Hey Charlie One thing I learned very early on was not to set my stock by everyone else's stall i.e. just because your friend's baby was walking by one doesn't mean that yours is better or worse if they started before or after one. At five and half months I was a complete wreck. I had headaches every day, couldn't be left alone as I was too anxious and was having counselling. I hit the 1 year mark and it was as if a switch had been flicked. I stopped needed sleep during the day, I had more energy, the headaches had all but gone etc. We are all different and will recover at different rates. Key here is to listen to your body and make sure you stay hydrated. 12 years on and I work full time (37 hours a week) in a busy school office with half an hour break. Don't get me wrong, I come home some days with a headache or shattered but no where near as bad as I was 10 years ago say. I still notice improvements now and for me its because I'm keeping my brain active. At your stage is recovery I couldn't read a book because I'd forget where I got to the day before, so I started reading magazines and doing crosswords and word searches - it keeps the brain ticking but you're not exerting yourself physically. Do little things that work best for you - if you need to sleep, then sleep; if you want to walk, then walk. Baby steps can lead to huge leaps, you are in control of this, it's just figuring out the best "this" for you.

Hey Joan Glad everything went well - perhaps you can refer to your anni as Spidey now (i.e. Spiderman ). Mine's called Monkey haha

He was my consultant Bill, but his brother was the one that operated on me in Derriford, Plymouth.

Hi there If this has become and issue for you, it may be worth taking a trip to the GP. Some people can manage on 4 hours a night - but I don't know how. Are you getting any more sleep during the day?? If so this may be the reason. I struggled but I was sleeping for up to 4 hours during the day and then struggled at night which just ended up being a vicious circle.

Think its called "White Coat Syndrome" - my Doc told me that almost all patients' BP will be higher the first time its taken as we're all so worried about the results - when we see a Doc for BP test it naturally goes higher apparently, that's why some do it twice.

Bill, glad that you've overcome some of the negativity that can surround a SAH and have come back to the fold, as it were x

Yes, it was - she's back in Moorgreen, Eastwood now though.

Agree with Super on this one - you sound like you are doing way too much. I'm 12 years post SAH and if I was doing all that you're doing, I'd have an almighty headache too. Most of us I think, have been cast aside once we're physically mended - it took a call to the crisis team from husband to get a doctor to look at me over a weekend and the my GP immediately referred me to a counsellor. As for the not being able to take painkillers, I really feel for you there - but these could be stress headaches - have you tried a cold pack on the forehead or the back of the neck? These work wonders for me when the painkillers don't touch the pain. The counselling - definitely recommend this route - I was all over the place emotionally after my SAH and decided on the counselling route rather than the drug route - cannot tell you how amazing it was to verbally off load my fear, anger and somewhat guilt to someone who was not emotionally attached to me - the ease on the headache front was amazing - literally like a load had been lifted. Try it, before dismissing it, you might be pleasantly surprised and somewhat relieved.

Good idea to call him Kris - remember on BTG we can only give experienced thoughts and opinions, we cannot give medical advice and nothing stated here should be taken as given as we are all different - even your neurologist would not give the same advice and opinion to two different people.

Excellent that he's so much better - the first year anni-versary is always the most poignant - enjoy and celebrate well x

Hey Pat Could your GP give you contact details for the Neuro Nurses at the hospital where you were treated and maybe put in a call to them to let them know you want to ask a few questions? I wasn't treated at the hospital where I live and have no idea if there's a Neuro Nurse or not to be honest - but its worth a try. You don't know til you ask - good luck x

Hi there No help from outside sources - I just kept my brain active doing crossword puzzles and word searches etc. Try Brain Games and memory games - I like to think that doing all of this helped my brain to "rewire" itself. Only today my colleague was amazed at my memory as this afternoon I'd remembered a pupil was off today just from glancing at a report this morning. At 9 months my memory was still a big problem for me - but only to me, as it was far better than those I worked with at the time and was probably still better than their's after my SAH . Time is a great healer (also a cliche but true). Don't beat yourself up because your memory is not what it was. The more my brain worked on things, the better my memory became. Don't get me wrong, I still forget things or forget someone telling me something.

Hi Pat My understanding re aspirin is that it's only suggested if your "stroke" was of the "clot" type rather than the "bleed" type. I was advised to avoid blood thinners as my "stroke" was a "bleed". The point of the article is that it states that there are different types of "stroke" one of which is a bleed on the brain - so to say that you HAVE NOT had a stroke isn't strictly true and therefore surely damage can be caused. 2 years in I had no where near the stamina I have now - and I have to admit, I have had to push myself to get where I am now. I work 37 hours a week and then come home and do some admin for my husband and often proof read artworks for him before they go back to his clients (these can sometimes be in various languages and range from cartons to leaflets). Time is a great healer and some need more of it than others - keeping hydrated is a massive aid to recovery, especially for the brain. The psychological side is by far one of the biggest side effects I've had to deal with. Your specialist is probably better equipped to help with your questions than your GP (General Practitioner - basically know a lot about a little). Mine told me my aneurysm was 2cm!!! It was 2mm - he'd looked at a scan and saw the clot around the aneurysm and assumed that was the actual aneurysm!!! Luckily when I saw my specialist I asked him and he put me straight!! You are definitely not alone - we have all been there and ended up with more questions than we started with. Yes, first week back at school after the summer hols and it's sheer madness - but I love it

Surprised that he said this as a brain hem is a stroke - by the very definition:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke Maybe you should point this out to him next time you see him. I had damage to the brain due to my SAH and these can clearly be seen as white areas on my scan. 12 years in, I struggle with memory and the right words if I'm tired. I know my memory isn't what it was, but then it was near on eidetic before my SAH and I very rarely forgot anything. Now I know memory is probably 90% by comparison but to hubby and daughter they don't "see" a difference as they're memories are so bad anyway!! I work in a very bust primary school office and there are never 5 mins to take a breath, so at the end of a day I'm normally shattered and I've usually hit the brick wall by Friday evening, which luckily means I have two days to recover and the school holidays to look forward to.

Hi there No, sorry, I haven't. My husband, daughter, son-in-law and father all go to the same Chiropractor have a lot of treatment. My daughter has been going for years and has some deep treatment (acupuncture, physical manipulation, cupping and tens treatment). None of them have suffered any repercussions from their treatment. Unfortunately it may be that it was complete coincidence that you were treated shortly before your pNSAH - you could have easily have been hanging out the washing or getting out of the bath - if it was going to go, it was going to go. Glad that you're finding the site useful, but as mentioned we cannot give medical advice as we are not medically trained and we cannot give advice / opinion on where fault / cause may or may not lay.