you to read this and hopefully give you some insight as your road to recovery.
https://www.news-medical.net/health/Recovering-from-Sepsis.aspx
Do you need to return for follow up appointments with your physician?

I lost a best friend to sepsis that started with a small gash on her ankle from a metal gardening tool. She did the usual first-aid and kind of ignored the wound not healing until it got serious enough to alarm her and get her to the hospital but they weren't able to prevent what the nurse called full-body sepsis and she died two days later.

The saddest thing is that she might still be alive if she'd at least kept current with tetanus vaccinations, which most adults tend to forget about according to her doctor. I think that PCPs forget to remind adults that they need to update tetanus protection enough.

I have a daughter that three years ago had part of her colon taken out. The Dr who did this when reconnected, she became septic. She has had major sickness for three years. Fatigue,Copd, fibromayalga, depression etc etc. All her joints hurt her and she is in constant pain. I am worried about her . she is 56. She is married but cant do much at all. It left her with a big ball of scar tissue which should come out.. She is on dissability and the husband is not working yet. Is there an answer for her Please.