Hello everybody, my name is Vicki and I had a subarachnoid haemorrhage in 2014. Please forgive my posting style as I’ve never done this before, so I don’t really know what I’m doing! Also, apologies for only just joining because the truth is up until now I had a good recovery. I’m just wondering if any of you have had any recovery issues, in particular bad headaches, later in your recovery. I had the initial recovery slowness, the feeling of a drip of water running across my brain, I still have what I call ‘slump’ days, but in the last year I’ve had increasing headaches on the right hand side of my head, not migraines (I get them too and they are different.) The headaches are increasing in frequency and severity. Initially I put it down to my shift pattern but it’s come to light recently but even when I am relaxed well rested and well fed these headaches are still occurring. I have seen my GP and I’m seeing her again today. I’ve started a new medication which seems to be helping somewhat but not entirely. I’m also getting nosebleeds with these headaches. My GP seems to think this is unrelated but I feel it probably is very related. My operational team at work want me to be referred back to neurology and I think I will be asking my GP for this referral today. I understand everyone’s recovery is different, I have now included my GP and I will be seeking further clinical advice from the experts, and I’m not looking here for that kind of advice from yourselves, but I’m not sure why am developing these problems five years after the haemorrhage. My skull plate is the standard titanium with three bolted screws and a mesh also. Apparently I’m only one of a few people to have the mesh inserted, and I know there has been lots of media chat about these meshes I’m not overly concerned about that, I may discuss it with my neurologist. It’s just the timing that I’m confused about… why am I getting such bad headaches now five years later. Are any of you subarachnoid survivors who have had a late onset problems, symptoms, or worsening issues. My last three yearly scan showed absolutely no problems, no further aneurysms, so I’m not overly concerned about that, although I may ask for the next one to be brought forward. I will check back with you later assuming I can figure out how, I’m trying to see where the replies are and the tabs are, this is all very new to me so apologies if it looks as if I’m ignoring you, I’m not!

Hello, I had a non-aneurysm SAH almost 5 months ago on 20th May 2019. I spent 16 days in ICU plus another week in the ward before returning home to continue my recovery. On the third day after my bleed I developed Hydrocephalus and had surgery to insert a temporary "brain drain" which stayed in place for 13 days draining excess fluid from my brain. There were a few other little complications (vasospasm, collapsed lungs etc) along the way but I won't go into all that now. My wife joined this forum shortly after I returned home. She shared her experience on the forum of what had happened to me and shared with me the responses she got from others on this site. I have found the information and experiences that people have shared with my wife to be very helpful and encouraging so thank you. Three months after the bleed I returned to the hospital for an MRI and a review with the neurosurgeon team. They were happy with my recovery and were reassuring but did tell me that the MRI showed I had enlarged ventricles or larger than normal ventricles. They were not particularly concerned about this as they said they could be normal size for me but if I showed signs of altered cognitive functioning then I should seek urgent medical attention for Hydrocephalus. I have a question which I am sure has been asked many times on this forum but I will ask again specific to my concern. I had bad headaches for several weeks after the SAH which I took paracetamol for. Over time the headaches reduced rarely requiring pain relief. Five months later I still constantly have a very dull headache, I describe it as feeling thick. If I bend over or squat I get pain in the head especially if I have been active and tired. I spent several weeks after my SAH just convalescing, walking to the back yard to pat the dogs was my first big outing. I have gradually increased my activity over time. Now I physically feel as if I can do anything as normal but if I do exert myself physically I get increased headaches and fatigue which last for several days. For example, three weeks ago I did a couple of days gardening which involved mowing lawns, trimming hedges. This resulted in bad headaches and fatigue and I needed to rest up to recover. More recently I shared the driving with my wife on a long distance holiday. Prior to SAH I could drive long distance i.e. 500-800 kms in a day with normal fatigue safety breaks without any ill effect. However, after 2 days of driving about 500 km each day I have had bad headache and fatigue which has taken three days to ease with help from paracetamol and daily sleeps. I am finding difficulty in working out the balance of what I can do or how much I can do. My concern is that if I overdo it I will delay my full recovery. So my question is; if I work, drive or do activity which causes me to be fatigued and have increased headaches is this likely to delay my full recovery if there is such a thing? This question is important to me because I am a locomotive driver. I am currently not allowed to drive a locomotive until at least 6 months after the SAH and not until assessed as fit for work by my employer's medical advisers. I want to make a successful transition back to work so I want to get the balance right in regards to how much I can push myself. How do I figure out what my limits are? Sorry about the long story, but hard to give context and make brief. Any suggestions, advice, opinions are welcome. Thanks again to those who supported and encouraged my wife Veronica. When I was in ICU and very unwell Veronica was amazing and kept a vigil by my side keeping me connected to the earth when at times in seemed so easy to just slip away. I wake up every morning and think "it is great to be alive". Wishing you all the best in your journeys of recovery...