Karen

Hi Kerry and welcome!

I had severe pain down my legs as well. I was told that it was the blood from the SAH draining/dissapating down the spinal cord and affecting/irritating the nerve endings. The pain did go, thankfully. Did you ask your Consultant/GP about it?

Good luck and take it easy for a while. xx

Wow, that seems like a lot of exercise!

I experience a pulsing sensation around my aneurysm area when I've physically overdone it and I also experience it in an anxiety/stress situation, so I know that it's a sign to calm things right down and get my blood pressure back to normal. Once I do get back to normal, the pulsing stops. I still have an untreated neck on this aneurysm, so I'm pretty careful with it.

Any exercise/stress will obviously raise blood pressure and your body/arteries will have to work harder, so it may be the case that you're physically pushing yourself far too hard and need to re-think your exercise program.

Obviously, we can't and don't offer medical advice on BTG, as it would be totally irresponsible to do so. Contact your GP and get yourself checked out for some peace of mind, as that's what I did with this situation.

Good luck. xx

Tracey, Gill is correct re: insurance premium.

You could try giving the DVLA a ring in a fortnight rather than 4 weeks time if you're desperate, as sometimes a decision is made before the 4 weeks - mine was, so it might be worth giving it a try. I was told I was okay to drive over the phone and a letter arrived in the post to confirm.

Good luck!

Often on this forum, we talk/concentrate on issues that are mainly negative and don't tend to celebrate what we've achieved since leaving hospital, so I'm looking for a few positive replies with this thread ... no matter how small or insignificant that you may feel them to be, please post them up.

I personally had quite a few years post SAH, where my life really wasn't good physically.

I can also remember writing on my calendar when I had "a good day" It was a bad mistake .... I didn't have "a good day" for the next 3 months, so I swore that I would never write it down again. I had expected too much of myself, considering how ill I'd been and continued to compare myself to life pre-SAH.

However, I failed to notice all of the little things that I became able to do ... walk without a wheelchair, pour a bowl of cornflakes, go to a restaurant, drive for the first time, walk the dog around the block, cook a meal, use the phone, write a letter, stop using the walking stick, read etc.. all of the small stuff that you take for granted that you could do before the SAH, but good achievements none the less and ones that should be truly celebrated and be proud of.

So, what have you done today, that perhaps you couldn't have managed a few days/weeks/months/years ago?

Hi Lesley,

I would contact your GP and make an appointment. On discharge from hospital, they would have transferred/copied your hospital notes, medication list etc to your GP so that your care can be continued - blood pressure is something that is normally monitored for a while post SAH. If you're on anti-seizure meds, you may need to have blood tests at certain intervals to ensure that you have the correct level of medication in your system.

If you're still unsure, contact your Neuro's Secretary at the hospital and explain the situation to them. xx

Thanks for the replys guys but ain't got much time as I'm of to the museum.

Welcome to BTG Desy!

Tiling advice has been moved to Green Room and can be found on the following link: http://www.behindthegray.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?8863-Tiling&p=93408#post93408

Hi Sarah,

We've all gone through the same as you and not wanting to be left alone ... it's so scary right at the beginning. You're not being irrational at all and it's going to take some time to re-build your confidence that nothing bad is going to happen to you again.

My husband works away quite a lot (abroad quite a bit) ... both of my kids have now left home and yes it sometimes feels as though my comfort blanket has been whipped away, especially if I'm not feeling so good.

I always have a phone next to me and in the early days when Eric was away or out for the evening, he would give me a quick call to make sure I was okay.

I've also written a note about my medical condition and I keep it handy when I'm on my own (had it for ages now) - it states what meds I'm on and who to call in an emergency (next of kin) if I have to be taken into hospital. Never had to use it yet, but it helps!

I also use ICE (in case of emergency) on my mobile phone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_case_of_emergency it kind of helps with peace of mind when I am on my own.

I does take a lot of time to feel confident again.

Hope you're okay. xx

Thanks Mary! xx

Thanks Mary for your update and "encouraging" David to get to hospital, that was really good of you, bless you! Please send him my well wishes if you're in contact again. xx

Hi David,

I'm really hoping that you've heeded the advice and that you're now heading towards the hospital ..... you really need to go and I don't want to see you on here until you've got yourself checked out... take care David and wishing you well. xx

Hi David,

You really need to go and get yourself checked out, so please go and make the phone call. xx

Sending hugs and love Tulip ....so very sorry for your loss...xxx

Hi Molly,

It's worth a trip to the GP to get something to help with the pain. I was put on anti inflammatory's for a while, as just couldn't sleep and like you, also felt the pain when my arm was hanging down or jarred it. Couldn't even shut the car door with it, just too painful!

