KelBel

Hi Saffy Sorry to hear you are feeling down. You need to give yourself time to heal and try not to over-do it. If walking the dog is too much, maybe try every other day to do a short walk. I know it is hard to know what not to do though. Rest up and do not worry about being down, we are all here for each other through the peaks and troughs of recovery! Do you keep a diary? It can be good to write down how you are feeling to get it out and free it from the mind a little. Hope you are feeling better again soon Take care Kel x

Hi Ash Thank you for giving us an update. It is great to hear there was nothing untoward in your mums recent CT scan, and it certainly does sound like her brain is starting to recover gently, causing the flickers. Keep us posted when you can. It is great to hear from you Sending lots of love to you and your family. Take care Kel x

Hi Leonie, I have had a lot of 'circling' orbs in my right field of vision as well as a burning pain/sensation on the top of my head, since going back to work and dealing with a number of queries... my GP has said that it is migraine aura without the headache. I did suffer a few migraines the first few weeks after my discharge from hospital on 24th Dec 09, and then had a lot of headache and neck pain for a few months, but I have not really suffered much headache in the past few months. Take care Kel x

Hi Ben Sorry to hear about Jane's SAH. It must be an incredibly difficult time for you with such a young daughter to look after too. I hope your family, friends and work colleagues are all rallying around for you and helping where they can. Glad you have found the site and I know you will find the support and advice invaluable. There are some amazing people on here. I would imagine that a great person for you to chat to would be Paul on here. He has a wealth of knowledge with regards to SAH and rehab following his wife Lin's ongoing recovery. I am sure he will pick up on this thread soon and offer you some fantastic advice and support that may be more specific to your situation than many of us may be able to offer from having suffered an SAH of varying degrees. Good luck for Jane's continued recovery. Take care Kel x

Hi Garolly I had my SAH 11th Dec 09 and was coiled 18th Dec, then had a follow-up appointment 10th Feb this year, and am due to have a follow-up angiogram in December... so 12 months after it all happened... whereas others have check-ups 6 months after. I seem okay though. Still have the occassional teary day but most days I feel okay. I made it back to the gym last week, had a new plan done on Thursday and actually worked through it all yesterday morning, and felt good after. It will be reviewed every 3 weeks and adjusted as necessary. I was at the gym for 1hr 20mins yesterday and that was when it wasn't busy so goodness knows how long the plan will take after work!? As the others have said you just have to take each day/week as it comes and you will start to notice so many improvements over the next few months. If I look back now to 3 months ago I have recovered so much. I was scared I wouldn't be able to work full-time again, or get back to the gym, or have any energy to do anything in the evenings - but now I can do it all! (just about... I do rest when my body tells me to!). It is really hard finding the balance of not doing too much, and over-doing it, cos you don't know you have over-done it until it's been done! Good luck for your continued recovery Take care Kel

Liz, That is terrible that your symptoms were not followed up properly...so frustrating when these things suddenly come to light!...even though you were told they didn't know what had caused your paralysis initially!?... I am glad to read that you are feeling a bit better today. Sounds like your colleagues and friends have rallied round for you, which is fantastic! (after the trouble you went through when you returned to work initially...) Good luck working with the psychological services unit, yes they will hopefully come in very handy; and I am sure they could have some techniques/ideas they can sound out with you to see how well they work! It is worth asking about really And it is brilliant news that you don't need any more scans! Take care Kel x

Hi Lin Good luck with starting the volunteer work tomorrow! And like others have said; lots of breaks will help ensure you don't overdo it. Hope it goes well for you. Kel x

Well done Lynz!!!

Hi Ash, and welcome. Good luck for your mums recovery. I hope you can keep letting us know how your mum is getting on, and you can gain some comfort from the kind words and thoughts of everyone on this site. Glad you found the site and have been able to post your mums story and your worries on here. There is always someone who can help with advice. Best of luck for you, your mum and the rest of your family Kel x

Hi Ash Welcome to the site. I hope you're mum is doing well. The diary idea is a good one - as you can note down any questions you have and also make notes of the answers you get from the consultants/doctors you and your family speak to. Take care Kel

Hi Diane That must be really hard for you. Just a thought - you could get your daughter to help you make a 'memory album' for your husband? including pictures and wording to explain the pics (who is in them, when and what happened) which you could go through with him on a regular basis, to help trigger some memories of various things that have happened over the years? Perhaps you could ask a neuro-doctor or nurse if this could help? I do hope that during his continued recovery his memory will get better for you all Take care Kel x

Hi Karen Sorry to hear you are feeling so rough. I did get bad headache and occassional migraines for about 4 weeks after I came out of hospital (so about 6 weeks after my SAH). I took all the painkillers regularly, and managed to reduce the tramadol over the weeks though, just taking paracetamol for pain relief. Like the others have said you should try to get some help from others, and get as much rest as you can. I was able to get counselling early on through my work, and happened to see a trained trauma counsellor. She had worked with survivors of the 7/7 bombings in London. She helped me realise that what I was experiencing was 'Post Traumatic Stress'... I remember saying to her that "soldiers who have been on the front-line suffer from that, how could I possibly have that!" but it does covers any kind of traumatic incident or circumstances. It definitely made me realise that what I was experiencing was: expected, okay and normal for someone to experience. I wasn't going mad, I wasn't being overly dramatic - I was simply reacting to the situation I had been in. A sudden life-threatening situation. I do hope you can be referred for counselling with your GP, or that they can write to your Neuro specialists to request Neuro-Psychology, as that seems to be a great help to others also. Take care Kel x

