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Hello Teechur, You know full well my battles with the headaches. I hope you find something. the little stuff doesnt work for me. Amytryptiline helped but did not make them go away. I am on a new extended release pill that lessens the headaches but does not make them go away. I'm not sure how I like this becasuse then it's 24/7 headache It's funny, my wife says every day, "How's your head". She just knows it hurts becasue she lives with me and can see the look on my face (or the back of my head on pillow). I too have tried most thingsand get rather aggravated when people tell me to take OTC cause OTC takes the 8 headache to a 7. Woo hoo. I think we're all going to have headaches from one point to another it's just the severity and frequency. Send some dogs my way. I need a therapy dog, but I am too fatigued to get one now (bad for doggie). I'm sure others have suggestions as well. GG? Be well and someday headache free David

Dawn, Way to go Dawn. We should call it the Dawn diet. I am still trying but having trouble losing weight. Can't exercise on my current medication. Bananas are great. I cant have nuts due to my colon issues. If I had nuts theyd have to put me in stirrups and have like an operation or something. So what if you can't have nuts? Lin- you mentioned choccies. Before my Sah, I never had chocolate. Now I eat it all the time. Is it some kind of brain high I'm seeking. I'll have some Mand M's after lunch and not good for the stomach. It is so hard to eat right on a tight shcedule. Trail mix? Need to lose 2 stone maam. David

Hello, Thanks for the update Wem. You have inspired me to try a weekend getaway. I have been afraid that working too much would kill me on the weekend. Still putting off the Florida trip until I'm sure as it will be expensive. Wife and I used to be the King and Queen of weekend getaways but only once since SAH. May do a weekend trip in the next month or so. Happy trails! David

Hello all: Went to doc yesterday re chest pains. EKG ok so guess its not that. He thinks I'm working too much but I've made it this far and not ready to cut back yet. At least I have his support on the work issue. Have all the symptoms of colon cancer so he wants me to go to hosp for colonoscopy. Not really looking forward to that but guess I'll have to. Could be polyps or could be nothing as always. Van- don't know how you could ever do 13 hour days. I'm sure they don't expect you too. Just did a 14 hour day of work and SAH meeting far away and it was not good. Dawn- Cant imagine driving all that way and then working. A healthy person would have trouble with that mary- No idea how you do it with that noise, dogs etc. Drive me crazy. Be well all, David

Hello, Well Dawn, it sounds like my house. I try to eat sensibly but if I don't eat enough I get the brain fog. My problem is if i eat a walnut I gain 3 pounds. It is hard to lose. Being on an anti-d is known to retain weight also. I have a banana after lunch and that seems to get me through to dinner. Working full time does not allow me to plan and be super picky about what I eat. There's jus not enough time. I used to manage an IT call center of 160 people that was so busy I didnt even take a lunch or eat. I didnt even have time to pee. I lived on granola bars. But I cant do that anymore. If I dont eat by noon the fog starts. And gets worse by the minute. I'm not giving up on losing weight but after 9 months of trying, eating healthy and not losing beginning to think it's too tough right now. Some people are naturally skinny and others not. Can someone roll me home today? David

Hi Amy, The discharge info in the US is slim and none. What I got I found online and from BTG. I am at 18 months and 50 percent health, far from recovered. If I had to pick 3 things to be told it would be: 1. Fatigue will be a major daily issue. Brochure on how to manage it would have been great. 2. No work for at least 3 months. I went back at 2 months and it has slowed my recovery. The reason I went back at 2 months was because my neurosurgeon was too lazy to help or refer me and got rid of me as fast as he could 3. To have access to a follow up Nurse who could help with long term recovery. And of course a mention of BTG and how this site can help survivors. Hope this helps. David

