KelBel

Jan Ditto what Tina said! You are very positive, and I love the comment your grandaughter made about not having to do nail varnish!... bless her...positivity must run in the genes too Keep smiling (it makes people wonder what you have been up to! ) Kel x

Hi Sandi Interesting thread - I was always told that I had classical migraine. I did have a look at scintillating scotoma on YouTube and it make me feel quite nauseous watching some of the videos. I tend to have a different style of migraine aura now. It is still within my right field of vision, but whereas before my SAH I used to get a jagged edged scythe shape which got bigger and bigger, and I would get numb lips, nose, and fingers on left hand... I now get migraine aura, which is a small orb which cirles within my right field of vision. I then know I am getting tired. I tend to get it each afternoon whilst at work. Pre-SAH I initially used Migraleve and then that stopped working and I was given Zomig nasal-injectors which made me sick, and then I tried another drug after that. Post-SAH I was on paracetamol and Tramadol for about a month after so didn't take anything for the migraines I suffered occassionally at that time. I haven't had to take any tablets for months now, as I tend to mostly get aura without the headache. Kel x

Hi Bay Sorry to hear you are not feeling too good. Like Jen said it is always best to have a word with your GP, as it could be over-doing it, or it could be anxiety, but it's always best to get checked over. Have you had any follow-up as yet since your SAH? I too had lost a little bit of weight whilst in hospital, and then put loads on within a couple of months after being discharged and 'finding my taste-buds again' I do believe! I decided to start losing some weight back in March/April time last year and lost half a stone before joining Slimming World mid-June last year and have since lost a further 2 stone with them. I know you are suffering financially, but if you have a local slimming group you might be able to see if your GP can refer you? You might even be able to get referral for a local gym too? (which could possibly be free for you or at a lower cost) It is worth asking your GP about it. Good luck Kel x

Hi Rog Sorry to hear you have been having such a scary time, both with your own diagnosis and then your wife's SAH. It does sound like your wife is having a great recovery from her SAH, and it does get better with time too. I would agree with Liz and Janet that it sounds like you need some counselling to help get through this awful time you have experienced. I had counselling after my SAH and coiling (my annie rupture was on the Right Posterior Communicating Artery and measured 13mm x 8mm x 8mm) and the 1st counsellor I saw confirmed that I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress. Once she had said that and I read the leaflet she gave me and info online I started to be able to deal with it more. Initially I couldn't understand why I was feeling the way I did but that helped me understand it a little more. Perhaps without realising you still had not come to terms with your diagnosis and recovery and then your wife's SAH hit and you have now got this anxiety and fear overload. When is your wife's 1st check up due? I actually booked my own follow-up appointment via the Patient Liaison Service at the hospital, as I just needed a follow-up asap and get some answers. Good luck with both yours as well as your wife's continued recovery. Take care Kel x

Hi Jan, Welcome to the site. As everyone says, it is so good to finally find some help, support and understanding! We are a friendly bunch on here, and there is always someone who can offer an answer, assistance, or point you in the right direction to get an answer to your questions. Sorry to hear about your sister and brother. How old were they when they suffered? And how old are your children? (hope you don't mind me asking!) Take care Kel x

Hi Nessie, I am glad you are now able to walk your dog again, and can get out on your bike for a bit. That will help you feel better. I also had trouble finding the brakes on my eating post SAH! Initially whilst in hospital and for the first week or so after being discharged I had lost my appetite a bit…and I didn’t want chocolate at all?! (how odd is that?)...then it all changed! I found my taste buds again and just didn’t stop eating for a few months…! I have now lost 2.5 stone since last March so I am feeling so much better (first half stone on my own and the following 2 stone lost attending a local slimming club ) I was only 37 when I had my SAH and I can definitely relate to sensory overload, although I don’t think I had it quite to the same extreme as you. I still find some peoples voices really LOUD… a guy at work starts talking to another guy next to me, and then someone else will try to talk to me and I have to say I can’t really hear them! I did put one earplug in at work the other day when it got too loud. Seems worse in my right ear for some reason!? I also don’t like the sound of cutlery tapping against a bowl or plate, that seems really loud to me, especially in the evenings…when I am tired. Sensory issues are worse when I am tired, but it has got a lot better over the past 14 months since my SAH. Hope to chat more soon Kel x

Hi Lynne Good luck with the extra hours. I am sure you will be a great asset to the Shaw Trust. Take care Kel x