Hi Luisa, I didn't have any specific issues with my eyes after my SAH, however my eyesight did change a little, and having been back at work 3 months now (and pretty-much full-time now) I do find I get a cicrling orb in my right eye, and on occasions I do also get a burning sensation in my head, towards the end of the day (which I have been told by my GP that it is migraine-aura). I usually sleep for at least an hour most days when I get home from work, but otherwise I am not doing too badly. Take care though Kel x

Sounds brilliant! Well done! kel x

Hi Angela Welcome to the site! And well done for finally posting. It is great being able to share stories and get advice from others who know what you are talking about, and make good friends too! Glad to hear both you and your sister are getting there; that must have been awful for your family with both of you suffering SAH! I hope you are able to support each other fully in your recovery together. Look forward to hearing more from you Take care Kel x

Thanks for the info Laura, I am not as yet a member of Headway but will look into it. I do actually get a will-writing service with my bank but as yet have not made a will! Kel x

Hello Willow and welcome to the site! Hope you find it a great help and support Take care Kel

Hi Karen I hope you manage to get some counselling or neuro-psychiatrist support from your operating hospital or local GP. It has taken me some time to be referred by my GP for counselling. Sounds like you have all had such a lot to deal with for such a young family. I am glad you are recovering well, and I hope you get some help to understand what has happened to you. I had so many questions flying round my head for weeks...and wrote so many notes for my follow-up appointment. It was scary not knowing anything when I came out of hospital, and you can scare yourself reading up on the internet about it too. Have you had a follow-up appointment yet? Do make notes of questions you want to ask, and make notes when you go too. I wanted to know how big my annie was/is, where it is, how many coils were used, how long the op took, as well as numerous other questions too. And everything I asked was answered, it definitely helped getting some answers finally. Take care Kel x

Hi all I had my 6 month annie-versary today, so that's 6 months since I had my SAH, and 6 months since the company xmas do that I attended but missed! ... I can't believe it now feels like all that time has gone so quickly. I am glad to be alive, glad to have found this site to help me through the good & the bad times, and glad to have met everyone on here! Thank you for all your help, advice and support! I had my hair cut today, and hadn't seen my hairdresser since Jan! Kept forgetting to make an appointment, and she was saying how much better I look now. She then blow-dried my hair a little, and I could feel it getting a little hot on the top of my head, and all of a sudden I had to flinch away from the hairdryer and was frantically brushing my hands over the top of my head as it felt like my scalp was on fire!! She apologised and said that the hairdryer wasn't even hot but I would beg to differ as my head then felt like it was hot for about 2 hours afterwards!!!... not good... She did say it must have been the metal plate in my head...??? not sure where she got that idea from, I did correct her (bless). Does anyone else get that? Had to have a little sleep this afternoon; and have been having little sleeps most days when I get in from work too. My body must need it... Well, it is very late now! and I have a big day tomorrow! Kel x

Well done Zoe for recognising the symptoms quickly with your son! Glad to hear he is doing ok. Hope Richards assessment went well today x

Hi Vic Not sure if I am any more emotional than I used to be, always was emotional and more so with pmt. I have always suffered with what I called 'the dropsies' so I suppose that would come under the co-ordination heading! If I drop something once I will drop it a few times more before I 'get a grip'! So frustrating at times, but no worse post-SAH Kel x

Hi Kylie! Welcome to the site. Everyone is really friendly on here and there always seems to be someone who can answer any queries for you. Glad to hear you are doing well. We can all relate to the "looking good on the outside, but feeling not so good on the inside!"... and anyone who hasn't been through cannot relate to it. Some try to understand but most don't even seem to want to do that! But we all know better...you're in good company here. Take care Kel x

Hi Bubbles! Welcome to the site. Hope to hear more from you when you are ready, but take your time. Kel x

Hi Katie I am hoping to get some CBT via the counselling I will be starting next week; that's if they agree I do not need specialist Neuro counselling, which I do not think I need. I think I just need someone to help me re-frame my thinking, and to stop getting so angry about other people's ignorance of our situation, and angry about the fatigue too, which stops me being able to do all I want to do. I think it is great that you have felt able to open up on here with everyone. It helps people to understand where you are coming from and how they may be able to help you. I hope you continue to find this site a source of comfort. We are all incredibly grateful to Karen for setting it up! Take care Kel x

Hi Lisa A quick hello as I am just about to get back to work after lunch... Good luck for your continued recovery, hope to hear more from you soon. Take care of you and let the others take care of themselves! They should not be heaping pressure on you to sort out their squabbles! Shame on them, but people just do not understand even half of what we have all been through Kel x