Vittoria was diagnosed with Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM) in Italy in 2011.

On August 5, 2011, aged 42, I felt a sharp pain in my lower right back, but I didn’t worry about it because I thought it was premenstrual pain.

On August 7, I suddenly fell for no reason and felt dizzy.

On August 8, I had a very severe headache.

On August 10, I woke up with paresthesia in my right leg and tinnitus in my left leg. Around noon, I had no feeling from the waist down and could not feel any bowel or urinary movements. In the following days, the paresthesia spread to my entire body up to my neck. I started walking with my legs spread apart.

On August 13, I felt terrible because I had also started to have severe stomach pain, and I was admitted to the hospital where I was prescribed a prednisone-based drug.

I had my first MRI on August 16. On August 25, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and prescribed an MS treatment drug, even though the spinal tap had been negative. I then went to a different hospital in Rome and was prescribed a series of tests. In the meantime, the paresthesia had disappeared and I was able to walk much better. I finished taking cortisone on September 14.

On September 18, the paresthesia started again.

On October 16, I lost all sensation again and could hardly walk.

Around October 25, I could no longer walk and had terrible pain in my right shoulder. The MRI showed 18 more demyelinated areas, and I was speaking slowly.

I was admitted to the hospital on October 29, 2011, and diagnosed with ADEM on October 31, 2011. I was given high doses of corticosteroids intravenously for 8 days.

I was discharged on November 9, 2011, and still couldn’t walk independently. I continued with cortisone at decreasing doses until January 11.

To resume walking I underwent physiotherapy five days a week until June 2015, when the numbness in my hands finally went away. It’s strange; before ADEM, I was cross-eyed in my right eye and had no binocular vision, but one morning in June 2012, I woke up and my eyes were straight and I had binocular vision.

Currently, the only after-effects are occasional loss of balance and the return of numbness when I walk quickly.

Please contact our helpline for support with encephalitis.

Story published February 2026