Guest federalstreet Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi all! I'm Kylie, 35y.o mother of 2, in Brisbane Australia. I had my SAH on 26 October 2009. I had had a very faint headache all day - not even enough to bother finding pain killers for. At about 6 that night I was waiting by myself at a school to pick up a friend's kids who were arriving shortly on a bus (I was supposed to stay overnight at their house babysitting as the parents were away). I suddenly got a very very bad headache that got worse and worse very quickly. As the kids arrived I managed to hold it together but rapidly realised that something was terribly wrong. We got into the car and i said to the kids 'I'm just going to put my head in my hands for a minute before we get going' - and even the act of bending my head forward was excruciating. I realised that I was in big big trouble and managed to call 000 (Australia's 911) and then call my husband. But i had gotten so bad so quickly that i couldn't even give my husband directions on how to get to me - and niether could the 12 y.o with me! So i hung up and gave the phone to the 12 y.o. and told him to call his 19 y.o. brother and tell him to come to us ... which he did, and then he was able to give my husband directions. So my husband arrived (with our own 3 and 1 y.o. who witnessed this whole ordeal) and i was in a very bad way - arms and face completely numb, couldn't open my eyes. I thought i was speaking fine but my husband couldn't understand me. I had a massive vomit right there on the road out the front of the school (thankfully it was dark by now ) 45 minutes after i called them the ambulance arrived and took me to hospital. I have almost no memory of the trip in the ambulance and no memory whatsover of the scan (CT? MRI?) or the canula they had stitched onto my arm at the hospital. It turns out i had had a grade 2 SAH of the breaking blood vessel type (not the bursting aneurysm type). I spent two weeks in hospital. So here I am 8 months later - no lingering neurolgical side-effects but i have noticed the following: - far more emotional PMT than previously. - fair bit crankier than previously. - quite a bit tireder than previously. - can't even stand the thought of milk powder (we had made milkshakes using milk powder that afternoon and i had vomited it all back up on the road) When i had my SAH i was drinking A LOT (and I mean A LOT) of coke zero (roughly 3.5L/day) - so much so that the morning after my SAH i woke up and could feel the caffeine headache on top of the SAH pain!!! my mum brought me a coke into the ward and it really did take the edge off - isn't that shameful!! I gave up drinking coke for a while but have gone back to at least 1.5 L/day now. But I think that needs to change - I found this forum when i was searching the internet for info about aspartame. My doctor told me that there was nothing i did to cause my SAH (and nothing i could have done to stop it) but i can't help but think that my TRULY EXCESSIVE coke consumption was at least partly to blame. So i think i need to be big and brave and give up coke for all time. It's not that hard once the caffeine headaches pass. I still remember how terrified i was that night. sometimes it still hits me out of the blue that i might have died that night. Anyhoo that's about it for me. It is good to have found this forum - other ppl don't really understand what it's like - even though everything looks normal some things are just different now. k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntaras Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie, welcome to the BTG site. You had your SAH just two weeks before me. Welcome to the wonderful survivors club, arn't we lucky to be alive. Things do change after an SAH but its good to be able to be aware of that, it could have been so different. Like me it is early days for you yet, but you are doing great. It is very strange to realise we could have died as a result of our SAH and because we look alright people do not understand what the event has done to us. Well done for getting this far and good luck for the future. I look forward to reading more from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myratas Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie Welcome to BTG, thank you for sharing your story with us all. Hope to hear more from you when you are ready. Take care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogbrush Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie and welcome Glad to hear you have minimal side effects. The ones you mention are quite common (although not the PMT in my case ) Thanks for sharing your story and look forward to hearing more from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggie Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 :-DHi Kylie,Welcome and thanks for sharing your story your very brave as well as lucky to be here to tell. Take it easy, listen to your body -if you need to rest do just that- and as for the drink you need to consult the doctors and follow their advise. Good luck! Maggiex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie and welcome! Thanks for writing your story..... I had to give up the caffeine as well ... especially coffee. It seemed to exacerbate the headaches, so most things that I drink have to be decaffeinated. However, I did have pretty bad withdrawal headaches for the first few days. I can drink the odd glass of coke now, but limit myself as I know that it will cause a