My West Nile Story

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I was out at night in Erie,Colorado, walking my corgi puppy after work in September of 2013, when I got about 20-30 mosquito bites because I was too tired to bother with putting on mosquito spray. I even joked that i was going to get West Nile Virus. My husband & I had a big laugh about it. I’m not laughing anymore.....

A few days later I started feeling bad in a way I had never felt before. I ached all over, my head hurt, I was tired, then I got a rash. That’s when I knew I had gotten West Nile Virus. I got bloodwork done that confirmed i had gotten infected. Then a couple of days later the brain fog started & the crushing fatigue. Somehow I managed to continue working thru most of my initial illess (not sure how i did that now).

Now almost 5 years later I still struggle with after effects. If i do too much,like work more than 3 days in a week, I get a flare up of extreme crushing fatigue & brain fog for at least 1-2 days sometimes linger. (I call these flare up days West Nile Days). If i get sick I get several West Nile days. Sometimes when the weather changes I get a West Nile day or two.

If only I had just put on mosquito spray that one night my life would be so different now. It would be normal.