rachelashby Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 (edited) sorry for the multiple posts!! Quick question, for those that had an SAH – did it hurt....i mean when it happened or did you just black out and come around not knowing what happened? My mum had one which proved fatal (she never regained consciousness at any point) and im scared that she was in pain. Her partner who was there said she just said to him “hang on a minute” and then was gone but he said when she said Hang on that her face did not register pain – I’m worried that he might be lying to me to spare my feelings. Did it hurt? Could you hear people (if you went into a coma/unconsciousness)? Edited: From reading some other posts on here it seems there are many different types of SAH so I guess im aiming my question at people who went into unconsciousness at the time? if your unconscious you dont feel pain right? I remember getting hit by a car aged 17 and although the car hit my leg first I must have blacked out...i woke up thinking I had just hurt my leg but I had in fact hit my head....im hoping that given that hers was so severe and where it was at the back of her head that she felt nothing.... Edited April 19, 2013 by rachelashby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Hi Rachel, So very sorry to hear of your loss. I'm happy to say that when I was slipping into unconsciousness I felt nothing at all, no pain, no anxiety and I can't remember hearing anyone ... I felt totally at peace and extremely calm, it was a good feeling.... and that feeling still gives me a lot of comfort. xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Rachel, just in case that you think that I'm just being kind to you, I just remembered that it's in my SAH story on the site - http://www.behindthegray.net/vbulletin/content.php?234-Karen-s-Story which is rather long winded, so I've found the paragraph below. xx However, I know that when I was taken ill, that past the point of intense pain, I felt extremely peaceful and if I had died at that point, I wouldn’t have known anything about it. With that knowledge, I can find some peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffodil Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Just spent some time with my best friend and I was saying how the gift of the SAH to me is I'm no longer scared of dying. Karen's quote could be mine. She sums it up well. I knew something was really wrong with me that's for sure but I never got scared, it was like the moment my SAH happened it moved me far far away from what was physically taking place. It was peaceful wherever I was. It was only Afterwards the incredible pain came. I can remember nothing from having a pleasant drink the night before in good company and then five days later wondering where the hell I was and what were all the beeps and tubes. It's how I imagine a lightening strike to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandi K Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 (edited) I'm so sorry for your loss, it was very sudden and it must be difficult to try and make any sense of what happened. I didn't lose conscienceness (sp) so I did feel pain but I've spoken with others who went out and they are grateful for it because they felt nothing. I wanted to comment on what Karen and Daffodil said about no longer being afraid of dying. I felt a deep sense of calm, quiet, and peace. Although it hurt like nothing I'd ever experienced before I didn't panic and I wasn't scared. I knew something was horribly wrong and I knew I might die. Although I was able to make my way down three flights of stairs to ask for help at one point I sat on the stairs and held my head and thought if I die right now it's ok. The hospital was able to take most of the pain away after a couple of hours. Shortly after arriving to the emergency room I panicked with all the attention I was getting and I began hyperventilating. But then I went back to being calm and peaceful throughout. It was like I was removed from the situation, almost observing what was happening rather than actively participating. It wasn't until I was discharged and began to realize over weeks what happened that I really started feeling the trauma of it. Sandi K. Edited April 19, 2013 by Sandi K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winb143 Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 I never felt a thing, until a year later when shunt was fitted. Then I woke up. My Family went through more than I did. Waiting for me to get better, I remember nothing as I was with my Parents. I was at a party asking my Mum to sing with me (She wouldn't talk to me and she told my Dad and brother off ) All have passed on ages ago, but it was lovely to see them all, a Dream ? maybe but I saw them when I was in cuckooland. Good luck and keep good memories in your heart of Mum xx Be Well WinB143 xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Hello Rachel I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I can only say that I didn't feel any pain before I collapsed, just some bright lights and I don't remember anything about the first ten days, hope this helps. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelashby Posted April 19, 2013 Author Share Posted April 19, 2013 Thank you all for your replies and wishes. It's nice to know alot of people are survivors of SAH's. as awful as I don't like to admit it, I know it was just my mums time x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macca Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Hello Rachel, Sorry to hear about your loss. I had a headache like I've never had before. I was painting radiators with radiator paint and I thought it was the fumes that had caused it. It wasn't, of course! However, I had to lie down, an ambulance was called and I lost consciousness on the way to hospital and didn't wake up for the next six days or so. It was like fading away or drifting into the distance at sea, away from the hustle and bustle of the shore and the pain went with it. I, too am no longer afraid of death itself, I think it is just the way it happens we should be afraid of if it is before our natural time ie in an accident or something. A natural event like your Mum had almost has a calmness, a