Recovery time from a sah

[Gazzer]

Hi I am Gary 45new to this site .. I am 6 weeks into recovering from a Sah .. I still have headache, fatigue , confusion,strange feelings in body am getting upset on a nightime and am finding it hard to walk any distances without getting out of breath . I am just looking for anyone who can help me or give me any advice on my recovery

[Carl]

Hi Gary, glad you found us. This site has done more for my recovery and understanding than anything else I was offered.

There are no cut and dry answers to how long it takes. For myself I think I am always on the road to recovery. I am farther along today than I was yesterday still a little further to go.

I have experienced all the symptoms you describe. You are not alone.

I am coming up to the two year mark this month. My mind is much clearer than it was, my coping skills have improved. I do find stress is very counter productive. Little stress today that is irking me, but I will get over that.

Rest, patience, lots of fluids, and ask lots of questions. The more I learned about my SAH the more I understood why I was feeling the way I was. There are wonderful people here who truly care. Do not be hard on yourself. You are a survivor and tough as nails, we all are. Headaches were annoying for me. I ended up changing some medication to reduce my blood pressure and that helped. Fluids really help. Sleep when you can. It takes a while to get the sleep rhythm back. I still struggle with sleep.

As with all recoveries, pace yourself. Each day you are one step closer than you were.

[iola]

Hi, I am just a little under four weeks in from my SAH. Actually, mine was non-aneurysmal but have the same physical struggles. Nights are a challenge as well as fatigue and dizziness. From reading other responses this is all part of the "adventure." I have learned quickly that rest and hydration are most important, which can be a challenge too.

[NeilP]

Hi I am Gary 45new to this site .. I am 6 weeks into recovering from a Sah .. I still have headache, fatigue , confusion,strange feelings in body am getting upset on a nightime and am finding it hard to walk any distances without getting out of breath . I am just looking for anyone who can help me or give me any advice on my recovery

Hi Gazzer,

I'm 43 and new to the site as well. It's 17 months since my SAH. From what I've read it seems everyone's recovery is different so I can only really give you my thoughts and experiences.

I remember feeling exactly like that and desperately wanting to be "better". I remember getting knowing looks from doctors when I said I'll be back at work in a couple of weeks... I wanted to be back to "normal", to be over it but as much as the doctors said it will take time, I didn't believe them. Looking back, it does takes time and it has got a lot better.

I now have lots of good days, average days and the odd bad day.

I still get the fatigue sometimes but nowhere near as bad.

I still get headaches but they are nowhere near as bad as they were.

I still have the odd mighty mood swing and the odd rage.

Oh and it's about 2:30am so I guess my sleep patterns are still a bit up the spout!

I found there are 2 sides to recovery.

1.The actual symptoms, which for me have reduced significantly over time

2. My understanding of the symptoms, adjusting to them, and dealing with them, which has got better.

Advice I'd give would be

- Drink water. It really helped me with the headaches.

- Avoid things that can give you a headache. Alcohol, coffee, fags etc. I remember a day hangover like I'd drunk 10 pints for 1 glass of red wine! Not worth it.

- Go out for a walk everyday if you can. Find the level of exercise that you can do on a bad day and stick to it if you can. Do not over do it on good days. Build up slowly.

- Bad days happen. Good days happen too

- Resting is OK!

- For me there is mental fatigue and physical fatigue. Sometimes if I am mentally fatigued I try and do something physical or visa versa. One quite often helps with the other.

I'm sure those with much more experience will be along in a minute to add some advice. I found reading some of the people stories on here helpful.

Good luck,

Neil

[rabbit]

Dear Neil

Thanks so much for your comments, they are very helpful. I am just over 18 months since my SAH, and still feeling that it has destroyed my life. I was going to get back into everything, right away afterwards. Now I still don't drive, vision and speech are difficult, I have "balance issues" and the ever-present fatigue. It's also really hard to write neatly. But it's true, some people do realise how far I've come, and that's what I have to focus on. It's true that there are good days, as well as not-so-good, and I do find that going for a walk each day helps a great deal. Presumably one is on a different trajectory now!

