Hi, 24f here, went into septic shock with biliary sepsis back in January 31st.
I usually have very thick hair- my hair is falling out like crazy now; it’s really thin, and I can’t even touch it without clumps coming out.
I know it’s normal for recovery, (at least I think so) but when did it clear up for you guys? What can help stop the hair loss?
Thank you
Currently hospitalized originally with MRSA. But now they’re really worried about sepsis. This is my first experience w sepsis and I’m not sure what to expect. I’m on iv antibiotics right now
10 /15/2025 R.I.P Michael
I am not sure if this is the right place to ask this question. I have a family member in the ICU sedated with complete organ failure and has now been placed on a ventilator. They were talking fine after surgery 2 days ago and it just went south from there. Doctors and nurses have been busy and have not been able to tell me much or answer my multiple questions.
My main question is what is the chance of survival of something like this? This organ failure just took place today and they are in their mid 70s. Sorry again if this is the wrong place I just need some guidance from anyone that has experienced similar things.
So last year around halloween i had to go to the hospital for pneumonia where i learned i had sepsis. I was at 2.5 when i had arrived and i had stayed for 3 days in the hospital. For a while i had total loss of strength in my legs and arms and had an inhaler but it had gotten better over the weeks. Now its may and im still having problems. Lately im having constant muscle pain in my legs(has gotten better after leaving my last job) still having lung issues with a recent cough from fluid in my lungs, and most notable a brain fog and extreme tiredness. Im 21 and although im aware post sepsis syndrome isnt as common in my age group, im worried i have it due to my immune system issues and history of infections. Does anyone who has had it or has it give me some advice? Im worried I'll embarrass myself if i go to a doctor.
Last week I was diagnosed with early sepsis. 12 days postpartum. At first I was diagnosed with a uti but the bacteria that grew in my blood was not from a uti and from an infection in my uterus. I still had high levels of infection in my urine so they believe I had both. I was on iv antibiotics and fluids for 5 days and have been home for 4 days now on amoxicillin clauv acid. The bacteria in my blood was cleared in the last test before I was able to go home. I obviously have been feeling pretty awful since which they said was to be expected. I’ve had low grade fevers until a few hours ago when I had the chills and then a fever spike to 39.1 after taking some Panadol it’s down to 38.5. I’m quite unsure on what to do. If I need to go back to my ED. Or is it possibly an effect of post sepsis.
Little bit of a rant, little bit looking for others experiences
I was just released from the hospital with my second bout of urosepsis. Hospitalized for 5 days, last time spent 9 days in hospital
It’s being caused by e.coli, UTI - and for some reason I never get UTI symptoms- at all.. so lucky me, I only find out I have an infection when it reaches my kidney
My problem is, this time around when I went into the hospital, the doctor treating me wasn’t great.
Like I mentioned, this is the second time having urosepsis in a year, this time around they found a kidney stone in my left kidney (not causing any blockages). And a possible abscess in the right kidney, this was discovered with an ultrasound
I heard from residents and another doctor while being hospitalized that the next step would be a CT to clarify if it were an abscess or not - the doctor treating me said no
I asked for a referral to urology - she said no. I pushed back, she gave it to me only after I told her to mark it in my chart that she was refusing to provide me with it.
I expressed concern since this is the second time in a year and I’m 32, I want to get to the bottom of why this keeps happening because I don’t want sepsis AGAIN and risk death - she laughs and says your young you won’t die.
She sent me home with oral antibiotics (amoxicillin) for 14 days and a follow up ultrasound
My issue is I don’t feel like this is enough?
Anyone else have anything similar?
