Sex after an SAH

[Guest winebuff]

Hi- I'm new

My first SAH was in 1981 and happened during intercourse.You all sound worried by repeats! Well I can unfortunately talk from experience, so this is my story:-

I was "clipped "back in 1981 and had a full recovery.Having had a check angio, I was told it would be most unlikely to happen again.

Like everyone else my wife and I were very worried about future sex. Over the next few years our sex life diminished and I resorted to masturbation.

A number of incidents occurred during that time, which were very similar to a full on SAH, but my GP felt I was imagining/exaggerating these.

Then in 1996 it happened again, but much more severely. It was found my original bleed had leaked(and had done so a number of times previously) and an aneurysm was apparent in another part of my brain(which hadn't yet bled).

The angiogram identified that Coiling was suitable for both and so was done on the existing bleed first, and was successful. One month later Coiling was done on the aneurysm and that was successful also. Again I had a full recovery.

By this time my wife had become too unnerved by the thought of future sex and being responsible for my death. However being in my own mind invincible and being unable to suppress my feelings, I continued to relieve myself.

Then in 2002, another SAH, again the original bleed had leaked.

This time it was unsuitable for Coiling and I had to have another clip inserted. Whilst it was amazingly successful, the clip was very close to an artery and it wasn't possible to fully seal it( the Consultant explained the clip must not touch the artery under any circumstances), but he was still hopeful it would hold) Again I recovered fully.

Well you guessed it feelings just don't vanish and I continue with old habits. There have been subsequent occasions when I have not felt "right" but these have been much less severe and less frequent than before.

Here I still am, aged 58 and obviously a very lucky fellow.

I cannot see a way that anyone can just suppress their feelings, short of taking suppressive medication.

My advice (supported by my Consultant) is live for today -- and so far its working.

[Karen]

Hi and a warm welcome to the site!

I had this SAH after a very bad cold ... so thought that it was a sinus problem....also had a probable warning bleed 4 years prior....well, if you have time to spare, my story is on the homepage.... as you call yourself "winebuff" I would definetly sit down with a nice glass of something cold or red.... my preference is white, but there you go....

It sounds as though you've been through the mill .... but even though my SAH experience is different from yours or should I say the "catalyst" .... I take the same motto and that is "you need to live each day"..... you survive to live and not live to survive.....

Hope that I'm making sense.....

Glad to have you with us.......

[rampmama]

Welcome to the boards. During my recovery I have found this place to be very comforting and full of advice. I am curious about your smaller bleeds. We all suffer from headaches and wonder if it's another SAH. Or at leadt I do. But yesterday I had a headache that reminded me so much of my SAH. Way less severe mind you, but I couldn't help but think it was happening again.

What were your like? And what did you do? I will go to my family doc and bring this up.

Linda

[Guest winebuff]

Re your question about smaller bleeds!

These small bleeds were exactly like a full on SAH, in all but intensity. You can feel it coming on, but once you reach that point, it is impossible to stop.

The result is an immediate severe headache which wont go away. They last for 2/3 days before gradually subsiding. All I could do was to lay down as moving about made it worse.

I was eventually referred to a specialist consultant regarding these, but he argued they could not have been haemorrages as I wouldn't have survived so many. He thought they might have been the common sex headaches, but I found this argument very difficult to believe given they occurred between actual SAH's for which I was 'clipped' twice and 'coiled' twice.

In other words he argued that sometimes the attacks were sex headaches and at other times the attacks were SAH's.

I was not filled with confidence at this explanation, in fact I'm sure he's wrong.

Since I was last clipped in 2002, I have had some incidents, but nothing like as severe and in all but one case, the headache subsided almost immediately.

[Guest linzi]

Winebuff wrote:

My first SAH was in 1981 and happened during intercourse.

Hi Winebuff. I am so very sorry to hear of your illness but glad to hear that you are doing better now.

I too, was having intercourse at the time I took my SAH. It is very common for this to happen as our blood pressure is raised significantly at this time.

I was 33 when it happened to me..and this December it will have been two years since it happened.

I am single at the moment and the thought of telling a man that I was doing the deed, so to speak when I took ill, is something I won't be telling them till after the deed is done! I wouldn't like to put them off their "stride" lol!!!

Just like having a car accident..they say you have to get back in the driving seat after it, or you'd never drive again.. I had to make sure that I could still have intercourse..however the prospect of an orgasm is a scary scary thought for me. I do often wonder how this will affect my future relationships.

The man I was with seemed "scared", also, to touch me again.. as he felt he could be responsible. I explained that it could have happened at any time and it was obviously a time bomb waiting to explode!

Oh well .. as I said to him .. "at least I would have died happy"!!!

We've got to laugh or we would cry!! I had a coiling and "touch hairy wood" so far so good..all my scans have shown that everything is fine and I get my final 2 year scan in December, so fingers crossed.

Take care Winebuff xxLxx