Nic

Hi Amy , i havent been on here for far too long ( work is once again taking up a lot of my time - lucky me ! ) but ive just noticed your post . This is an area im currently involved in on a voluntary basis with a health group in North East Derbyshire . In essence ive been a little 'SAH-centric' ( sic ) with my reasons for getting involved in the way that i have - id like to think that my efforts with the group can go some way to ensuring people like ' us ' ( fellow SAH patients ) dont have to go it alone in our recovery once we are discharged from hospital . I dont want people going through what i went through in other words . I know now that the overwhelming majority of the worst i went through during my rehabilitation seems to have been related to anxiety .... at the time i had absolutely no idea what it was and didnt know what to do for the best . Councilling helped me enormously and id like raise awareness and promote personal links to help bridge the gap there is between discharge from hospital and awareness that help exists and where to get it ! Do you still post/view the site ? Can we have a quick chat in order to ascertain whether or not we can help each other ? For the record , i was treated for my SAH in June 2012 in the Hallamshire and may i say thank you to you and all of your colleagues for the outstanding treatment i recieved . I have to say that the level of compassion , care and overall professionalism exhibited where i was treated ( N1 ) was simply breathtaking......thank you . Kind Regards Nick

Hi Jord , i havent been on the site for some time now but after a quick look i saw a couple of posts from you and can totally empathise with virtually everything you are going through . Heart racing , feeling faint and light headed , cant get your breath , pain and discomfort in your chest , feeling dizzy , weak and shaking legs and arms , hot flushes , blurred vision , upset stomach and feeling spacy , unreal and de-personalised ..... these are all recognised symptoms of acute anxiety . I'll bet you recognise most , if not all , of these feelings . I went through them all , some more than others . Bev sums it up perfectly ..... Anxiety is hell ! The worse thing about anxiety is the realisation that its a condition that is sadly a natural reaction to what we've been through . The key is recognising it for what it is , then you can deal with it . So when you wake with those truly terrible thoughts or feelings you can calm yourself and go back to sleep . The emotional turmoil you feel right now in relation to being left alone sounds an awful lot like something we all seem to have experienced . Before my SAH ( apprx 5 months ago ) id put myself down as one of the most mentally robust individuals i knew ..... virtually nothing phased me ..... untill the SAH that is . I was confused and really went through the mire mentally and physically . The panic attacks , the trips to the GP , the hospital A+E because i was convinced the repair had failed are all things weve done to a greater or lesser extent .... you are not on your own in this respect . And thats exactly the same as the loss in personal confidence you are experiencing right now and the fear you have of being alone . What you have to deal with now and how you deal with it are personal matters . Its tough to deal with . Im dealing with it successfully and ill be back at work next week and i cant wait . Time is a great healer aswell as all the other help you can get . Just remember ...... help is always there for you . Dont be afraid to seek it if you think you need it . You think theres something wrong then go to hospital or the GP and get it checked out , dont worry about doing that , its what the Health Service is there for . Get yourself a bit of councilling if you feel it will help talking to someone ( i did this and was astounded when i was handed a sheet with all the symptoms of anxiety , i realised it was what was wrong with me ) . And then of course theres this site aswell with some great people and support . Most importantly , remember , YOU WILL GET BETTER and be the mum you want to be . Good Luck

Well , so much for contacting the DVLA to clarify the situation . Ive now been told its NOT ok to drive !!!!!! Left hand ..... right hand :confused::confused::confused: Basically i was told today that untill the medical team receive a direct response from my specialist its a no to driving . In all honesty , thats exactly the response i was anticipating in the first instance i just found it really odd to be told two different things from two different people in one department . Just to muddy the waters still further , i was also informed that even if my neuro-consultant thought i was fine to drive following examination the DVLA's Medical team may still refuse ????? Oh well , i guess ill have to wait . The chap today did inform me that they wrote to my consultant yesterday so hopefully it wont be too long a wait .

Thanks for the replies . I was right to feel elated at what the DVLA told me then Im still going to ring them to get the news repeated Thanks for the heads up ref: driving and fatigue Gary , its something i hadnt really given too much thought to to be honest . Bagpuss , when you say you let your insurers know about the situation , when was that ? Was it once you'd been given the all clear by the DVLA and your specialist or when you surrendered your license ?

