Chris G

I haven't been here long enough to know all of the stories. But I am glad to hear she is doing well.

I have some memory problems with names and remembering things from the past. But mostly I tend to repeat stories to people I have already told the story to. Especially if I have had a beer or two.

Jade, Welcome. I cannot provide much advice as I did not have the coiling procedure with my SAH. I do understand your worry and concern for Todd and I will send you both prayers for a full recovery. Be patient and don't let the internet scare you too much. The fact that the doctors are taking precautions and aware of the risks is a positive. Chris

So my experience was similar but also without the infection. I was in ICU for 10 days. They did not move me until the last day before I was going home and the tube was removed. So I still experience some fatigue (my injury was in October of last year). I try to make it a positive as I really enjoy going to bed now when previously I had a hard time going to sleep. Fatigue during the day is not too bad, but my question is..is it really fatigue? In another thread I described in detail my emotional state after returning home. For a while everyone checks on you and wants to hear your story. Then they move on and you are left alone with it. I compare it to Post Partum. No one wants to hear now if I have a headache or feel tired. So I think to some degree, what we describe as fatigue is really a mild depression. Personally, I battle this often, and just keep reminding myself that every day is a gift, whatever may be going on in the day. All of life's stresses seem amplified somehow, but at least I am alive to be stressed, as crazy as that sounds. Anyhow, I hope this helps and I wish you well.

They say the sure sign is the "worst headache ever", but mine went like this... 1. Vision problems (like looking through colored contact lenses) 2. Headache (not worst ever thunderclap type, but sudden and intense) 3. Still neck. I could not move it in any direction even a fraction of an inch 4. Nausea 5 Felt a little better and neck a little better 6 Apparently a couple of days where I thought it was 1987. So now any time I have even a little floater in my vision, I pay attention!

Keep up the good thoughts Gilly. When I read things like this, I realize how lucky I am to have experienced such a mild SAH. I hardly feel worthy to post on here. Sounds like you are healing in many ways. Keep it up! I know when I left the hospital, I started my current passion of loving everyone for who they are. It can be difficult sometimes, but we are all people.

Welcome! I am still relatively new here myself. Super site with extremely nice people.

My doctor told me repeatedly that the chance of a re-bleed is no greater than the original chance of a bleed. He said it would be like getting hit by lightening twice or winning the lottery twice. So I finally believed him. While I will not do anything to purposely jar my head around (like rollercoasters), I have learned to move on with my life. If you think about it, before you had the SAH, it was in there waiting to happen. Now it is done and over, so you are in a way healthier than you were before it. At least that what I keep telling myself.

You sound a lot like me. Nasah with no cause. Evd and then back to work. Originally my surgeon told me I might have headaches the rest of my life. But at my last checkup he said any headache was just a headache. However sometimes I have a headache that is right behind my eyebrows just like the days after I left the hospital. I never had these before so think they are related. Stress like you experienced at work does seem to bring them on. But they don't seem to last long. And I do get tired more easily. I run too but am only up to 3 miles so far at a time. I think like me you are fine but not quite the same. Some stress equals headache and being tired. Hang in there.

I don't know much about the coiling process as I didn't have it. But I will say a prayer for you and wish you the best. I am sure the doctors know what they are doing and all will be fine.

Congrats Clare! Keep moving forward. I suffered my NASAH while running also. I was told running had nothing to do with it, but it sure seems like a lot of people were running when they had one. You may never know what life brings, but at least it is life.

Good news!

Ok. I will have to say I was a bit depressed before the SAH because of some financial difficulties and unemployment. But then I got a job and things turned around. When I had my SAH, the time in the hospital was tough and restful at the same time. Just like being in a dentist chair, since you know you cannot get up and do things, you don't have the pressure to do so, and it can be relaxing. I also felt like I got a new perspective on live/love/family and all of that. Once out of the hospital, I have a focus to gain back some weight, start exercising a bit, etc. Goals to keep me focused. And of course everyone wants to ask how you are doing. My neighbors brought us dinner a few times. Things like that. Then, the news gets old to everyone. When I mention a headache or vision problems now, my wife is like "here we go again, the doctor said you would have headaches, shake it off". Friend no longer ask how me how I am doing. Things move on, but I am still recovering, still worried about reoccurance, still have financial concerns not helped by medical bills, etc. It must be a bit like post-partum (sp), where you need the attention to help recover and feel needed, and it moves on too quickly. So you are not alone. I often focus back on my mindset when I was in the hospital bed and my only concerns were how my family was doing. I have to try not to focus on how I feel, but how my actions affect my family. Trying to be selfless actually helps. But it also builds up and makes me want someone to just ask how I am doing or show some sympathy when I mention a symptom. I guess ultimately, for us SAH people, its our burden to bear. Overall, I guess I am glad my family has moved on and is no longer in fear for my health, but a little hug every now and then would mean a lot. I hope this bearing of my soul helps you feel that you are not alone with these feelings. While I don't know you, I do care. We are all partners in this. Chris