bad head. Wishing you well for the future....xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz D Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie and welcome. Yes we all look fine on the outside but we know things are very different on the inside! I am not allowed any caffeine. My blood pressure shot up 4 months after my SAH and I've still no idea why. I was told my neurosurgeon to cut out caffeine and alcohol (I only have one artery feeding my main brain stem and have to keep it as healthy as possible!). I was still having the odd cup of tea up until my blood pressure went up but now I don't have any caffeine (caffeine can cause a rise in your blood pressure). Although sometimes when I'm short on energy I crave that "lift" that caffeine can give you! Have you spoken to your doctor about the increase in your PMT? Maybe he could help you there? You sound as though you are doing well and I'm not surprised you have fatigue. Not only are you recovering from a SAH you have two very young children to run after!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rod123 Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie and welcome to btg, your sah sounds very similar, how it came on to my wifes, the vomiting and she'd just eaten a crab and has not been able to look at one since, but you sound as though you are doing very well, Best wishes Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 I believe that any rise in BP is a risk factor for SAH if you have weakened arteries ... and that's why blood pressure needs to be monitored and kept under control after this type of event. There are lots of things that can cause a rise in BP, as we know from the stories on this website ... if you factored all of those into daily living, I don't think that I would bother getting out of bed in the morning! However, a cause of concern for me, is that quite a few younger people are drinking alcohol e.g. Vodka with energy drinks (such as Red Bull) at clubs, which are loaded with caffeine. Both my children do, as often this type of drink is offered at cut price which encourages them to buy it and probably drink more than they should. Mind you, I have warned them and you can't do much more than that! xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ern Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie. welcome to BTG I am sure that you will find lots of advice, tips and support here. I know that I have. I am also caffeine free. But mine is due to insomnia rather than blood pressure. Going caffeine free in the first couple of days was worse than giving up smoking and the headache was, for me at least, worse than my haemorrhage. Strange but true. Anyway. Herbal teas (if you get the right ones) are pretty nice nowadays. but I still miss the coffee & cigarettes. Particularly in the mornings. But I have found new vices to keep me amused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie Warm welcome to the site.... I was told that the likes of coffee simulates the brain so I only have one cup a day and that seems ok, I hate decaff that actually makes me worse anyway than normal coffee.... anyway welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelBel Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie! Welcome to the site. Everyone is really friendly on here and there always seems to be someone who can answer any queries for you. Glad to hear you are doing well. We can all relate to the "looking good on the outside, but feeling not so good on the inside!"... and anyone who hasn't been through cannot relate to it. Some try to understand but most don't even seem to want to do that! But we all know better...you're in good company here. Take care Kel x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie Welcome to the site and thanks for sharing your story with us. Look forward to hearing more from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayKay Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hi Kylie and welcome! I'm glad you found us Thank you for sharing your story. It's good that you have so few after effects but I know how hard it is when you appear fine but somuch has changed. I know I'm much more emotional and get irritated very easily! Take care and look forward to "chatting" some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Hi Kylie a very warm welcome to you...thanks for sharing your story. Look forward to hearing more from you....Take care and rest up...love Tina xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vivien Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Hello Kylie and welcome to the site I also gave up caffeine and drink decaff tea, with only the odd 'normal' cup if I am out. I was eating grilled fish when my SAH came on and I was sick, I thought I had food poisoning and blamed my husband for not cooking it properly! I have not eaten it since Vivien x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUISA Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Wellcome to BTG Kylie I gave up smoking after my SHA but keep the habit of drinking normal coke which doesnt seem to affect me much. Could not cope with leaving both vices at a time¡¡ Look forward to hearing more from you, we are more of less same time post SHA and I still get fatigue, seem to sleep the whole day, perhaps because I am really boared and also depressive but time is a great healer so must be patient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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