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Magal

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Hi all

My name is Maggie Chapman, I live in Yeovil, Somerset and today is my 57th birthday! :-D Although I haven't written my story yet I will give you a brief background as to why I've joined.

I suffered an SAH on the morning of Tuesday April 13th this year and thanks to the speedy reaction of my work colleagues, the local ambulance service and the fantastic neuro department at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol I survived to see this birthday!!

My aneurism was fixed by endovascular coiling on the Wednesday and 17 days later I was released home to the care of my husband (what a nurse!!) along with a pile of painkillers etc.

Apart from periods of real tiredness the one thing I am finding hard to contend with are the headaches. :devil: Whilst I don't get them all the time when they do arrive they really get me down. :mad2: Paracetamols help to a degree and I have the backup of codeine if I feel they're really necessary but what I want to ask you all is - how long am I likely to be like this? I can tell from your posts that I'm not going to ever really get over this thing completely but I hope this headache thing will pass.

Please let me know how you all got on and what I'm likely to expect. I realise everyone is different but I want to have a positive outlook on the rest of my life. After-all, I've been given a second chance and I want to make the most of it!

I am really pleased to have discovered this site; my one real concern was not having people who have suffered similar to me to talk to. There doesn't seem to be any local groups that I can find and I suppose the power of the web will let me speak to a much wider audience. I look forward to hearing from you and will write my whole story when I feel more up to it.

Maggie

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Hi Maggie, Welcome and congratulations for surviving:-D. Don't panick it's really early days for you . It's always best to ask your doctor or get info from the specialist nurse if your worried about anything. Personally I took regular pain killers for at least six weeks then 'as and when' which for me was quite often for the first few months. Drink plenty of water it does help. The head aches do ease off eventually. :-P Good luck Maggie x

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Hi Maggie

Welcome to BTG and a Happy Birthday!

You are very early in your recovery and headaches will be regular. Make sure you are drinking your 3 ltrs of fluid each day, as this helps keep your brain hydrated. It's also your body's way of saying slow down. I had daily headaches and was told to take a painkiller as soon as I felt it come on, I was trying to wait as long as possible and hoping that I wouldn't need to take a painkiller. My GP said this was the wrong tactic as the headache would fatigue me more! It does get better but it can take 3 months for the blood to be absorbed by your body, it has to be processed through your kidneys, again why lots of fluid is needed. It does get better, I'm sure you will start to feel the headahces becoming less frequent and less in their intensity. I think it was about 9 weeks before my mine lessened. I still got headaches but it was because I was doing more and using my brain more. I sort of saw it as a "positive" pain. I looked at it that way because like any muslce that's been injured, when you start to excersice it, it can be painfull but at the same time the muscle is getting better and stronger. From about October until now I have had about 4 headaches that have required me to take codeine, other headaches have gone with paracetamol and sometimes only 1 tab is needed. Another thing I would do after a few months post SAH was to go into a quiet room, pull the curtains and rest my brain for a bit and the headache would ease. Even when I returned to work in December I would go to the loo, put the light out and sit for 5 mins and this stopped the headache.

As i said before it is very early days for you and I assume you are still being monitored by your GP. Is he checking your blood pressure? It's always a good idea to tell your GP about the headaches as it was my GP that noticed mine were getting less frequent and less painful.

Take care.

Edited by Liz D
spelling!
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Hi Maggie and welcome :D

The fatigue is something that most of us never seem to get over completely. I still have bouts of fatigue 4 years on.

As for the headaches, everyone seems to be different. For some the headaches ease or disappear completely. For others, although they ease, they never seem to completely go away. In my own experience, I had headaches 24/7 for about 8 weeks. After that they started to ease and by 6 months, they had all but gone. Like you, I took paracetamol and occasionally codeine, but codeine doesn't suit everyone. I don't seem to get headaches any more.

It's early days for you, so take it easy and drink plenty of fluids. That will help. If the headaches don't seem to be getting any better, see your GP.

Regards

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Hi Maggie (great name!), Liz & Bogbrush (another great name!!!),

Thanks for getting in touch. It seems I'm doing the right things. I've been to my GP twice since leaving hospital for blood pressure checks & general chit chat about my situation. He suggested the same as you Liz - don't wait for the pain to hit hard but take paracetamol as a matter of course for a few weeks to give me some respite and help me sleep.

As for the water, well - I'm drinking gallons at the moment (good job we live in a bungalow & the loo is close)!!!! Can't seem to get enough of the stuff so I'm definately hydrated.