I attended am appointment with my specialist yesterday . It went about aswell as i dared hope After discussing many issues surrounding my SAH the conversation turned to driving . My specialist asked me a number of questions relating to Blackouts or fits of which ive had none and then proceeded to check my peripheral vision which was absolutley fine . At this point he advised me that in his opinion i was absolutely fine to drive and at some point the DVLA would be in touch with him and this is the message he'd give to them . Rather than trust to the DVLA to get around to contacting my specialist in a timely manner ( ) i enquired whether there was anything i could do to speed up this process . His advice was to contact them and see if i could speak to their medical team in order to try and speed things up . When i got home i contacted the DVLA straight away and spoke to the department who deal with medical issues . I enquired what the situation was now id received the all clear to drive from the specialist . After a short ammount of time i was advised that my case was in a queue awaiting examination by their specialists but i was ok to " carry on " driving ! I informed the person i was speaking to that i hadnt touched the car since the onset of my SAH but he still insisted i was ok to drive !!!!! Surely this cant be right ? Since i completed the DVLA's medical form to inform them of my SAH ive had absolutely no contact with , or correpsondence from , the DVLA . I'd love the advice given by the DVLA chap over the phone yesterday to be correct but it just doesnt seem to be the correct advice ive recieved . I will , of course , be ringing the DVLA again today , but has any one got any thoughts or advice regarding this ?

Hi Sarah , thanks for that , but you have absolutely no reason to apologise . Your initial answer was exactly what i was looking for . My initial reason for posting was a general query ref: the time it could potentially take before id be comfortably sleeping on both sides . The answer appears to be a conclusive " its down to individual circumstances " . Please dont read too much into my " ill adapt in the way you have " response ..... i was , rather poorly , attempting to applaud the efforts youve made , which i now know more about , to adapt to and overcome whatever difficulties you have experienced . You have my total respect for what youve done and i only hope i can respond in the way you have and deal with it . Thanks for your advice Sarah , take it easy , and keep going .

Sorry to hear that Sarah , still , if you,ve adapted to it , what am i whinging about ..... i'll just take a leaf out of your book and adapt to it aswell ( hopefully ) !

Thanks for the advice bagpuss and SarahLou . I guess it boils down to the individual and their own unique circumstances . I'll be honest , the reason i asked is purely and simply because to the discomfort i feel in my right shoulder because im always laying on that side . I'll have to give laying on the other side a " dry run " in sleepless mode for half an hour or so to see how i get on ! SarahLou .... 2 years ! Thats an awfully long time , isnt there anything that can be done about that ? P.S Apologies for asking the same question twice . I asked it in the " advice tips etc " section where all posts are , understandably , moderated before becoming visible . Mr impatient here posted once , ignored the advice , and posted a second time because i didnt have visibility of the first post immediately as it was being moderated .......... sorry

This may sound a little silly .. but ..Can anyone who had their SAH clipped tell me how long it was before they started/were comfortable lying on the affected area when they slept ? Two and half months since i had mine done and i still sleep on the unaffected side only

Hi Pineapple , i'm inclined to agree with Bev here . I had my SAH 7 days after your mum on the 6th of June so i would imagine we are in a similar situation in terms of recovery ( i had my SAH clipped btw not coiled ) . Ive experienced what your mum currently has to endure . On one particular occasion i had an hours sleep during the afternoon and woke up for no real reason but with a start/shock . I immediately got off the bed and was dizzy almost immediately . I made my way downstairs and the dizziness got progressively worse As this happened i noticed i was struggling to breathe and this also got progressively worse . Basically both the dizziness and breathlessness got so bad i thought i was going to pass out . After some time ( felt like an hour but was probably apprx 5 minutes ) i managed to calm myself down and gradually the dizziness and breathlessness eased although i still felt dreadful . I now know that these quite regular episodes i was experiencing were due to extreme anxiety and panic attacks that were a result of this feeling . Having read your post it sounds like your mum is suffering from the same thing . Id advise her to do what i did . Once id managed to calm myself down i rang the neuro department that had treated me and they advised me to get myself checked out by a medical professional in order to ensure my problems werent directly related to the SAH repair . I did tell them it was the first time id experienced these symptoms though i must confess that i had experienced mild dizzy spells before the latest , but not that severe and certainly not coupled with the breathlessness . I visited my GP to get myself checked out . He liased with the neuro dept whilst conducting the checks and everything was fine with me in a physical sense which was a real relief !!!!! I also had a good chat with a councillor about my feelings and it was of enormous benefit in understanding what the hell was happening to me .... ill be having more chats over the coming months ! I feel much better now in myself both physically and mentally because ( a ) i know im on the mend , and ( b ) i now realise many of the problems i do experience ( they are nothing like i used to endure ..... we all improve over time ) can be heavily influenced by anxiety/panic in relation to them thereby making them much worse . I still feel " off " though and whilst im aware of what it is , im still going to talk about these issues with a councillor as for me i am determined to recover both physically and mentally and i want to learn to fully understand the mental side of recovery as its crucial to my overall health and well being . I both sympathise and empathise with your mum because ive been through what she has . My advice would be to get in touch with her neuro dept/GP etc etc who will be able to re-assure her that the problems are not related directly to her SAH repair ( the repairs working )and nothing else is physically untoward and then she'll realise that anxiety is probably causing the problems shes experiencing or certainly exacerbating them . Remember Pineapple , your mum has just experienced a massive shock to her body and mind . It really does take some getting used to and she should not be afraid to use every tool at her disposal to recover from what shes had done ( If shes a real old tough nut , a bit like myself , who ordnarily would laugh at the thought of using a councillor tell her from me .... the humble pie she'll have to eat by using one tastes extra-ordnarily good Its worth it - believe me ! ) Good luck and heres hoping shes ok now and her recovery goes well .