Hello BTW BTG'ers, Hope everyone is doing well. Just finished a rather bruising week. The end of January is tax time and statement time in the corporate world of the US. We were so busy for my little brain. Deadlines of January 31st to meet and year end statements of clients to analyze. I don't know how I work 40 hours a week using my brain to this capacity. Analyzing numbers, trends, results takes a tremdous amount of concentration. If you had a broken ankle, would you dig ditches full time? My new medication has given me a bit more stamina but I sure hope it slows down. Tuesday was having chest tightness (think just stress) and Wednesday shooting pains. But Thursday I strangely felt ok and keeping up and perhaps building stamina. Thursday night I went to serve dinner to homeless. Friday was tired and then our website went down at 2:30pm just to give me a final kick in the ass. Had dinner Friday night and fell asleep at 7pm. Woke up at 11, went to loo and Bk to bed. Saturday I woke up and legs and feet were pain like a 10. Couldnt get out of bed all day. Lovely wife massaged my legs in the evening. Sunday didnt feel great but got up and went to poker room. Played for a couple hours and won a few bucks. On the drive home, found a man trudging thru the snow in a wheelchair. Wow. Asked if he needed help. I gave him 20 dollars he said he would use for a cab ride home. Perspective. He did more good for me than I did for him. While playing poker, I was sitting next to a lovely chatty lass. We talked and we both agreed we hated smoky casinos. The poker ROOM is non smoking but not the rest of the casino. I mentioned to her that I need to stay away from smoke as had SAH. Her jaw dropped and said you had SAH? I said yes. She said. "You are a miracle". I said thank you for understanding. Turns out she is a nurse for stroke patients. Small world eh? We had a nice chat and she said to take care of myself. I do my best. The running thing lol. I so admire ya'll. I can barely walk. Tried running and felt like my brain was jello smushing around. Just doesnt feel right. dont think its a good idea for me. Mel- Nice to meet you. Hope you are doing well and wish you the best at work Sandi- Whats new Sandi Lou? Sorry about your dear pet honey. Miss my old Buddy too Dawn- Hope you are feeling better and car is OK. Crossing my fingers for you but loks like more trouble. You're doing smashing at work girl Wem- How are ya coming along Sarah Lou- Chat soon dear, work killing me. Mary- Having similar problems at work with annoying co-workers. May have to re-vist my condition with some. Think I may look for a neuro psych at Pain CLinic Friday. Need someone who understands work psychology Sorry to anyone I've missed, Hope everyone is well, David

Hello RB-R, Don't believe we've met but it's good to see you posting. I am 1 1/2 years on and have the same symptoms. I have headaches, some nausea but the big killer is fatigue. My legs hurt every day. Fatigue is like a 9 or 10 most days. Working full time doesnt help. I have a few good days but not enough. I have given up on doctors except my pain clininc because I have found that for me the doctors in the USA don't believe my symptoms. My GP is nice but he doesnt know SAH that well. Not saying anyone should give up on docs thats just me. If you have time, read some of the posts here, some folks are trying some meds for fatigue that may help. I'm sure others may have answers as well. You're not alone certainly. Follow the advice of your moniker RB-R Rest, hot Bath and Relaxation. Nice to see you. David

Teech, So does this mean you're cleared for all physical activity now? David

Hi Ya'll: I agree with all the sounds and would like to add plastic grocery bags ruffling. My wife rustles the bags and it is like in MY BRAIN. Deffo think I have bionic hearing. GG- The idiot kid next door warms his car like 3-4 TIMES A DAY. He's 21 and coming and going all the time. Their driveway is about 10 feet from my bedroom. Not to mention the new trend in being in annoying kids is they cut a hole in the muffler so they can show their buddies how LOUD their cars are. Gonna shove about 3 bananas in there and see how his car works. You can hear him drive away about a mile down the road. I keep my TV so low you can barely hear it. What about the screaming on game shows and stuff? Do they have to scream? Ok rant over. David

Hello Cworden, You came to the right place. Many of us here have had similar experiences with SAH, work, tiredness and know how you feel. It seems you went back a little too early and are just having a setback. My neurosurgeon told me to go back when "I felt ready" which was after 2 months. Much too soon. I work as a Corporate Financial Advisor and I use my brain 40 hours a week analyzing and calculating figures as well. It is really a stress on the brain and causes severe fatigue. If you are able to take a step back in hours, you should do so if your employer allows you to. You should tell your neurologist you need more time (if you do), they may not volunteer it. But I'm sure they would be willing to write you off. I am currently working against doctors (neurlogoists) orders of cutting back hours, but I work for a small company that needs me and they have worked with me all the way so I feel as if I owe them the old college try. But dont be like me! I have felt the "out of body" experience before also. I used to go home after work, lay down at 6 and wake up at 11 and not know who I was or where I was becasue of exhaustion. But it does improve over time. As Sandy said, refer to the Back to Work thread under Subarachnoid Hemorraghe Disucssion. There are many there that have been thru what you have. Good luck and let us know if you ever have questions and how you are getting on. David

