bogbrush

Hi Luisa,

It sounds like you are not ready for work yet. I went back too early and although I wasn't as bad as you, I needed frequent breaks and I worried that I wouldn't be able to do my job. I had more headaches and felt so tired when I got home and had to sleep.. I definitely took a step back in my recovery. The first week was the worst, after that it got steadily better. I was back at work for at least 6 months before I felt I could handle it fully. Having said that, going back to work gave my confidence a big boost. A feeling that things were getting back to normal.

Hi Mel and welcome to behindthegray

Take you time, I'm sure you will soon get used to the site. Anything you need to know, just ask.

Hi Linda,

It would be great to read some of your experiences of SAH and your recovery. You can post in the "Your Story" section. Once approved, it will appear on the home page and will hopefully help others too

Great news Linda! Really pleased for you

Hello Angela and welcome

Thanks for sharing your experiences and it's great that you've gained some comfort from the site. Look forward to hearing more from you when you are ready.

Hi Zoe,

My boys were 7 and 12 when I had my SAH. The oldest coped quite well, asking lots of questions and wanting to know everything. The youngest, however, was different. I remember him saying he was pleased to have his Daddy back but it affected him more than we knew. He became withdrawn and started having problems at school, which we only found out about some time later. It was only when we spoke to his teacher we did the maths and found that the problems started at around the time of my SAH. He's fine now he knows I'm not going anywhere any time soon.

As you say, your daughter is struggling to deal with this and I agree with the others that it is a good idea to seek some kind of help. Are the school involved?

Sorry I can't give you any more advice. With my son, it sorted itself out with a lot of love and support, which it seems that your daughter is getting too.

Hello Willow and welcome

I'm glad that you're getting some benefit from this site.

Hi Georgina and welcome

I had my SAH not long after you and fatigue is something I still have to deal with. Sometimes it just hits me suddenly. I work during the week, so it's not so easy to deal with, but I often need a nap during the day at weekends.

I've had some comments too about the fact that I should be over it by now and it often annoys me that people think that, especially when it comes from family members.

As for the headaches, I can't comment as I don't get them at all now.

Hi Karen and welcome

It's very early days for you and it must be hard with your family to look after. Take it easy ... if you can! You'll get there. Glad you found us

Nita, glad to here you've gained some benefit from BTG Here's hoping you have many more years to come.

Hi Bubbles and welcome,

Don't feel that there is any pressure to write anything on here, there isn't and we all understand. If you can get some comfort from just reading what's on here then that's fine. Never feel that you have to participate. Just write what you feel like whenever you are ready, there's no rush.

It's still early days, so take it easy. Your brain works best when it's had a rest.

Hi Kylie and welcome

Glad to hear you have minimal side effects. The ones you mention are quite common (although not the PMT in my case )

Thanks for sharing your story and look forward to hearing more from you.

Caroline, congratulations on your 2nd anni-versary.

Hope that you have many more

Hi Lisa and welcome to behindthegray

It seems like you are making steady progress, but I'm sure the added family stress is not helping. Take some time to have a look around the site. There is lots of useful advice here. Anything you want to ask, go ahead, there are many good people here who will try to help you. Look after yourself.

Hi Maggie and welcome

The fatigue is something that most of us never seem to get over completely. I still have bouts of fatigue 4 years on.

As for the headaches, everyone seems to be different. For some the headaches ease or disappear completely. For others, although they ease, they never seem to completely go away. In my own experience, I had headaches 24/7 for about 8 weeks. After that they started to ease and by 6 months, they had all but gone. Like you, I took paracetamol and occasionally codeine, but codeine doesn't suit everyone. I don't seem to get headaches any more.

It's early days for you, so take it easy and drink plenty of fluids. That will help. If the headaches don't seem to be getting any better, see your GP.

Regards

Hi Anne,

I'm going through the same nearly 4 years down the line. I had a particularly bad spell earlier this year; feeling tired all the time, lack of motivation, etc. I've been taking anti-depressants for the last few months and I thought they were helping as I started to feel better after a few weeks. The fatigue and depression have returned again now and I can't seem to shake it off. Another visit to the doc, I think

Hi Katie and welcome to behindthegray

I'm sure many of us here have those feelings that because we have no physical symptoms, people think that we must be OK. I know I do, nearly 4 years on. It can be so frustrating at times. No one that hasn't suffered this can really know how we are feeling inside, but rest assured that we here know how you feel.

Look forward to hearing more from you.

John, well done for getting to the 6 month mark. That was the time when I felt that I was really getting back to normal, although it took much longer to get to a point where I actually felt "normal" whatever that is!

Your hidden challenges - I don't see them as problems - are the same as mine almost 4 years on. My short term memory being particularly bad at times.

Keep going John and you'll get there.

Glad it all went well Saffy. Look after that expensive head and get plenty of rest.

Paul, I think most of us were given nimodipine, but my GP had no clue what it was for. He thought it was for the headaches and prescribed some more for me after the recommended 21 days. It took my own research to find out that I didn't actually need this drug any more. The vasospasm, from my own research occurs approximately between days 4 and 10. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Maggie, welcome to behindthegray

Glad that you've found the courage to post. We're a friendly lot and we don't bite, honest

Hi Leon,

Welcome to behindthegray and thanks for sharing your story. Look forward to hearing more from you.

I didn't know that SAH was a type of stroke until several weeks afterwards when I started to do my own research. When I had my SAH, my wife was told I had had two strokes and that they couldn't afford a third. This was confusing to both of us until we found out that subarachnoid haemorrhage is in fact a haemorrhagic stroke. I don't think it would have made any difference had I known that from the start.

Karen, you're right though. People understand better if you say you had a bleed on the brain causing a stroke.

Reminder to all: please keep this thread on-topic. ie. "Aphasia"

Hello Di and welcome to behindthegray.

9 weeks and back at work. Wow! I went back to work after about 15 weeks and I thought that was early.

Take it easy.