Hey up Julie , welcome aboard ..... youve made a great decision to join imo . Got to agree with Skippy here aswell .... if you want the tattoo , you go for it . You clearly deserve it Out of interest , are you any good at filling DVLA notification forms in ???? If you are , i may know someone who'd appreciate a little help with one

Hi Cath , thanks very much for the welcome . Like everyone else's on here , its greatly appreciated . Congratulations on your return to work . It is clearly taking a massive ammount of personal effort on your behalf and i have nothing but admiration for your determination in this respect . Funny thing is , i was sat on my sofa last Thursday watching TV in relative comfort and i thought to myself if this rate of recovery continues i can easily see myself returning to work in some capacity in four or five weeks . Fast forward to Saturday afternoon and id been out visiting friends and family for longer than id been anywhere since my release from hospital and i felt absolutely dreadful . Splitting headaches , dizziness and overwhelming tiredness lasted me untill this afternoon and im now finally overcoming it . Id rung the Hospital and the GP who liased with them aswell to find out that this kind of episode was a " normal " part of my condition/recovery and would probably happen for months !!!!!!! This made me realise what a fool id been believing just a matter of days earlier that my return to work was almost imminent Once again , congrats on your return to work and let me just say , i completely agree with you on the benefits of this site ..... you arent the only one who's been lifted when youve really needed it ! Long may it continue

Hey up Mike . Im really sorry to hear about the problems youve been experiencing recently and i wish you nothing but a speedy recovery . Im afraid i dont know too much about this specific field . Id read myself that a lot of people who experienced an SAH found the use of a councillor/psychiatrist to be of great use and it seems that in one way or another , so will you . For what its worth i think youve done exactly the right thing coming on here and asking for peoples advice as there are clearly a lot of people on here who know a great deal about the subject at hand . The only possible advice i could even dream of offering on this is the following . The ultimate decision for which way you go with this should be yours . Take on board all of the advice given , weigh up the pro's and cons in relation to the problems you are experiencing , make your own decision and try to stick to it . Just remember mate ...... theres no right or wrong here . Some benefit from going one way , some from another . Some may even benefit from a combination of the two . Whats crucial for you is ensuring the course of action you embark upon is right for YOU and only YOU .. Good luck with whichever way you decide to go ...... you'll crack it mate . It may take time , but im sure you will .

Hi Mike , thanks for the advice mate . I'd love to give your advice a whirl but with the way i feel right now i reckon the 70 odd miles to my nearest arcades may prove a little problematic for me Many thanks for all the advice regarding travel and driving insurance . Im particularly happy with the news about driving insurance .... whilst i fully anticipated being told insurance for travel would be a little more expensive , i was absolutely certain id hear that driving insurance would be significantly more so Im still attempting to navigate the multi-page DVLA notification of my condition , i'll let you all know how i get on with that in the next couple of months when ie managed to complete it all Skippy , many thanks to you for not ripping the proverbial out of me ref: the relative ages of my children and myself .... does that mean you're one of the funny ( ha ha ) ones on here , or one of the others you refer too :confused::lol:

All i know is the aneurysm i had repaired was on the left hand side of my head towards the front . Quite what this part of the Brain controls is unknown to me at the moment :confused::confused: Maybe ill get more visibility around this issue when i next see the specialist ?

Hey up Mickey ..... hello to you too my friend . The gauntlet you throw down of aiming to be as good , as daft or both better than you looks a little daunting for me im afraid .... especially in light of you painted face Penny : You are spot on once again , it was Mr Patel who operated on me too !!! He was absolutely brilliant with me and my family aswell . But as with you the level of info given upon discharge was negligible to say the least . Im certain there is very good reason for this , im just not so sure what it is ! On the flight/holiday front , i think its great that your/my/our situation doesn't provide obstacles to us getting away as and when we like but i am a little bit concerned about your comments regarding insurance . What exactly are the problems here ? Im dreading the answer to this as im already in a little bit of a tangle regarding the situation with the DVLA/Driving and my ability to drive and the likely impact upon car insurance if and when i get the license back Onwards and upwards i suppose