serenity about it as your body shuts down. Your Mum would have been peaceful as she passed, I am certain of that. Please don't dwell on that one event. Remember all of the good, happy times and remember the privilege she afforded you to be a part of her precious life. She could give you no more than that. What a lady, and what a fabulous legacy she left, in you. Macca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnS Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Hi Rachel, I am so sorry for your loss. What I remember most about my sah was the noise. I assume it was the blood going where it shouldn't be but it sounded like someone had started up a chainsaw right next to my head. I did lose consciousness immediately, but then regained it for almost an hour before losing it again. I have no real memories after getting to A&E. Like Daff, I am no longer afraid of dying which is a nice feeling because I'd been terrified of it since my mum died of her own sah. Dawn x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Hi Rachel so sorry about your mom but I am sure she wasn't in pain. I just felt drunk and was wobbling like I was drunk, I knew something was wrong when I collapsed but there was no pain. It was only when I got to the hospital a few hours later the pain came. Jess.xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisac Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Rachel, So sorry to hear about your mom. I hope everyone's stories will help ease your mind. Before going unconscious, I had pressure in my head - not really painful, just pressure. I was in the ER about an hour before I went unconscious. I just remember looking at the clock, having double vision then I went out. No pain at any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 (edited) Hi Rachel Sorry for your loss, I just dropped at my husbands feet & never really knew a thing for a month or so, dont know what I thought or felt, sorry. Forgot to say my husband said I said I had pins & needles.. take car hun Edited April 22, 2013 by Louise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hey Rachel So sorry for your loss. My words were "I've just felt something pop and it doesn't feel right". My hubby said that my face drooped and I passed out. I didn't feel any pain at all. Again, I was calm and can vaguely remember things but no pain initially - not until I came too. My best friend's father died in the same way as your mother and her main fear was that he would have been in pain, but after knowing what happened to me and others, it has put her mind at rest, I hope that we can do the same for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpaggett Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 I also almost died. I got PTSD because of it. After the initial horrendous headache, I became unable to move or speak, but was aware of everything. People talking over me. A doctor asking my husband if I usually was incontinent, etc. I then released all of my worldly attachments even my husband/son and was ready to go. It was so peaceful. I am also not afraid to die now because of it. I considered my self unlucky to have survived. I'm sure your mom felt the peace as well. Grieving is only for the living. ~Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macca Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Hi Kris, I never thought of it like that, it really put a new perspective on it for me - thank you! Just goes to show we all have different thoughts, our experiences are different - but the same, if that makes sense! Maybe our brains are opening up new ways of thinking - re-wiring themselves. However, it seems that for some of us, the pain, if it existed, was brief and it ebbed away, sometimes only returning, if it did, when consciousness re-awakened our souls. It seems passing is a peaceful process and only sometimes painful in differing degrees in the approach! It is very re-assuring so many of us seem to be saying we are no longer afraid of death - that must be a comforting thought - even for those who have not had our experience! 'I bless the light, I bless the light that shines on you, believe me' 'Days' by The Kinks/Kirsty MacColl great line from a great song. Best wishes to all Macca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teechur Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 I didn't lose consciousness. I was standing in the lobby of a movie theater and it felt like someone had hit me in the back of the head with a 2x4. I went into the theater with just screaming pain, and when the movie started it hurt so bad that I doubled over, choked back vomit, and thought right then I might just die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbit Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Dear Rachel I'm so sorry that you lost your mum. I doubt if she suffered at all. Since my SAH (Sep 2011) many people have told me stories similar to that of your mum. I guess I'm relieved that medical science had advanced to the level where it could keep me alive. When I went back to the Neurology Ward, the nurse in charge said that the brain protects itself (and the patient) by closing down for a while. I was unconscious for several days. I just remember the really bad headache returning, and I asked my husband to call the ambulance and I went back to bed. Evidently I also told him not to go away for the day (when he asked). I missed all the ghastly procedures, the operations, anaesthesia. While I was unconscious I had some interesting dream sequences, which I wrote about afterwards. But I have no memory of any procedures, and when I came around, they were taking tubes out of me. I certainly felt no pain, and evidently I was close to death for much of the time that I was unconscious. And miraculously my family were all there to see me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilP Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Sorry for your loss. I was crouching down and went to stand up, I started to feel a bit faint and remember thinking 'I'm going to pas...". The only pain I felt was when I came round a few minutes later with the thunderclap headache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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