[Winb143]

Gazzer,

I get breathless and cannot walk very far either.

Look back in 4 weeks time see if things get better then 2 months and so on and you will have improved.

Down days you will get but it is natural.

Try not to stress and keep happy if possible.

I was out of it for a year and remember hardly anything but since I had shunt fitted I don't stop talking.

My poor family j/k xx

Keep well and never give up.

Regards

WinB143 x

Edited May 3, 2013 by Winb143

[MaryB]

Well said Neil P!

I am struggling this week but must add that most of us feel we like ourselves more now. The person we have become. I do miss being able to work like a dog all day. But I have accepted that this is where I am and I cannot change what has happened. Changing a mindset is important as well.

Good luck. maryb

Edited May 3, 2013 by MaryB

[Gazzer]

Thank you for all your comments. Makes me feel better all my symptoms I have are normal . I have come away for the weekend for a rest and to relax so hopefully my symptoms will stay away for me for the weekend thank you all again and I wish you all a speedy recovery

[Janet]

Hi Gazzer and welcome it is early days for you but you will improve with time the first few months in your recovery can be really challenging the important thing is to learn to listen to your body and we're only human so always try to push ourselves too much. You might find it useful to keep a diary in the first few months its good to look back on and see the improvements you make without realising.

Hope you have a good weekend.

[Daffodil]

Hi Gaz, I hope your weekend away is a nice treat.

I'm 15 months in now. Wow , and how much has changed in that time.

My days on the whole are a lot better than they were a few months back and there is vast improvement on being unable to do anything or go anywhere that were my months immediately after SAH.

Someone has suggested keeping a diary , I think that helps to track how you are doing , feelings and what you did.

my suggestion though is always start the week with a list of small goals. They can be simple. Mine included brush my own hair early on. Then write every small achievement you make each day, and there will be one even if it's getting out of bed. Together they all add up to some great progress that you can look back on.

Fact is that this recovery can't and won't be rushed. Your brain is so busy running the body mother ship and trying to heal that if you use too much energy doing other stuff you end up feeling rubbish.

I have learnt a slowness in the last year and it has brought a peacefulness to me that I didn't have prior. I don't rush anywhere now and thats even with two young kids who will try and hassle me to go faster. take care.

[Louise]

Hi there, I dont think there is a time scale on recovery we're all individual...

they do say sometimes 3months rubbish took me about 3years to get to where they said I should have been at the 3month mark...

Your very early into the recovery so dont run before you can walk (its a saying dont actually do it)

relax,

take care

[kpaggett]

All I might add is that it seems to take longer than I ever thought possible for me. I thought I'd be the exception since I was in such great shape before etc...but I am not the exception. I am not quite 2 years yet and I am still noticing improvements if not weekly, then monthly. I can not say what your recovery will be like, but just go with it and don't fight it. I too keep a journal and a daily log of things that I am working on. Lately it is how my body feels in the am (pain/weakness wise), and how long they take to come to normal feelings...which they do in about 5-30min. It used to take hours. I have it all documented. I also note some autonomic symptoms and emotional symptoms I have as well. The rest I don't need to really document any longer. It's great to look back over it on one of those bad days that I get now and then.

~Kris

[DawnS]

Recovery changes so much as it goes along. To begin with, there were improvements constantly but my memory was in such bad shape I didn't really remember the changes if that makes sense. After a while, the rate of improvement slowed down. I thought it had stopped but the other day a customer rattled of their phone number at very high speed (they like to do that for some unknown reason) and I noticed afterwards that I had still managed to get it down and it was accurate too. Even 3 months ago there would have been no chance of that as I wouldn't have retained the info, so I am still seeing improvements after 21 months.

Try to compare yourself to yesterday or last week rather than what you were before because that way you will see positive changes instead of negative ones. For me, acceptance took it's time in making an appearance and although I like to think that I've taken this all on board now there are still days when my other half will insist that I sit down and simply STOP for a while because I like to keep going and keep going so I guess I may still be in a bit of denial afterall!