Back to Work

[Mark]

Hello, I had a NASAH on 28th October in the middle of the night. I did not want to call for the Ambulance as the first responders where I live are the local volunteer firemen. What if it was just a really bad headache? I didn't want to get them out of bed. So I waited for 4 hours and my wife drove me to the Dr who sent me straight to hospital.  I spent 6 days in hospital in the ICU.. I had to get out early as they were building the new hospital right outside the window of the neurology ward, and the pile driving did not sit well with my head.  (We also had earthmoving trucks moving around at 5am in the morning,

 

I started working lightly from home in December. Luckily I had someone doing my job fulltime. (She had resigned a few days before my bleed and was able to take over my position. She has now left the company jut prior to the Christmas break.) I had 2 weeks of almost no work from Christmas to early January, then I was working from home a few hours a day and I was feeling pretty good and the headaches had mostly subsided. I decided to go into work mid January to test it out. I got a fairly major headache after about 3 hours. This headache has persisted now for about 2 weeks. 

 

I am glad I have come across this forum, as I didn't get a lot of information from the Drs. I had a 3 month MRI last week, but still don't have any results. I am hopeful I will get a bit more information and a follow up with the Neurosurgeon.  I just don't know what to expect.  All I know is the Neurosurgeon said I had a considerable amount of haemorrhage for a NASAH. 

 

I work in a stressful job as an insurance broker. Especially where I live having gone through 7 years of earthquakes and related insurance claims and issues. I am a contractor and the last month or two has been fairly quiet. We are now ramping up into the busy period and I am starting to get worried. The company has been really good to me, especially considering I am not an employee and I am under the direction of an Occupational Therapist, paid for by the company.  At the moment I am working 18-20 hours a week. 3 days in the office and two from home.  (With lots of breaks and walking, etc.)

I can't seem to get much done and taking breaks all the time doesn't give me a lot of hours of actual work in the day.

 

Like everyone else here I was expecting the headaches to be gone weeks after the event. 3 months on now I am a bit dismayed that they have returned. I am just unsure whether I am going to be able to do my job part-time and when I might be able to return to full time. Especially in a stressful industry. I am prone to stress and do not handle it well. I also have depression. 

 

Given it is possible the headaches could go on for ...x amount of time (possibly years reading some of the posts)- do you just plough through them. Do they cause damage? Am I potentially harming myself returning to full time, or is it just a case of living with it and get used to it and getting on with it??

 

I know everyone's experience is different, but a lot of the posts I have read, everyone seems to have a few shared experiences.

SAH seems to be a bit like depression in a way. You can look fine on the outside and people who see you don't always understand the problem.

Thanks, Mark

[Catwoman23]

Yes the headaches might linger on as you had an injury to your brain. You should ask the primary care and neuro about pain meds. It might make things worse if you have to read the computer screen. You can read many posts on this website and it will give you many useful information and you will see that you are not alone. Good luck. 

[Winb143]

Early Days yet Mark as it is only approx. 3 months  give or take. !! 

 

 You will get there but  little steps at first.  Give your brain a chance to heal.

 

My suggestion to you is do not take on other peoples problems and do not listen to sad stories.

 

Surgeon told me we need to be Stress free, and it is hard as life is stressful so sing a happy song or whatever makes you smile.

 

I have found laughter is the best medicine as I have come on here and left crying with laughter.

 

Good luck in your journey.  As we are survivors xxx  Have a read of "A letter from your Brain"  it tells you what you have been through !! 

 

Take care and remember Laughter helps  xx

 

Winb143 Alias Win 

 

[Macca]

Hi Mark,

 

I too had a stressful job and I was off work for six months and when I did go back it very quickly became apparent that it was too soon.  I had headaches for a while but these dissipated after a quite a time.

 

I remember being told they were probably caused by the body reabsorbing blood into the body and it takes a while to do so. I don't know that for fact so I would check with the people that treated you.  Stay hydrated.

 

However, fatigue was a constant, but that was a separate problem for me in that may pituitary gland was damaged when the coiled me and I now have to have daily injections for the rest of my life  to correct a hormone imbalance.  A small price to pay because the quality of my life is now very good.

 

What I would say, as I have done a few times recently, take stock of your job and your life and cut down the stressful things you do, delegate if you can, and generally reappraise what you do.  Look at shortening your hours - at least in the short term, so you give you body a chance to recover.

 

Something has to change in light of this serious injury and if you don't change it, it will change you.

 

Good luck,

 

Macca

[frmertd]

I had similiar experiences. My bleed was in November and was told the same thing by the doctor "a lot of blood". Most people on this forum are very against narcotics, but they have helped me a lot. When i get a bad headache, i try 1000 mg tylenol.  The brain only uses simple sugars for food and i have found simple sugars help. I will sometimes try hot chocolate with added sugar. Caffeine does not help and so soft drinks are not good. Try that, but if you have to sleep, then for Gods sake, take a nap!!!! listen to your body.

[Susan]

Hi Mark

 

Welcome to BTG.

 

If you were feeling pretty good before going back to work then it sounds like maybe you are just trying to do a bit too much a bit too soon. If possible take as much time off as you can to recover and then try building up the work hours a bit more slowly.

 

My NASAH was 2 years ago and I still only work 18 to 20 hours a week. I don't get too many bad headaches now as I generally just work what is manageable for me. Sometimes though - like the past few weeks - I do get stressed with work - trying to get too much done in too little time. When I try to work faster with not enough breaks I just find everything starts to go downhill, and the headaches, fatigue, poor sleep all get worse. So I have to take stock, give myself a good talking to, talk to my boss and just calm it down for a while - otherwise I'll just end up on the sick.

 

So take care of yourself and try not to push too hard. 

x

[Mark]

Thanks everyone. All very helpful. I had no idea that it could go on that long. For some reason I thought it would be over a few weeks after getting out of hospital. About the time the course of Nimodipne was completed. I guess the first step is to get the MRI results and find out some information hopefully from the neurologist and answer a whole lot of questions I have. 

 

My boss has been very good to me and told me today he would do what it takes to give me the support required, for as long as it takes. That eases the pressure a lot.

 

Thanks, Mark

[Super Mario]

Mark, make sure you write all the questions for the neurologist down as and when you think of them. There is nothing worse than coming away from an appointment then thinking "I wish I had asked" or " I should have asked" 

[Susan]

Hi Mark

 

It's good you've talked to your boss and alleviated some of your worries about work.

 

Best just to have an open mind on recovery and take things as they come - to be aware that though symptoms can linger for some, a full recovery is also possible for some.

 

Best wishes on your recovery.

x