I realise it's early days and I'm probably getting frustrated because I've always been a fit, active & healthy person so these last few weeks have been really hard to accept. But ...... it's happened and I can't change that so I've just got to look forward to the future. Life is for living and I won't let it beat me - I just need to adjust I guess! :thumbsup:

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Hi Maggie,and welcome to the site, my wife had her,sah in march 2009 she suffered with headaches for only about 4 weeks, and since then if she's had a couple of headaches thats it, Merrill my wife had other complications and still has very poor short term memory mobility problems,she has chronic fatigue and 14 months later still hardly ever get through the day without a couple of hours lay down in the afternoon, but it is different for everyone as you said and some people get the same problems but for different reasons so if you have a problem it's always wise to talk to your gp, but just to be posting you seem to be doing very well. Good luck with your recovery Rod

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hi Maggie

Welcome to the site and to the family.

Headaches were always a pain the bum for me too. They do eventually subside and you will wake up one morning and feel brilliant. Listen to your body and drink plenty of fluids and you'll be fine. You're very early on in your recovery so you seem to be doing well at the moment.

Feel free to ask anything you like - there's usually someone who can help.

Look forward to getting to know you

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Hi Maggie and welcome! :-D

Happy Birthday!

You're not too far from me ... Somerset is a lovely county!

I can't really give you any more advice, as the other guys have answered .... but yes, early days for you, but life will get better and it sounds as though you have a positive attitude which is the main thing. :-D

Wishing you all the very best .... xx

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Hello and happy birthday!! Welcome to BTG, where the people are wonderful and supportive (I've had such a lovely welcome myself).

I'm sorry you are still having headaches, but it is very early on for you - I was in hospital 6 weeks and I had them all the time then. Since I've been home I don't remember having that many so at some point it eased off.... but I've forgotten when!

Take it easy, listen to your body, rest up and enjoy life. Take care !!

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hi Maggie , wellcome and Happy birthday

my heachaches or rather floating sensation eased off 5 months after sha but each one of us is different. Its very early days for you so give yourself time and look forward to your posting

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Morning Maggie,

well done for finding this site it will be a tremendous help.

You will find that any fears or worries you have has normally happened to someone on the site. They will be able to guide or reassure you.

You sound like a very positive person which will help you in your recovery.

Remember that recovery will take time and you may find that certain things take a little longer to do. If you get tired listen to your body and rest. That in itself will help you recover more quickly.

I am lucky that I do not get headaches as such but niggles which I can cope with without pain relief.

As already mentioned if you are worried at all see your GP or Consultant.

Carry on as you are and have a wonderful life, there appears to be no reason why you should not.:wink:

You have come this far, surviving was a massive step forward.:wink:

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Hi Maggie :) A belated Happy Birthday to you and welcome to BTG :) Is very early days for you....rest up lots and listen to your body...look forward to hearing more from you.

Take care love Tina xx

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Hello Maggie!

And a belated "Happy Birthday" for yesterday! :D

My bad daily headaches continued for about 6-7 weeks after the SAH and then started to ease off.

I then suffered with a lot of neck pain, which I was told was caused by anxiety, and I was very anxious and stressed for many weeks.

My main issue was having no information upon discharge from hospital, and having to search the internet and read through this site to gain an insight into what I'd had done, and what to expect. Also, a severe lack of aftercare hasn't made it easy, nor has the loss of money at work due to sickness and then reduced hours.

I have now been referred for counselling via my Dr's surgery and have my first appointment next week! I started asking to be referred back in January but they wouldn't initially agree to it...

The things we have to go through...it can only make us stronger!

The others have said it already, but lots of rest, listening to your body when it is telling you to slow down, and lots of non-caffeine fluid (water being the best).

Take care

Kel x

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Hi Maggie,

A warm welcome to you. I hope you had an enjoyable day yesterday - I have had two birthdays since my sah and somehow they seem a bit more poignant now.

I was born in Somerset (Wells) but moved up north soon afterwards, I have only been back there once since and that must have been 30 years ago! I do remember it being very nice though.

I'm sorry to hear you are getting headaches - unfortunately I can't remember how long I had headaches for. Once they stopped after the initial blood had dispersed, I have not really had one since, but I gather this is not the case for everyone. I did however have weird, hard to explain feelings in my head for some time, but those too have disappeared now.

I wish you well in your continued recovery,

Best wishes,

Sarah

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Hi Maggie

Warm welcome to the site, & belated Birthday wishes for yesterday.....x

You are very early in the recovery but are doing great if your on the computer so well done you.....

take things easy....

take care

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