I’m terrified that my kidneys are going to fail or something
I asked if the sepsis is being caused by the stone or the possible abscess she said no, they were caused by the infection, but I read online it’s the other way around
I’m honestly just scared it’s going to eventually kill me, I just had a baby in Jan and I can’t have anything happen to me
hi! so this is a long story, but i'm looking for some support/what to expect on my healing journey. what happened was i was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago for a surgery that i've had three times before: a kidney stone removal and a temporary implant in my ureter. i stayed for five days, which i hadn't expected, as i thought the er would discharge me and set up outpatient surgery, but my uncontrolled pain saw that i was admitted. i went in on a thursday and left on a tuesday.
from the time i woke up from the procedure, i felt an excruciating pain i've never experienced before. the hospital doctor accused me of drug seeking and only gave me an antibiotic to cover her ass after a mild infection was found. i was discharged and for the next week, i could barely walk from severe pain and my calls to the urology office consisted of providers telling me that excessive bleeding and pain was 'normal' and 'not to call back unless i have quarter sized blood clots.'
a week after my discharge, i headed back to the er because the pain was so bad i was crying. the lovely staff at the er gave me appropriate pain management and tested me for infection. i had two bacterias inside me causing a nasty infection, but i wouldn't know until the test came back on thursday. i left the er feeling great, but that night i didn't feel right and i woke up with a fever on wednesday morning. i called urology immediately and they told me it couldn't be from my surgery and to go to an urgent care. i travelled to urgent care and the provider told me at the check in window to leave because there was nothing that they could do that the hospital hadn't already done. by that night my fever was 103 and not improving from tylenol or motrin. i called my pcp and they advised that i continue taking tylenol, and at the point i was so defeated that i didn't seek any further medical help.
by the time friday morning came, i was vomiting uncontrollably and my aunt took me back to the er. my temp was 104 at triage. i waited for an hour and a half in the waiting room but was awaited by the pa, nurse, and phlebotomist as soon as i got to my bed. the diagnosis was sepsis. so here i was being admitted again for the second time in two weeks. i'm currently still in the hospital now, as i am finally responding to treatment after almost 6 days of high fevers untouched by around the clock tylenol, iv antibiotics, and oxycodone. i'm feeling great today but this journey has been hell. i had a nurse for three days that was neglectful - holding my tylenol for two hours past my dose time and spiking my fever back to 103, refusing to change the dressing on my iv while it was hanging out of my arm, and giving false information to the night nurse during shift change.
i'm itching to go home, but the doctor told me today that i'm not improving as much as i should be. hopefully today changed that. with all that being said, what am i to expect once i leave the hospital? i bad plans with friends: a concert, going out to our favorite restaurants and bars, poetry groups, art shows. am i safe to be around people? i know the risk of reinfection is high so what precautions do i need to take while i'm healing? i do have a good support system, a low demanding job, and mental/physical health resources, but i still am worried and don't know what to expect. thank you so much for reading!
Made a throw away account.
I just need to vent to people who might understand what I'm going through. This is a long post that talks about sepsis, guilt, frustration and loss...so please dont read if this triggers you.
Let me lay out some general medical back story.
My father has had increasing medical issues.
COPD (severe) and emphysema
Struggled with cellulitis on and off
Diabetic
CHF and later cardiac disease
Due to the copd, there would be hospitalizations 1 to 2 times a year.
Sometimes cellulitis would happen and there would be a week hospital stay. Somewhere, he caught candida albicans during one of his stays.
Urine cultures were always disregarded at one point or another.
He avoided being sick and hospital stays for 4 years actually, until 1 minor nstemi..where we learned open heart surgery was 100% not an option so stints were the only way and monitor going forward. Then was fine for another few years, repeated blood woek, urine, ct scans ect. Everything looking normal.
Until he contracted influenza A, pneumonia and a group b infection, his lungs took a hit and he was sent home once with oxygeon. His endurance took 8 months to come back to normal.
Then, about 6 months after the Influenza A, he somehow developed sepsis and had cardiogenic shock. Recovered quickly.
Put in a room with other people (4 beds) who were postive for VRE. The nurses would lie to another patient in the room who'd question it when they would overhear the discussions about VRE when discussing it with medial aids.
We were told "its totally fine, probably got it from the community, he has no symptoms and it should be just fine." Lots of people have it and it doesnt do anything but is just in your system. Not a lot of hospitals test dor this anymore and we just take precautions.
Finally released, the heart was weaker but manging fine and was being watched closely by a cardiologist.
Over the winter, he would contract the flu 3 times.
This last bout, he had a uti and was given antibiotics by his dr, latest bloodworkwas fine but noticed his hemoglobin dropped a few points and his sugars went up a few points (for him, HOWEVER he was still within the normal guidlines for diabetes) we were considering further testing for the hemoglobin.
