sam.dixon

I also had just had sex when I had my SAH. We were both really scared of doing it again for a long time. It's only really now - nearly a year later - that we have begun to relax, although it's still there at the back of our minds!

Wow! I've just logged on again after a week and can't believe how many of you have posted me a message! Thanks so much. I'm glad I found this site. You are all so welcoming! I told my OT (from the stroke team) about your site as she hadn't heard of it. so hopefully more people will be able to benefit from it.

Hi. My name is Sam and I have just discovered this site, 10months after my SAH. It's great to read other people's experiences so thought I should share mine. I was 43 and fit and well at the time of my SAH, although working very long hours - I am Deputy headteacher at a primary school and also teach a year 6 class three days a week. I had been out for a football club dinner and had had a few drinks. I was just getting into bed when I suddenly had the most horrendous headache and was then violently sick. My first thought was that it was too much alcohol, although I had only had a few glasses of wine and a couple of shorts. I was sick again, so began to think it was food poisoning. Each time I was sick, the pain came back with avengence and I was crying with the pain. My husband was putting cold flannels on my forehead as the pain was so intense. We took my temperature as we thought it could be meningitis (which has very similar symptoms I have read since) but this was normal. My next though was migraine - my Mum suffered these and I remember she used to be sick and the doctor would come and give her a morphine injection. I needed something for the pain as it was so bad, so we called the hospital for advice. They weren't that helpful and said it was up to us. We could come down if we liked! So we rang our GP. He suggested paracetamol-which I promptly threw up! After being sick 5 times, we called the doctor again and he came out at 5am. He said he would give me an injection to stop the vomiting, but was not prepared to give me a morphine injection. He told me he wasn't happy and said that although it might only be a virus, he would like me to be checked in hospital. As we had both been drinking, he called me an ambulance and I was having a CT scan by about 8.30am. My husband had gone home while I had the scan, as we have two children and they told me to get him back as they had found the cause of the headaches. When he came back they told us that I had had an SAH and that they needed to fly me to Southampton Hospital to the Neurology ward. I was gobsmacked as the painkillers were working by then! My husband went home to get bags packed and by the time he returned, I was lapsing into unconsciousness. I have no recollection of the trip from the hospital to the Air Ambulance, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in Southampton with a drain in my brain and half my head shaved. I had the memory of a goldfish and kept asking my husband the same questions over and over. I stayed in Southampton for two and a half weeks. I don't remember much of the first week at all. Apparently I went downhill at one point as I suffered a vasospasm and ended up back in the high dependency unit. It was a terrifying experience for my husband and family, but the care we received was amazing and I was definitely one of the lucky ones! 10 months later, I am back at work full time, my hair has almost completely grown back and I feel fit and well, with no after effects, except perhaps getiing tired more easily. Sometimes I ask the same question twice or tell my husband something twice - but that may just be my age! I'm really pleased to have found this site and realise how lucky I am when I read other people's stories. Thank you all for sharing.

I too am one of the lucky ones. I had been out for a football club dinner and had had a few drinks. I was just getting into bed when I suddenly had the most horrendous headache and was then violently sick. My first thought was that it was too much alcohol, although I had only had a few glasses of wine and a couple of shorts. I was sick again, so began to think it was food poisoning. Each time I was sick, the pain came back with avengence and I was crying with the pain. My husband was putting cold flannels on my forehead as the pain was so intense. We took my temperature as we thought it could be meningitis (which has very similar symptoms I have read since) but this was normal. My next though was migraine - my Mum suffered these and I remember she used to be sick and the doctor would come and give her a morphine injection. I needed something for the pain as it was so bad, so we called the hospital for advice. They weren't that helpful and said it was up to us. We could come down if we liked! So we rang our GP. He suggested paracetamol-which I promptly threw up! After being sick 5 times, we called the doctor again and he came out at 5am. He said he would give me an injection to stop the vomiting, but was not prepared to give me a morphine injection. He told me he wasn't happy and said that although it might only be a virus, he would like me to be checked in hospital. As we had both been drinking, he called me an ambulance and I was having a CT scan by about 8.30am. My husband had gone home while I had the scan, as we have two children and they told me to get him back as they had found the cause of the headaches. When he came back they told us that I had had an SAH and that they needed to fly me to Southampton Hospital to the Neurology ward. I was gobsmacked as the painkillers were working by then! My husband went home to get bags packed and by the time he returned, I was lapsing into unconsciousness. I have no recollection of the trip from the hospital to the Air Ambulance, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in Southampton with a drain in my brain and my head shaved. I had the memory of a goldfish and kept asking my husband the same questions over and over. I stayed in Southampton for two and a half weeks. Their care was absolutely fantastic and they were so helpful and supportive once we returned to Jersey. As someone else mentioned, Lesley, the neuro nurse was fantastic and was always at the end of the phone for advice! I don't remember much of the first week at all. Apparently I went downhill at one point as I suffered a vasospasm and ended up back in the high dependency unit. It was a terrifying experience for my husband and family, but the care we received was amazing and I was definitely one of the lucky ones! My sister-in-law's sister was not so lucky. A year earlier, she had a thunderclap headache, put up with it all day and went to her doctor after work. She was given a morphine injection, told to go to bed.... and died of a heart attack in the night! My doctor definitely saved my life! I also want to do something to raise awareness. I have since heard of two more people over here who were mis-diagnosed so have not had as good an outcome as me. I returned to work part-time in September as Deputy Head and have just returned full time. As far as I can tell I have made a complete recovery and am very very lucky! My husband is in a band and we are planning a fund-raising event to raise money for Southampton Neurological Hospital. I hope to get something in the local paper to raise awareness and I tell anyone who'll listen about it! My doctor did ask me "Is it the worst headache you've ever had in your life?" I always go to see him in the practice now!