Welcome Jojo. You are not an impostor here. A lot of us have had bleeds that are minor compared to some of the rest. But as I am often reminded, a bleed is a bleed. You are a survivor among survivors! Some points that may help: NASAHs often have no underlying cause. This makes it hard to accept that it will not occur again. But statistically, I was told, unless there is a cause found, the odds it happening again are no greater than the first time. Getting on with your life can be scary at first, but it will get better There may be long-term affects. I and a lot of us still have headaches more often, memory problems, maybe some eyesight problems. You did go through a traumatic experience You injury is not visible, so don't expect others to understand all of the time. Follow up, for some reason, is not great for a lot of us from doctors. However, the support and information on this site is invaluable. Sending prayers, Chris

I swallow a lot of pain relief and try to avoid stress when I can. Hope you feel better!

You have received a lot of good advice above, so I will just send you some prayers. Chris

I hope it is indeed normal. I recently found a DVD with my MRI results on it. I forgot that they gave it to me (memory of course). So I thought, cool, let me see what my bleed looked like. But I am untrained, so the images were completely useless to me. I tried to google and it basically just said anything non-symmetrical could be a problem. So I gave up and put it back in a drawer.

I have to agree that periodic depression seems to be a thing with us. My little black cloud appears periodically for a few days at at time, for no apparent reason. And the headaches continue. My only suggestion is to try to find an outlet when you are down. For some weird reason, I write poems that express my feelings. Because I am down at the time, most of them are not very uplifting, so I don't share them with even my wife. But they help me feel better. I know Win sings to help with the blues. Maybe its just taking a walk or working a crossword. Something to distract you or to give you a place to let the depression flow out. I hope things get better for you. Chris

I experienced daily headaches of varying degrees almost everyday for the first few months. Once they subsided, I started experiencing very sharp headaches in the forehead area. But they would only last for a minute or two. Now, I still get more headaches in the front part of my head, when before the NASAH, almost all of my headaches were more back of head/neck pains. Hang in there. You are still recovering and your brain may still be filtering blood from your bleed. I hope it will get better for you soon. Chris

I am neither a nutritionist or doctor and also cannot give medical advise. I can say that many of us, including myself, wondered if recent lifestyle changes caused our bleed-without-a-cause. In my case, I had recently started running. So for a while I worried if that caused it and if I returned to running would it happen again. But thanks to the support and information on this site, I moved past that fear and returned. So I would have no way of knowing how your diet may or may not have affected you. But I would trust your doctor's advice and not let anxiety get the best of you. Best wishes, Chris

The only follow up I had for my NASAH was with my neurosurgeon 3 months later for a follow up MRI.

I am more moody since mine. Not really anger as much as lack of patience. Now I have created an “ice zone” in my imagination. When I start to get frustrated I “float above in the ice zone”. Sounds weird but it helps. Maybe some similar technique could help you.

It's really your call. I know this early out you still have some fears, but that will get better. Mostly you will have to battle fatigue and headaches. You said your kids are teens. I would suggest that if you decided to go, you have a discussion with them and let them know that they are taking care of the packing, unpacking and anything else strenuous. Also that Mommy will need rests and will not be participating in all events. Since your injury is not visible, you have to get them to understand that you are healing just like if you had a broken leg or something they could see.

Congrats Janey! Best wishes.

Almost 3 years now and I still forget words sometimes. My overall memory is poor (but it was not great before), especially peoples names. I have started putting names in my phone so I can look and remember them. I still feel a little removed from reality where yesterday seems dream-like. I also get the equilibrium thing from time to time, but it only lasts a few seconds and is not very often. So it sounds like what you are experiencing is in line with typical survivor-mode self. However, if worried, I would always suggest having it checked out. Best wishes for continued healing.

Maybe the number one rule I learned after my NASAH is "listen to your body". I try not to push or go when my body says no. It may be fatigue or a headache, but I listen. I hope you continue to improve. It takes time. Chris

Congrats Jan. I too hope things just continue to get brighter for you. Chris

Another runner here, but not marathons. Hang in there! The new you is every bit as special as the old you. Chris