He seemed to respond to it and about a week later collapsed (Friday) and was taken to the hospital.
They were treating him for sepsis and a complicated UTI. Another dr came in and said his kidneys were struggling but hopeful with treatment should be ok.
He became sleepy and a little delusional (he thought he was resuscitated and brought to hospital). His pressure and oxygeon stats were all over the place.
His CK, creatine ect were rising, egfr was rapidly dropping.
He was in active rhabdomyolysis.
He was having issues breathing due to the amount of fluids ect that were being pumped into him.
We were now dealing with pneumonia ontop of the other 2 things.
He had a hospitalist from night 1.
Finally got him a tray to eat (it been almost 24 hrs since his last meal), got him to eat a muffin (on his own) and I helped feed him a pudding which he kept saying "this is sooooo good" and he was taking sips of water/gingerale.
Later on, a nurse came in and i mentioned ah, his knee is a little brusied from when he fell.. she nonchalantly said, "oh thats mottling" and walked away after clearing the low O2 alarm (it moved off his finger when he moved).
He had a red scuff (like you would get when you fall but dont break the skin) and a different part of his knee was a bit purple, as well as his belly. The mottling disappeared an hour later. I knew when she said that, it wasnt good but it disappeared and his pressures ect were starting to hold.
I left late this night as I was trading with a family member so dad was not alone. He hates hospitals and would literally wheel himself out the door lol.
The following day, he sat up and had his breakfast tray and was responsive.. shortly after lunch he was sleepy and became more confused. (I didnt get there early as I had to make arrangements with work I will regret this forever, because he was alert and I wasnt there!!!
His troponin was rising and a family member was told he was having a massive heart attack and the dr walked away (ekg didnt show any changes), ultrasound was ordered where the dr asked if he had trouble with his liver and kidneys previously and asked if he had copd/heart issues (the latter is on his chart)... he was getting meds ect. I did learn it was suspected he had ureosepsis.
Fast forward 24 hours, the ICU and critical care team came in to review.
The hospitalist told us we need to prepare for his death and to call the family in to say goodbye.
But that they couldn't figure out how this was happening and wanted to do a CT scan to rule out PE and figure out what was happening.
They also explained how his oxygeon stats weren't too stable to do it AND his kidneys would be wiped out so he would definitely need dialysis.
We discussed our options and decided NO on the CT scan as he would THOROUGHLY dispise it, its another Infection point and ultimately just ONE MORE thing on the LONG LIST of health complications he has.
We decided one last ditch effort with steriods and antibiotics for 24 hrs to see if this would work.
Spoiler alert: it didn't.
One last blood draw showed his D-dimers was over 7, 000 and all the tests at this point was basically saying he was in DIC
We were warned overnight to prepare to have him pass.
Apparently, he was antibiotic resistant and was in septic shock. There was nothing more we could do except be with him and watch him die.
He fought through the delirious state MANY times for brief 5 or 10 seconds (the dr watched it happen a few times when with us) and said it was just the delirium.
The dr pulled his spouse aside and explained that the sepsis, the VRE and the candida albicans, had now overtaken his entire body and there was nothing left medically they could do.
His kidneys & liver had died and were also contributing to more of the infection. His heart EF had dropped to less than 25% and he now had biventrucular heart faliure.
He is actively dying and was in multi organ faliure and up to us how aggressive we wanted to be. The dr explained he was extremely fragile at this point and interventions weren't recommended, he may not even live long enough or be brought back to go on a vent.
We knew he never wanted to be hooked up to a machine and said previously over the years, to "advocate and fight for me, bring me back do what is needed - but not if it means I will be STUCK in a bed or unable to communicate".
He came to a few times for 10 seconds at a time where we consoled him, told him we loved him, let him know he was safe, getting meds, we were safe. We said our last words to each other.
He was so STRONG.
We chose to stop medications for the various infections and focus on keeping him calm and pain free.
The dr warned us a about sezuires and the death rattle.
We were awake for 4 days.
He was eventually moved to palliative care where he did pass away as we fell asleep next to him, we were unable to stay awake any longer.