Welcome Nessie! I cried rivers within the the first few months :cryin: and then small pools for many months and now just the occassional puddle It does get better with time Glad you have found the site now, you will find invaluable information, help and support here Take care and hope to hear more from you soon Kel x

Karen Glad you have had some reassurance about the wrapping procedure. Yes, information is helpful to us as it helps to ease the anxiety we feel about everything! I don't understand why so many of us leave hospital with little or no information about what we have been through. I am going to write to my hospital and suggest that they try to give all SAH patients either a copy of the Brain and Spine Foundation leaflet, or something similar as well as a link to this site. Easing yourself back to work slowly is the only way to be sure you can cope with it during your recovery. Take care Kel x

Hi Harry Welcome to the site! I am glad you have survived this horrible event and you have now found us too. It is so good to know there are others out there who know how you feel and can help you adjust to life after SAH. Yes it does get better. I am 14 months post-SAH now. I had 12 weeks off work after my SAH and then returned on a phased return which I did over a few months in the end. It was hard and many times I crumbled but I kept at it and was back to full time work by July last year. I still have my moments where I feel a bit down about it all, and I get so tired I struggle to put a sentence together at times, but I have recovered really well. My SAH was misdiagnosed initially and i was not coiled until a week after the event. I suffered severe vasospasm during my op, which caused initial left-sided weakness but this resolved almost completely after the op and has now resolved fully (aside from a few episodes now and again of slight numbness and tingling in my left hand?! usually when stressed). I started to notice real changes after 6 months, and then month on month i noticed little changes, and things that were getting easier to deal with. Counselling really helped me to start to come to terms with everything and I cannot recommend it enough. If you have not had any already please go to your GP and request some sessions if you can. Tell your friends and family about this site, and ask them to read some of our stories on here to gain an insight into how we feel after going through it. You can also direct them to the Brain & Spine Foundation website as they have a number of leaflets available which will help answer questions about SAH and other conditions. Remember; lots of water and lots of rest. Be kind to yourself. Take care and I hope to hear more from you soon Kel x

Hi Vicky Glad you have found the site, it is such a blessing. Your story is in parts quite similar to mine. I am glad you have made it through so successfully, albeit with slight residual symptoms. Congratulations on giving up smoking I had given up 3 yrs before my SAH but had smoked heavily for many years which can't have helped. I look forward to hearing more from you. Take care Kel x

That is brilliant news Zoe!! I am so pleased for all of you!! I hope Rich is back home soon and enjoying the alterations to the house that will help you all. Fab! Take care Kel x

Hiya I went back to work 11 weeks after being coiled! I now cannot believe I went back so soon, but was being told at the time, by friends, family and my GP that I needed to get back to normal!?!... yeah ok… My work were going to allow me to do a 2-week phased return ( ) Week 1 – Mon to Fri 9 til 1 Week 2 – Mon to Fri 9 til 3 Week 3 – back to full time I didn’t think that would be possible… what I did manage to talk them round to was; Week 1 – Mon to Weds 9 til 1, Thurs & Fri holiday Week 2 – Mon to Thurs 9 til 3, Fri holiday Week 3 – Mon to Weds 9 til 5.15, Thurs & Fri holiday Week 4 - Mon to Thurs 9 til 5.15, Fri holiday I then continued to take a days holiday each week for a number of weeks. I struggled with the full-time hours and had migraine aura daily, and had to sleep an hour or two once I got home before I could even think about cooking dinner etc…It took me about 7 months post SAH to get back to the gym too. I also struggled with a difficult colleague for 2 months after my return to work. He was very difficult about my need to have the blinds shut, because of light sensitivity, as it ‘could’ make him depressed not having natural light. The fact that it was highly likely that I ‘would’ get a migraine with the blinds open and be unable to work at all didn’t click. It ended in a mediation meeting with 3 managers present, and didn’t really resolve anything. I had to try to keep some of the blinds open. Like that helps… (yes I am still bitter about it all, even though he has left the company!). I did get a fit note from my GP ay the end of May to reduce my daily hours by 1 hr per day for the month of June, but it didn’t make that much difference, just to my pay! So I went back to full time… I still struggle a little with doing everything, but I live alone and have no kids or animals so my flat doesn’t get too untidy (luckily). Kel