Hi all: Thanks to everyone for responding. It was smashing. It is interesting to see how we are all so different.I work in Finance and work with numbers all day so forgive me for being hung up on a number. Plus I go the Pain Clinic once a month and they say "How is your pain on a scale from 1 to 10"? We can all maybe look back 6 months to a year and see how we are doing. Best of health to all and 100%! Thanks, David

Hi Wem, I am thinking the same thing. I would like to take a vacation this year. None since SAH. Wife and I usually go to Florida in May for our anniversary. But it is hot there. I love to lay in the sun but not sure if my little head can handle the heat. Too many Staycations though. We will have to fly. I am holding off at the mo but getting a good price means booking early. if anyone has gone to a hot location and enjoyed, please let me know or I can start a new thread. Dont want to spend three grand and be miserable. Guess i could lay under a shady tree but what fun is that? We'll see. David

Hello BTG BTW'ers, Thought I would pop in for an update. Last week was grueling but I got thru unscathed. My co-worker called in sick on Thursday and Friday so for two days I did two peoples jobs for 9 hours. Not easy. But proud. Every day is an accomplishment for me. 40 hours is a challenge but I am sort of getting used to it. With the New Year, I have my sick and vacation time reset so hope to do better. My goal is to not have any sick days for 1st quarter. That would be until March 31st. Anyone want to cheer me on? The thing is every day is a sick day for me. Every day is a 24 hour hangover. As we all know there are those days that we are just dead tired and feel as if hit by bus. That was today but came in anyway. I'm hoping those days are few and far between. The benefits are certainly well and having a paycheck and medical dont get me wrong. Lets all make a lotto pact. I will give to all BTG'ers if I win trust me. I want to give a big shout out to Back to Work people who do physical work. I give you so much credit and don't know how you do it. those that I can remeber are Sarah, MaryB, SL, Carl. Forgive me for anyone I've missed. Wem- Is it 7.5 hours a day or week? It seems you work more than you intend Jay Kay- Nice to see you here, you have wonderful insight Sandi- FYI- I am building some stamina but not as much as I'd like. Need to lose weight and walk. HELP this fatty out! Dawn, How is 40 hours going, you seem to be doing well. Hope car is ok now Mary- Wish I was as tough as you, you never complain. And for all of ya'll whi think I'm negative. Only 5096 days til retirement!!!!! David

Hello Mikey, We have not met, but I empathize with your blight. High BP is not a huge deal, they have meds that control them quite well. I take them and they work great. If you want and anti-d, take it, it might help. Bust most of all remember the song form the early 70's from America called Tin Man. It says "no Oz never did give nothin to the Tin Man. that he didn't, didn't already have" Thats your heart, no one can take that away. Good luck and best wishes, David

The new haircut has you more aerodynamic!

You did participate last year GG and said 70%. Still the same? Hopefully better! David

Hello to all and Happy New Year: It seems we have alot of new members so would like to see how everyone is doing. First of all welcome to any new members. I have been here since Oct 2011. It has been a great site and a life saver for me. Last year in January I posted a thread of Temperature Check which just means "How are you feeling?" If I have the privilige to do so I may do this every January. If you are able to give a number to your health that would be great. Obviously 100% would be great and tip top shape, before SAH health if that applies. For example, 80% would be able to go to work, do most things and function ok. Last year I posted that I was at 72% health. Sadly, that has gone down to 40-60% on a daily basis. Good days are 60% and bad may be 30% or 40%. Last year in January I was working 28 hours. Now I work 40 hours. Certainly part but not all of the problem. For those who particpated last year, thank you and you may want to compare your numbers. And you can find the other thread in January of 2012. I'm not smart enough to figure out how to link it. I would love to hear from those that are doing well, those that are struggling, anyone who wishes to contribute. Think of it as a mini-diary. there are no wrong answers. So if have to give myself one number it's 50%. My day and life is a coin flip. Ok maybe 51 and I'm a majority owner I hope to here from many and i wish everyone wonderful health for 2013! Thanks, David