I am getting married literally in a few weeks and he is not there physically to see it happen/be apart of it. One of our last full conversations in the hospital was about how excited he was to try on his suit, to enjoy the day and how good hed look in the photos with me. He was so happy and excited
I personally feel so guilty but there was nothing we could do. Knowing what I know about sepsis, his health conditions and the mortality rate of septic shock and ureosepsis, he didnt have a chance bur he fought like hell.
I still feel as though I should've taken him to the hospital earlier in the week as I had a sinking feeling something was wrong, but he said he was fine. I dont think it would've made a difference anways.
He got lucky recovering from Sepsis 8 months before (they actually didnt expect him to make it through that- literally within 12 hrs of treatment he was sitting up smiling and JOKING with the nurses).. and the hidden super bugs developed an immunity..to be honest, he had been on "borrowed" time since just before covid.
He was a F-king trooper and never complained. Ever.
Always just put on a smile and took the hits as they came.
Superman finally was taken out by a lethal dose of kryptonite.
Seeing his blood sugars prior to the last hospitalization, they were rising but not enough to set off alarm bells, especially when on antibiotics. He was a good diabetic, VERY steady with A1C in nearly 10 years, he'd have a reading of 3.7 or 4.0 - 3 times! I am traumatized.
Watching your loved one waste away and die.. is not something I would wish on my worst enemy.
Watching someone who had a very speical sparkle and was so full of life. Someone who was so genuine with everyone he met and left a postive impact on everyone.
There is a large GAPING hole in my heart and soul that wont EVER go away. Time will literally not make this better.
Sorry. I needed to just vent and get this out.... into the world..... to people who understand or have gone through this.
Did we do the right thing? Who knows.
Did he see us / understand when we had our last words? I think so.
Did he think it was a dream? I hope so.
I hope he wasn't in pain.
I will feel this until I die.
I just found out I have gca. I had sepsis year and half ago. Just trying to see if this has happened to anyone else.
My father had a stroke 5 months ago, and 2 months ago he developed sepsis. Since then, his alertness has been very low. He is still alert enough to open his eyes and follow basic commands, but not alert enough to safely eat by mouth. That is why we are feeding him through a Ryle tube, because we are always scared of aspiration.
Even during swallowing therapy, he keeps dozing off and is unable to stay properly alert, and for oral feeding he needs to be much more awake and attentive.
Right now, whenever we do physical therapy for him, he keeps getting fevers very frequently, along with sore throat symptoms, as if he catches viral infections easily. Low-grade fever happens very often, because of which he has been on antibiotics many times. But we also cannot keep giving repeated antibiotic courses because that can disturb his gut bacteria and cause other problems.
In this situation, what should be done according to you? If we stop physical therapy, his hands and legs may stop improving because he had recovered quite a lot after the stroke, although he still cannot sit by himself. But when we try to do PT at home, he does not cooperate much. My mother says that PT is causing more harm than benefit, so what should we do now?
chennai summer heat? he is a urostomy survivor too for last 25 years..
He had sepsis from uti and aspirational pneumonitis. Then recovered from hospitalization in Feb..
So I have always had oily skin and occasional breakouts, but since my experience with severe sepsis from a pneumonia/shingles infection in November of 2023 I have had an insane amount of skin issues. I know it could partially be shingles related, however I feel like there might be some kind of issue with my immunity or circulation that is causing serious issues with wound healing and infection. In addition, I am almost constantly experiencing cysts, nodules, pustules, and carbuncles mostly on my face, neck, shoulders, and torso. I have what appears to be acne that turns into sloughy lesions that weep clear fluid and have what appears to be a biofilm like layer in the wound bed. Antibiotics will improve it and clear it up usually, but it happens way more frequently.
I am a very clean person and wash all of my laundry on the hottest setting with laundry sanitizer. I constantly clean, vacuum, disinfect, etc. I have good hand hygiene and keep my nails short. I shower daily.
Prior to my experience with sepsis, I never experienced skin issues like this. Prior to that when I lived with my ex and his family, the living conditions were exponentially more unhygienic and crowded as I am a very clean person and they were not.
I’m just curious if anyone else has experienced anything similar and would care to share what works for them? I am awaiting a referral to see a dermatologist as well.