I seem to be able to find some stress in everything I do... I am a natural born worrier, and it comes from being such a perfectionist I believe... I had not felt right the weekend before my SAH, and had been away for a weekend in Germany visiting a friend. We had walked about 300+ steps up to Heidelberg Castle ruins, and about every 8-10 steps I had to keep stopping and catching my breath, and I had not been that unfit?! It was very odd. My breathing was difficult and labored...I was also extrememly tired all weekend. (I still managed somehow to get to the top!?! ) I came back home on the Monday, was back at work Tues through to Fri lunchtime, when I had half day to go home and get ready for my works Xmas do. I got home, had some lunch then needed an afternoon nap... went to a friends to get ready, had a highly diluted vodka & diet coke, and carried on getting ready. As I bent to backcomb my hair in front of the mirror my head felt strange, it was like something went pop and heat spread through my head... My head felt cotton-woolly and my scalp was sweaty... I felt hot and a little bit nauseous, but after standing outside to cool down a bit (it was December and I had no shoes on...) I then headed off for my party!! still feeling not right...but thinking i had pulled a muscle in my neck... 4 days later I went to hospital and had a CT scan, then a CT scan with dye, then later a lumbar puncture... 5 days later I learnt that I had had an SAH and would need to be coiled 7 days later I was coiled - suffering vasospasm Lucky to be here still me thinks x

Oh Anna, I am so sorry to read this sad news about your mum. Much love to you and your family at this sad time... Kel x

Hi Zoe Sorry to hear Rich's op was cancelled. Like others have said, you have the build up to it and then your hopes dashed at the last minute. I remember how I felt going for the angiogram...I was a wreck, and that was a check-up not an op. I do hope it all goes okay next week. I thought the same as Karen about the stents. I have imagined they are like small pieces of tubing to re-inforce the vessel walls where particular weakness is found, i.e. at the site of an aneurysm. Take care Kel x

Hi Anna, So sorry to hear about your mum. I hope today's visit goes well and your mum is looking better each time you see her. That is a lovely idea for you to chat with Lauren and gain an insight into how to deal with such a traumatic event from someone who has been in your shoes. (Such a lovely idea Karen ) Good luck for your mums continued recovery, and best wishes to you and your dad at this life-changing time for you both. Take care Kel x p.s. I have called the Brain & Spine Foundation helpline before and they have been lovely (the helpline is only open from about 8 or 9am to 1pm though)

Hi Karen, Sorry I can't help with post-SAH epilepsy medication, but I did suffer from bouts of fear that I might not make it. It was anxiety after the trauma of it all. Once I'd had some counselling I found I was able to start dealing with things. It took time though. If you are having doubts about the medication try calling your Dr to discuss it, and see how long you should allow for it to work and settle in your system. Take care Kel x

Hi Amelia So sorry to hear about your mum. I am glad you are being referred to a neurologist to discuss your concerns and I would imagine they should do a scan to check, with the family medical history you can present. Keep us updated. Look forward to hearing more from you. Take care Kel x

Nick Glad to hear you are doing so well. Hope you soon make some new friends in Lincoln. Good luck with your new start Take care Kel x

Rhiann You won't be entirely on your own - you can chat to us on here when you feel the need to! Kel x

Hi Sandi Sorry to hear you are feeling down I too felt very teary from the moment I was discharged after my coiling and for many months afterwards... I still get a bit emotional every now and again. I also struggled initially with coming to terms with it, and it wasn't until I started seeing a councellor (who was actually a trauma specialist) that I started to come to terms with it all. She said that I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress, which I initially found odd as I even said that's something soldiers suffer from... :confused: but she helped me realise and understand what was wrong, and that what I was feeling was okay, and was pretty normal after such a traumatic experience. Take care Kel x

Hi Kelvin Fantastic news! I am so glad things are going so well for you. Good luck for your phased return to work, sounds like your company are willing to be supportive, which is great. Good luck for your son getting into uni. My niece is living in Cardiff and doing a business studies degree and absolutely loves it there. I've not been down to see her but I think I will have to at some point. Take care Kel x

hello there I thought I had replied to this thread already but can't see it.. your poor little soldier! What a double whammy with you still in recovery and then this! Dylan - you are amazingly brave and those scars will soon fade and you will gradually get better and better. Make sure you rest up lots, and drink lots of squash to help your brain keep on the mend. I love Sarah's comment about her little boys action man scar! That's a good one! I hope you are now a member of the support group Lynne found for you and are getting some advice and encouragement from other youngsters who have been in a similar situation, and I hope you start to feel better real soon Take care of yourselves Kel x

I rate this idea! :razz: I always sing along loudly in my car as well as at home at times! Perhaps it's a good thing I live alone??... and my neighbours haven't complained - yet! Kel x