Son's brain haemorrhage due to an AVM - Emotions.

[Karen]

The following thread has been posted on behalf of Carolyn.

Hi, can anyone one give me some advice my son had a brain haemorrhage due to an AVM just over two years ago,he had radio surgery to shrink the AVM. Since he has had the bleed he seems to be very emotional and takes every little thing to heart is this norm?

[Karen]

Hi Carolyn,

Yes, it seems to be pretty common for most of us to be a lot more emotional and sensitive after a brain haemorrhage.

How old is your Son?

Many of us seem to experience some post traumatic stress, anxiety and perhaps some depression too. Many of us have also had to go and seek GP help for these problems. Would advise that if your Son is struggling with any type of these issues that he goes and has a chat with his GP.

[Louise]

Hi there

Yes Im far more emotional now since my SAH...

[Daffodil]

Emotional...yep. I only have to see a baby now and I sob! Me, who didn't cry at the birth of her own kids is now prone to bursting into tears at anyone's newborn,and kittens, and people in pain, and a lovely sunset....I could go on.

This new found instant water works is quite nice really and it does help relieve a headache i find. Seriously though my emotions run a lot closer to the surface and I can't hide or manage to stop it like I probably used to. But that's ok.

[DawnS]

I was much more emotional to begin with, but that seems to have settled more these days, it's been 15 months since my sah. For me it was all sorts of emotions, I found all kinds of things hilarious almost to the point of being inappropriate. I was very angry and frustrated and weepy. It took a long time to settle down. I miss finding everything funny, but I don't miss the anger.

[kpaggett]

There are normal emotions of dealing with a huge traumatic event and then there are the kind that are generated from Pseudobulbar Affect that is sometimes seen with stroke and other conditions of the brain like Parkinson's. I got this from my SAH and it was all life consuming. I cried at just coming home from an outing or when you normally would have a sigh of relief. I'd cry when one of my symptoms got better or over any other change good or bad. I'd cry at church and had to stop going...sometimes it was from stuff like the communion line was long. Then I also laugh hysterically mostly about self deprecating things. I still do both of these just as intensely and I can recognize them even while it's happening, but There is no way to control it once it starts. It just has to run its course.

I liken it to playing a game of chess and all of a sudden you find yourself with a checker piece in your hand. "I'm not playing that game! what do I do with this checker? Where did it come from? Why is it here? Oh, was I playing a game? Which one was it?"

Even though the emotions are as intense as ever, the frequency and length of the outbursts have both gone down tremendously. I even have learned some techniques that help me quell them after the initial phase. With this being said, I am an adult and children have a great advantage for recovery so I suspect this will pass for him quicker. In the meantime, my neuropsychologist told me that it is in no way psychological, but only neurological...so I am not able to 'just get a grip' or 'snap out of it' and neither is your son if that's what's going on with him.

I also know that there is a new drug out that's just 2 years since it was FDA approved (I'm not sure about in Europe) called DM/Q or Nuedexta. It didn't work for me, but it's an option to try.

Hopefully, this will ease for your son like mine did with time. It's hard to deal with...harder than any of the other long term issues I have/had.

~Kris