AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALITIS RECOVERY
As with treatments and diagnosis, recovery is different for every patient as well. Some will recover after a few months while others will take years and others may not. It is widely agreed that early aggressive treatments make for the best outcomes.
This varying degree and speed of recovery present huge challenges for doctors. It is also necessary for frequent testing in order to try to figure out if lingering effects are caused by the illness or if the illness has caused damage.
The most common damage is an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and it is similar to a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), but an ABI doesn’t have any physical trauma associated with it.
Part of recovery will require the patient to have various therapies such as speech, physical, and occupational either at home, in the hospital, or at a rehabilitation center.
Patients may also frequently or only a few times may meet with a neuropsychologist. A neuropsychologist is a doctor that specializes in testing, diagnosing, and treating acquired brain injuries or traumatic brain injuries and will be able to help with the residual impairments from autoimmune encephalitis.
Recovery is different for each patient and very hard to gauge. Some patients will be left with varying impairments such as memory anxiety, emotion, and behavioral control, depression, decision making, and more. These will cause issues with everyday life for most when trying to manage daily activities such as getting to appointments, grocery shopping, bill pay, and hygiene.