This is a very interesting thread. After my SAH, I had the expected headaches for a while after I was released from the hospital. Then they went away and were replaced with acute pains above my eyebrows and towards my temples, lasting only a few seconds. They felt a lot like the brain freeze you get when you drink something cold too fast. Then they went away and I thought I was over them. Lately, I have had temple and over the eyebrow pain again, but not acute and short. Long-term headaches, not severe, but there. I have been stretching a lot and though maybe I was straining and building pressure. But now I wonder if the cold and wind have something to do with it. I am not outside much, but I guess the pressure is everywhere. I will be interested to see if the headaches let up when the weather improves.

For some reason, Benedryl (sp) really works for me. I used to get it via Advil PM before the SAH. When I was in the hospital in pain, they would try Percocete (SP) and Morphine, but then it would be Benedryl that would help me sleep. As always, check with your doctor before trying any new meds, even non-prescription, especially if you are taking others. Also, for some reason Benedryl has the opposite effect on my wife. Makes her twitchy and restless, so I guess it varies.

Welcome! I am new here too, so I know how good it feels to let it out to people who understand. When you mentioned the blood pressure, it reminded me that while my blood pressure stayed ok, my heart rate dropped so low that in the ambulance between hospitals, they head the paddles over me (so my wife tells me). For the next two days it dropped below 29 when I would sleep. But the heart was fine, just getting the wrong signals from the brain. I had an EVD for 10 days, but no driving restrictions when I got out. So maybe that was something else with you. I didn't have the sensitivity to light and noise that you did, so maybe that is why. I hope things get better for you quickly! Chris

Thanks for the welcome and the responses. I hope to start running again after my February checkup. It will have been a little over 4 months. I fear I will be starting over on getting my distance and time back, but I am ok with that. At least I won't have the weight I had originally. Mostly I worry about building pressure on my brain with the increased heart rate. I can only hope I have fully healed and can reabsorb the fluid like it was designed. The worse part was when my daughters, who had sprinted down the path to find me, arrived. At that time I had been feeling my face and smiling to check for a stoke. On my hands and knees and unable to look up, I could talk to them but not see them. And then the thought hit me that I might die right in front of them. So I started praying that I would at least live to the ambulance so they wouldn't see it. It is very humbling. I have been reading some of the threads, so I know I got off easy compared to some of the other members. I wish them all well.

Hi Everyone. I am so happy to have found this group, as I have some questions and I also look forward to just learning more about this. Here is my story. I am a 51 year old man who started running in spring of last year with my daughter because she wants to join her high school track team. When I started, I could not run more than 1/2 of a mile without stopping to walk and rest. By early October, I was running 2.5 to 3.5 miles 4 or 5 times a week, had lost about 20 pounds and was feeling great. I signed up for my first 5K for November (but I did not make it). Then I went to Orlando with my family and rode a couple of rollercoasters (did this have an effect?). I returned to my home on October 12th and it was still daylight, so I went to the park where I run. Before I even reached the mile mark, my vision suddenly changed as if I were looking through blue contact lenses. Then my head started hurting. I started walking back when my neck became so stiff I could not move it at all. I got nauseous and got on all fours so I would not puke for fear that it would break my neck to do so. I had called my wife, who initially was just driving over to get me but then called 911 when I got worse. Long story short, I suffered a SAH. They determined it was a vein and not an artery so no surgery, just a tube from my head. For two days I was out of it (thought it was 1987). After 10 days in ICU, I had the tube removed and went home. I continued to have headaches for several days, then they got better. I now have small but acute pains behind my eyebrows that last for a few seconds, almost like a brain freeze. My next check up is in mid-February. Until then I cannot start running again or strain myself. My neurosurgeon told me that my type of SAH usually is the result of an injury. The jarring of the roller coaster may have contributed, but he said it was probably going to happen at some time. He said the running had nothing to do with it, which made me happy, but I keep reading where people have this happen while running, which gives me doubt. I do not have a permanent shunt and seem to be fine other than the headaches, and a tendency to get tired. Maybe some memory loss, but hard to tell. He also told me that it should not reoccur. The chances of it happening again would be like "lightening striking me twice". That sounds great but I have some fears. He cannot tell me what happened to the area that cause this. Did it heal? Is it stronger than before? Did it degenerate? He does not know. So I worry. So now, I have been walking (I had to recover from atrophy and a case of the wonderful shingles), doing a bit of elliptical machine work, and regaining the addition 10 pounds I lost in the hospital. I have plans to start running again as soon as he clears me to do so. But I will really feel foolish dying beside my running path if it happens again. Looking for advice here. Thanks for letting me join!