Karen

I also suffer from smells, mainly of burnt toast, but also chemical smells - Just found this on the Daily Mail - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2568230/Smell-funny-You-STRESSED-Neutral-scents-unpleasant-youre-pressure.html

Sending you love and hugs Myra ..... not easy doing all of this on your own. Good luck with your move. xxx

Hi Leanne and welcome... I've sat and pondered your thread. I'm not sure whether withdrawal from all of those around you is particularly a good or healthy thing or whether you perhaps need to go and seek some help from your GP and tell him/her exactly what you have told us. However, I do not know your personal circumstances, as in your relationship with your family. Your family are bound to be worried about you and not to see your parents or have contact will make them worry about you. I have a 24 and 27 year old son and daughter and would be going out of my mind if they had the same happen to them and didn't make contact or respond. I would strongly advise that you go and see your GP and discuss the issues that you're having. Having family and good friends around to aid/support your recovery at this point is the best thing for you....keep them close to you. Wishing you all the very best. xx

Sarah, I would really step away from Google ... I did the same and always found the worse case scenario. We haven't lost any SAH survivor on this site, so take heart lovely. I still have a neck left on my aneurysm and may be have one developing on my left hand side of the brain....I'm due to be scanned again next year, which will be 10 years on from this bleed. Still alive and kicking since 2005 ... I know what you mean about sneezing and coughing ... it freaked me out for quite some time and only normal to worry about it. Time is a great healer and you will restore your confidence in your body/brain. Good advice has been offered to you and your GP should also have a copy of your discharge notes from the hospital and should now be looking after your care and making sure that your blood pressure/pain relief is monitored etc. Always go with a written list of questions that you need to ask and just hand it over to your GP ... I still do that... xx

Sarah, I had my SAH nearly 9 years ago this year and my children truly suffered in the beginning ... they're very resilient, and they do get back to normal, honestly. My youngest did nothing but talk about it and after a few months, we were truly "all talked out" ... It took quite a while for them to get some confidence back in themselves and for me too, that nothing awful was going to happen again .... time is a great healer. Keep talking and keep reassuring .... both she and you will feel scared for quite a while .... that's normal and it will eventually pass. I'm hoping that you have other family about you that can also help. xx

Bless you John and welcome back. I'm also glad to hear that you've got your mojo back .... there's quite a few of us here, who know how you feel. Congratulations on your weight loss ... it's something that I need to tackle. xx

I've personally improved with noise over a large time period post SAH. I can only presume from a personal viewpoint that loud noise and other stimulus on the brain is just too much when the brain is still trying to recover and repair. I also think that I would throw in a disruption of concentration with it....as in; I find that I'm easily disrupted and can't deal with the noise at the same time and it all can become a bit much, so I need to manage it. I also had an exaggerated startle reflex post SAH, so anything loud or visual in some cases would start off the adrenaline and I would experience a flight or fight response and felt the need to flee from it. xx

You should be very proud of yourself Win .... Walking is still difficult for me, but have improved so much....still have my walking stick in the cupboard, but haven't used it for quite a while. You're doing well lovely. xx

Well done Win! xx

It's always worth asking your GP for a full set of blood tests to actually see if you're deficient in anything. I was and was prescribed supplements. I also suffered with heavy periods, so I was low in iron and folic acid .... which can and will contribute to fatigue as well....my B12 levels were also low. You do need to check out your supplements, especially if they thin the blood or interact with other medicines. xx

Thanks for the link Penny.

I've also never heard of Rcvs ... xx

Mike, if you're able to give me the link to the site, then I can have a look at it.

You can't really change what has happened and can't turn back the clocks ... I had lots of if's and but's too. I had an undiagnosed bleed at 38 and had another one, which was a lot bigger at 42 ... with seizures and a stroke on my left hand side. I've never had my question answered, so it's been a case of seeing how things go. 8 years on from the second one, I still suffer from dizziness, which is often brought on by doing too much ... if you're only 6 months on, then yes, you still might experience dizziness, mine was worse at this stage as I wanted to get back to normal too quickly... you need to ask these questions to a professional, as nobody here is qualified to do that and each case of SAH is always different, as to where the bleed was and what might have been affected in the brain. Personally, I think that you're perhaps doing too much and you might need to re-think what you are doing and calm it down a little ... the recovery time is at least 3 - 6 months (set by the Doc's for the physical sense ie. blood to dissipate etc and the healing process to take place, but it doesn't mean that you'll be totally healed in other senses) and that is the minimum time. For a lot of us, it's at least a couple of years before a decent recovery sets in. xx

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My hormones were affected after the SAH and my periods stopped for a few months and came back with a vengeance. As Gill (bagpuss) has said, the Pituitary gland is close to the Circle of Willis, where a SAH bleed occurs. Gill has offered good advice... don't suffer and go and have a chat with your GP. I was tested and was found to be low in Folic acid, Iron which needed to be replaced. My periods have always been heavy, so a lack of Iron due to this can contribute to your fatigue/dizziness. I'm not sure what age you are, but I think that I was also peri-menopausal which didn't help. Good luck and I know exactly how you're feeling with the dizziness and the menstrual headache as everything is heightened and in the early months it does cause a huge amount of anxiety. xx

Zoe, sending love and huge hugs to you and your children .... so very sorry to hear your news. An absolutely awful time for you and all of Richard's family.... so very sorry. xxxx

Hi Liz and a warm welcome, As a site, we can't give you medical advice for obvious reasons, but if you're at all concerned with the vomitting give NHS Direct a call/or the hospital where she was treated for advice, especially as it's Christmas day tomorrow and it might give you some peace of mind. I know of a few members who have suffered with vomitting/nausea problems. Keeping up the fluids such as water is something that I can only say is helpful with the headaches in order not to get dehydrated. Tiredness post SAH is something that we all experience and for a lot of us, our eyes hurt or are sensitive to light. Go and have a chat with your Mum and see how she feels .... xx

Hi Michael, That's really good positive news! xx

Zoe, my thoughts and prayers are with you all. xx

From my own viewpoint, I can only say that I didn't change, not as a person, just needed to adapt and adjust to this new life that was suddenly thrust upon me. It took me a fair few years to work it out and it wasn't easy, but I needed to stop comparing myself now, to who and what I did before the SAH, as all I did was set myself up to fail each time and become more miserable. I think that I became emotionally more stable once I accepted that I would have some pretty big limitations in my new life and instead of working against them and fighting it, try to work alongside them and have as good a life, as I possibly could and no, it's not a perfect situation, but I'm fairly happy with it all now and have finally found some peace. I think that it really is a question of time, not months, but years and adaptation and to be honest, I can't really remember what life was like pre-SAH now, it's almost like looking at another person, but life's pretty okay and as the years go by, I'm doing a lot more than what I was doing in the early years. Good luck guys, you will get there too. xxx

That's a very good analogy Lynne!

Zoe, there are times when I really just don't have the words ..... sending you hugs and love xxxxx

Michael, keep fighting for your brother and never give up on hope .... sending you a much deserved hug. (((()))) xxx

Daff, it's okay to be scared ... I was scared witless for many years, not that I would have admitted it back then. I don't think that there are many of us that don't get another spell or two back into A & E and nothing has been found. I've been there. It sounds as though you've totally gone into overload ... or meltdown ... you're doing too much and you're going to have to off load some of it where you can. I'm just a phone call away Daff, if you ever need to talk. Sending huge hugs and remember that you're never alone with this. xx