PatrickK

OK, that's kind of what i figured from the doc's response (he might haven even said this was very common, i was pretty drugged ). Pat

I'll frequently awaken from a crushing pain in the occipital area of my skull if i sleep long enough. In fact, that is virtually always WHY i get up if it isn't the alarm clock, dogs barking, etc. waking me. This NEVER happened before the SAH, and immediately began happening when i had the SAH. So I usually slept with my head on a bag of ice while in the hospital to prevent this. It's just one of those things i have accepted as resulting from damage incurred from the bleed and i have to find ways to live with/around it. In this case: try not to sleep on the back of my head (although to use my CPAP that IS the position that works best ) , don't just continue lying in bed thinking it will go away, it won't - it will only get worse. Once i get out of bed, and am in an upright position, it improves - but does never really subsides entirely for the rest of the day. It's a headache. Pat

Well Thank You for the kind welcome Gill ! Pat

Thanks for the welcome Janet Pat

Thanks Bogbrush and Tina! and Thank You for making my giant font look slightly less insane there Bogbrush! Pat

Thank you Louise, Karen, Maggie Karen, I actually would sporadically {luckily VERY rarely} get migraines (no aura) since i was a child (age 8-9 as best as i can reconstruct it), but i never had aura until my 20s. And then i had no clue at all that these visual phenomena were prodromal to a headache - i figured it must mean my BP was high or something what can i say, i'm not a particularly fast learner . But you fellow SAH victims might (or might not;-)) find this interesting, when i was in hospital getting the cereb. angio, just when they were at the point where the hemorrhage had occurred, and they released the contrast substance (which i was watching on the screen) it was like golden sparks of light, not so much SPARKS but like lightning bolts, which i think m a y b e shot across my visual field from the edges. This happened both times i got angios, and the neurosurgeon acted like that was no big deal and not unusual. But that is a very common type of aura i'll get as prodrome to a migraine. But the sensations in and on the head are something i take more seriously, because then it's a pretty sure thing that it's not just going to go away unless i retreat from all activity, light, etc. Pat

Thanks Jess and Kempse! I had thought on several occasions what a good idea a forum would be, but don't know if i actually did ever get to searching Pat

Hi, I just found this amazing group. This is such an important thing to have! I am 6 years post-PeriMesencephalic SAH. Had my PMSAH on Feb 12 2004. They did the first cerebral angiogram and that was negative. They also did all the usual things: MRI/MRA with contrast, ultrasound, ruled out stroke and AVM. They kept me on Dilantin and Nimodipine to prevent seizure or vasospam. Since the onset of the SAH i had had a horrible headache, a migraine as it turned out. The intensity of the headache went from horrible to 'being in hell' when they put me in that noisy shaking MRI machine without sedating me first. That made things SO so much worse for days that i am still upset by it if i think about it. Once they moved me from the ICU to a private room (which was a VERY quiet environment) - with ice bags on my head around the clock, with the blinds closed, lights off, door closed, etc.) THEN my headache was finally able to began subsiding. i was relased form the hospital on the 10th day. Still on Nimodipine and Dilantin. Had a repeat angio done at 6 weeks, also negative. Was left with the instructions to 'go and return to my life as well as I am able. There may be some residual symptoms but these should improve over time. Don't do or not do anything special, the chance of this recurring is VERY rare.' And I was sent on my way. This is why i am SO pleased to see that there is a group of others who have had similar experiences as I have had. Because the docs can just say "OK, you can go now". But they don't really know what it's like living with the long-term after effects of these things. I couldn't stand for more than a couple minutes at first without getting dizzy and pouring out buckets of sweat. Anything that required concentration would make me sweat buckets. Just because i was 'neurologically intact' did not mean i was as good as new. Several years after the SAH i began seeing a very good headache specialist. and she put me on Topamax to prevent migraines. and told me that i am a 'classic migraineur'. And i discovered that many of those sensations i was calling 'residual sequelae' were migraine-related. And with the Topamax on board the incidence of residual sequelae dropped enormously. So now, if I am getting an upsurge of tingly, STRANGE, sensations anywhere in my head, face, what feels like cold water rushing down INSIDE the skull, like the back of the head, scalp is vibrating, on fire, this means i am on my way to getting a migraine (this has for me become my own sort of pseudo-tactile equivalent to how some people get visual aura before migraine, I will OCCASIONALLY get visual phenomena) so then I know what to do and i take it seriously and cancel the rest of the day and most probably the next day and take an extra dose of Topamax, avoid stress, light, noise, and any commotion at all and just lie back quietly. Migraine by the way IS what the neurologists in the hospital when i had the PMSAH said I was having after the SubArachnoid Hemorrhage occurred. It's very nice to meet all of you fellow SAH survivors! Pat