I know that we often put a lot of our aches and pains down to the SAH, but they often can be something fairly common and not associated with the bleed at all.

One of my friends is a Physiotherapist and as soon as I told her my symptoms, she knew what it was and advised me to keep the affected arm moving as much as possible (which was hard when it was so painful!) .... she'd also had a frozen shoulder and had a couple of steroid injections which helped immensely otherwise she wouldn't have been able to carry out her work. It seems to be a fairly common ailment amongst quite a few people that I know ... not sure whether it's an age thing either with joints etc, but I do know that it's excruciatingly painful!

Good luck and hope that you're in less pain soon..xx

Hi Molly,

I had something similar about 2 years ago....pain in my right arm which was excruciating, worse when I was in bed. It eventually moved up and turned into a frozen shoulder and was nothing at all to do with the SAH. I had it for about 18 months and the arm still hasn't fully recovered, but hugely better.

I would advise that you go back to your GP and ask if they've ruled this type of thing out .... however, you may have done that already.

Hope that you're feeling better soon xx

I use Mozart for meditation to de-stress and have done so since the early days of my SAH. I did some research on the "Mozart Effect" on the brain years ago and wrote about it on the site... I was also completely stressed out about the return of seizures and the anxiety it was causing when I was reducing the medication and used a specific piece of music to help. It does take a while to get used to, but I can totally focus on the music now and block anything else from going on in my brain...very calming and peaceful.

The CD that I use is called Mozart for Meditation: http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Meditation-Classical-Music/dp/B0006OL5E0/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1371044864&sr=1-3&keywords=mozart+for+meditation

However, you can find Mozart for meditation on You Tube if you do a search, such as the following piece:

Hi Lynne,

You're absolutely fine to post the titles of the DVD's here, there's no problem and thank you. xx

Hi Erin,

If I had to personally weigh up the stroke risk of having another angio, up against the potential damage of having another bleed and another stroke caused by this, I would take the angio any day in order to prevent this from happening again. I've had two bleeds and the second one was much worse.

I would probably be extremely worried when having the angio, but I would think that the medics would have my best interests at heart, as they wouldn't perform this procedure if they didn't feel it was necessary.

Just to add for anybody else looking at this thread, that if you're worried/panicky about this procedure, discuss having some sedation with your Consultant. I did and received it. It was only light sedation, but it helped to take the edge off the anxiety before and during the procedure. xx

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Thinking of you and your family Tulip ... bless him, your Dad has had plenty to deal with and hope that he manages to regain some strength soon. xxx

Thank goodness Daff! So very pleased for you!

Take it easy for a while. xx

The hard part folks was the anxiety that came with the procedure, with the thoughts that race around. It's been horrid to be honest and I am sat here , pretty achey, hoping that this is the end of this particular episode as I don't feel strong enough to face any more shocks right now.

Hi Daff,

I know how you feel and it's absolutely horrible when all of those thoughts come rushing back to you.

After my first scare post SAH, I kind of felt as though I had gone back to square one again and when I was in hospital, I couldn't stop crying, felt so depressed. The good news was, that nothing was found ... but why had all of this stuff happened again? I didn't have an answer for it, but felt rough for quite a while afterwards and had to try to re-build some confidence again.

I think that I said on here, it was like trying to re-build a brick wall over the months, only to have it kicked back down again and having to start over. Horrible times!

Take care Daff and hope that you get your results soon. xxx

Daff, you posted as I was writing ... take care lovely and good luck with the Doc tomorrow xx

Hi Daff,

I would always advise that you get yourself checked out, for peace of mind if nothing else and don't worry about feeling daft going to the Doc's or A & E with your worries.

I ended up in A & E about a year after the bleed - nothing was found, but I felt like something had kicked off again and felt like I was back to square one again, especially with the fatigue.

However, I've had many "blips" along the way since then and the anxiety returns big time....I personally think that the mental torment is worse than the physical side.

You need to ask yourself if you're doing too much?

I have a neck left on my coiled artery and am still being monitored for it. I also have an infundibulum (spelling) on the opposite artery. None of this stuff helps, when things kick off, but at nearly 8 years on, I'm still here, but still have the odd time when it kicks off.

Wishing you well Daff and hope that you're okay...xx

Sending hugs to you Anna....

We shall always be here and the door will always be left open for you.....come in and see us, whenever you feel you need to. Your Mum would be so proud of you and how far you've come....xxxxx

Congratulations Tony in reaching your 1st year, I normally always celebrate my SAH anniversary, just grateful for being here and given a 2nd chance. That was a very lovely post to read and just to say, that I'm still experiencing recovery nearly 8 years on.

Enjoy your day ...xx