Hello: Thanks so much to all who responded. Don't mind me, I'm just a dark Scorpio. I was in a rut and couldn't get out. It's what we call the dead of winter and can be gloomy. Saturday I listened to some music. That helped. Then I went and played poker and won a few hundred dollars (I lost last week so I don't win EVERY time) and cashed out my chips. I asked for some ten dollar bills and drove around the city and stopped a few homeless people who were walking in the street and gave them money. They need it more than I do. These were elderly people walking out in the 15 degree cold. They were very thankful and said I must be blessed to do this. I said no but I survived a stroke and the Lord brought me back to help others. I'll have to be my own Hospice and Homeless helper apparently. Daff- I used to love the small things, I will again. You make alot of sense. I wish I could do medit but I'm just way too ADD lol, i would be off dreamin in minutes. GG- You reminded me of my old dog Buddy, he was always under foot as a puppy. Poor thing I stepped on him all the time. Then I realized he was herding me. He was Shetland Sheepdog. Fond memories thank you. Wem- Thank you, the coaster is going up now ! Dawn- You're so understanding. I need to get back to the small things. Last week my stickers would have been pictures of someone poking their eyes out. Me! SL- Ty dear. The beach sounds lovely. I might push you down in the sand and rub sand on ya. And help ya up of course! Thats what kids do. JayKay- Thank you- Nice to meet you. I need to see the forest again. I will. Mary-Mich winters are long, like my teeth Pooh- Your song always cheers me up. Nice to see you again. Lisa- Your idea sounds right. I think others have spoken on growth hormone. a trip to the doc is on the way. TY. Love to all, David

Hello all: Been out for a few weeks and am just having the winter blahs. After holiday blues too. Doesnt help with SAH either. Christmas was ok with wife but Xmas Eve was nightmare cause had fight with evil sister in law who showed up at 2pm uninvited for a 7pm dinner out. I was sick and resting, and told her to come back later,sorry not happenin! Wife took my side after much ado. Ok the point you ask? Depressed lately. I NEVER got depressed before SAH but now not much joy in life. Nothing to look forward to. On anti-d and see many doctors. They dont really care. Trying to plan a vacation in May but seems far away. I'm 48, feel 78 and health is not good. Need a good talk with mum but she's gone. So far from stabbing myself in the leg with a rusted knife, I'm at a loss to find any rainbows at the mo. GG, can you send Tyler over? I think I need companion dog. They always love ya dont they?You and Dylan are welcome of course too. I used to be able to just go out on a Friday night and bang one on but that is not really possible anymore. Just went on a new headache med and it knocked me out. Slept for a 12 hours and had wierd dreams of ALL of my family as if my life was passing before me. And as I mentioned another dream that Joe Pesci made me rob a butcher shop and had gangsters chasing me. Any ideas for cheering me up or shall I jump on a bed of nails to have some sort of feeling in my life? Stayed away for a few weeks as to try and not bring others down but not finding and lights at end of tunnel David

Carolyn, Sounds like a great idea, count me in! Mary and I are about 3 hours away (the way I drive). That way Mary can poke me in the eyes in real life instead of virtually. Any way I can help please let me know. I think I look fat on camera but maybe by then ... Mary will not have a hair out of place. I look forward to hearing more about it Carolyn. Thanks. David

Macca, I am thrilled to hear your news. You have been a great support to all of us (me included) and your perseverance shows. I think we all root for each others wellness and I think thats what sets us apart from other forums. It's been a year of pain for me and i can only hope for next year. I would eat grass, shoot me up with horse pills or whatever to have two good days a week. So perhaps some day my time will come. In the meantime, thanks for sharing your success and it does make us that are suffering hopeful. Have a fab holiday and enjoy the new found freedom. Happy Holidays, David

Aw Win, You scared us Pooh Pooh Head. We were worried about you. Glad you're ok. Did they find a jukebox in your head while looking? lol j/k be well xxxx David

Hello, Good question. I drink when I feel well enough to, but thats not often. My day is a 24 hour hangover. But I do find it affects me much more than it used to when I do imbibe. As always the voice of reason Lin has it right. I always drink water with my vodka. And drink tons of water before I go to bed. David

You had better get that checked out Win. Or else I'm gonna come over there and sing to you and then that really hurt your head. Hope you are ok pal. Let us know.