Many thanks Winb143 - i only wish the knee was still playing up right now and was the only thing i was worrying about right now On a more serious note , i truly wish this " good day - bad day " kind of life im living at the moment sorts itself out shortly . I genuinely have days right now where i perhaps manage and hour or two out of bed per day . I think this is the tiredness bit kicking in to be honest . I reckon i need to quite quickly find exactly what im comfortable doing right now. I either do too much or too little right now and i could really do with finding that happy medium right now

KelBel and Winb143 : Youve both hit the nail on the head with your comments in more ways than one . I too struggle to understand the lack of aftercare/advice that comes with your discharge . As recently as two years ago i underwent knee surgery and was discharged with a daily plan of action detailing my rehabilitation . I undergo fundamentally more serious surgery two years on and im discharged with virtually nothing . The only reason i can think of for this seems to be the way that everyone appears to be affected slightly differently to each other :confused::confused::confused: And yes Winb143 - the computer can and does make your head hurt ! Ive not been on much at all since my first posts for this reason . I need to listen to you all more often !!!! Penny : I do hope you enjoy your holiday - i was supposed to be in Spain right now , just up the coast from Barcelona . I cannot begin to tell you the relief i got when i read one of the articles over on the Home page relating to flying after an SAH . I was somehow under the impression that id be at least two years before i could even contemplate taking any kind of flight ..... with the weather we seem to be experiencing right now it was a relief to see that i almost certainly dont have to !!!!!

Thanks for the welcome Skippy . And thanks for the reminder of what the " introductions " section of the forum is all about :oops: My names Nick , im a mid 40 year old Father of a little boy and a girl who is happily involved in a relationship with Jo . Ive been involved in Retail Management for a long time now and this has seen me live and work around the country for some time . I am , however , originally from Sheffield and ive been back living here for sometime now ( hence the relatively young children in relation to my age ) . I dont know what overcame me there Skippy , i guess my condition right now tends to overcome who i am ...... im sure i'll learn as i progress ! P.S By way of defence i did put some of this in my user profile

Hi all , many thanks for your welcome and good wishes ..... they are greatly appreciated . I'll start with the questioning of you all once i stop reading all of the info on here ! Im afraid my brain and i arent firing on all cylinders by a long way yet and the fact ive spent a fair ammount of time reading a small part of the available information on here means im unable to commit to much by the way of questioning due to the call of bed Bagpuss : ive just read the " Letter from your Brain " you referred to . Thanks for the very sensible advice . Im lucky in a way i guess as My Brain still very much runs the show at the moment ( see above ) . Kempse : You are right , i was treated in Sheffield Hallamshire Hospital just like you . Even though i do officially live in Sheffield i was actually admitted to Chesterfield A&E in the first instance as a live far closer to this Unit than the Northern General in Sheffield . The info thats available on here is absolutely brilliant and ive learnt more from here in the last day or so than i have in the last 4 weeks . For some reason i left hospital with virtually no knowledge of what had happened to me nor what i should/could expect going forward which i found to be very surprising ??? So , once again many thanks for all your well wishes but it will probably be at least a couple of days untill i fully join in with all the forums fun , games and singing and dancing .

Before i formally introduce myself please allow me to say a big thank you to each and everyone of you that posts on here . Reading your comments has given me both the confidence to sign up and the optimism to fully contribute to the forum ....... once again , thank you all ! Well , what can i say ? Its been exactly 4 weeks since my SAH was operated upon and 4 weeks and 1 day since i was admitted to Hospital in the first instance . The onset of my SAH happened in the very early hours of the morning . I simply turned over in bed and this heralded the onset of my " headache " . Unusually , or so it seems , my headache was prevalent at the front of my head . I took paracetamol and tried to sleep to no avail and ended up setting the ball rolling in getting myself into the local A&E . After a couple of hours in the local A&E and a scan i was whisked away to a nearby Hospital Unit that specialises in this kind of thing as it was them that had effectively diagnosed it via email ! Whilst in the new unit the original diagnosis was confirmed by a further scan and an Angiogram . I have to say that the staff in the new unit were absolutely brilliant in every way . This sadly , however , was not enough to keep my spirits up . To say i was devastated as the news developed is something of an understatement . By now my family was involved and i did my level best to remain calm and philosophical about it in front of them but the times i spent on my own were very low moments indeed . To cut a long story short the aneurism that i had to have repaired was clipped . Sadly it couldnt be coiled because it was ( A ) too large , and ( B ) had calcified due to the time it had been present . I was in hospital for two weeks and allowed home thereafter . Whilst i was re-admitted for a day a week later for a few checks i havent been too bad since release although i have a million and one questions id like to ask at some point or another What i will say at this point is that ive remained in good spirits since the operation . Ive had some absolutely shocking days overall but it appears that ive kind of stumbled onto the great trick many people on here have in keeping your spirits up ......... remember what you were like last week , or the week before that , or the one before that , etc etc etc Now for the rest of my life post SAH And im certain that with the help and support of all you good people itll be something to look forward to