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As you may all now know, Michele had her SAH on July 1st, since being able to make decisions for herself she has wanted a little ciggy as she refers to it. The docs have said no more smoking or heavy drinking but did not explain why or what they could cause. I was just to pleased to get her home and would have agreed to sell my kidneys if it meant she was coming back to me so did not ask questions about it. Michele is now askink why she cant drink or smoke so could somebody please tell me the reasons as i am unable to explain why. Thanks for any help..

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Hi paul i think it's because doctors don't know why a person has an sah but they are pretty certain that smokers drinkers and obese people are in a high risk group (i'm a smoker to) so it probabley would be good if she could avoid these not easy we know but do your best, also i think if you drink too much in the earley days it increases the risk of siezures (have i spelt that right) that is my understanding of it from what i've read.

all the best mate Rod

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Hi,

Well, I can only talk from what I've learnt ..... I believe, that a large majority of SAH'ers are/or were smokers, I know that a few people have never smoked, but are probably in the minority....

Smoking, alchohol, hard drugs, such as cocaine and also caffeine (especially the high caffeine content in soft drinks such as Red Bull) can significantly increase the blood pressure and therefore, the blood pumping around the body and brain is increased.....thus, putting extra pressure on blood vessels to work harder, especially those that have been weakened and where aneurysms have formed.

Anybody that consumes a high amount of alcohol, can have a seizure, irrespective of having a SAH. But, the risks perhaps could be higher, if you've already had damage to the brain. You certainly shouldn't be consuming alcohol, if you're on anti-seizure medication, as it has an interaction with the meds and the meds will be less effective and can therefore induce a seizure.

Would advise having a chat to the GP...

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Hi Paul,

No, I'm not saying that re:coiling, as I really don't know ..... we aren't medics on this site and not qualified to offer medical advice and we can only speak from our own experience or what we've been told.

You need to go and talk to your wife's GP or Consultant. If any substance that we take, raises our blood pressure to a significant degree, this will put more of a strain on our blood vessels, as the blood is pumping harder and faster through the vessels throughout the body....and therefore, increases the stress on the those blood vessels.

You could try contacting one of the neuro nurses at the Brain and Spine Organisation? http://brainandspine.org.uk/ (click on the page link) you can either email them or ring them, which I think, is a freephone telephone number....

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Hi Paul, sorry I'm behind the times on this one. I don't know if it is any help to you, but I had an SAH and was a lifelong smoker ( I have stopped now, I was lucky I think as I was not concious and firmly tethered to a hospital bed by the various tubes and contraptions during the normal 'worst' withdrawal period and so started off well and just said after I got home that I was not going to smoke again, once I discovered that the High Blood Pressure from my smoking habit had in all probability caused the aneurysm to rupture. I decided there and then that I really did not want to go through that again so no cigs at all decreased the risks of that, so it seemed a no-brainer to me;-) Tell Michelle I will be happy to talk to her if she feels she wants to, either on here or in a PM:-D Just thought I would say this so that you could quote from the horses mouth so to speak;-)

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Hi Paul, (my hubby is a Paul too :) )

I, too, was a smoker. I had my SAH On June 19th, so not much before Michelle. I was actually having a cigarette when I had my SAH so all I can say is that in all probability it went a long way to causing it, along with the uncontrolled high blood pressure. I have not had a cigarette since. I think that the thought of having another rupture has completely cured me of the cigarettes (they have just told me that I have another very small aneurysm which they are trying to decide what to do with) . Although I would love have a 'ciggy' every now and then.

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Hey there

I'm a smoker too - still do - though I wish I had stopped. Smoking regardless of SAH is bad for your health anyway. I have my blood pressure taken often and it's "perfect" - there is a lot of conflicting advice reagrding smoking post SAH - my neurosurgeon told me not to worry about it but wuld prefer it if I gave up, others have been told never to touch another cigarette again. If you can, then try to keep Michele away from the cigs - it can't be a bad thing if she stops. As for telling her why, you can either tell her it's Docs orders or that you'd prefer it if she stopped. I still drink, tho not often, but I'm not on any meds at all - I didn't touch alcohol while I was taking the Nomopidine for anti spasms.

They say everything in moderation, so a drink won't hurt providing there are no meds being taken, but as for smoking - I wish I'd stopped after the SAH.

Like Karen said, we're not medics but can only offer advice going by our own experiences - take Michele to talk to her GP and discuss it with them.

Take care and I hope Michele continues to improve.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm the same as Perry up there ^^^. All the lovely Morphine during my recovery completely negated any cravings for fags. I also had conflicting advice, ranging from 'would be a good idea to stop, it does you no good but don't worry too much if you can't stop' right through to 'if you smoke again you stand a 20% chance of having another anuerysm. don't you dare smoke again.'

So, I simply don't smoke any more! It's no bother, really, but as I say, I was kind of lucky to be doped up in a hospital bed for a few weeks :)

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Hi All

Form my research, and as an ex smoker myself (gave up 2 years pre SAH) the reason for not smoking, aside from the cancer and high blood pressure, smoking is a apparently a causative factor in the weakening and loss of elasticity in the layers of muscle that make up arteries and blood vessels. As the arteries harden (atherosclerosis) they become less able to absorb blood pressure changes and make the rupture of an aneurism more likely.

As with everything with SAH, this etiology is only the researchers best guess, but it makes sense to me, and it troubles me significantly that my young daughter (well youngish, she's 20) continues to smoke, especially given the fact that if a first degree relative has an SAH, your own risk factor is increased.

Anyway, hope that helps, or if someone can add more I'd love to learn.

Regards

Adam

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Hi I to have smoked for the last 40 years but i do believe that smoking does us harm and that if i gave up tomorrow there is irreversible damage that is already done, i think if you can give up smoking it's a sensible thing to do for anyone especially if you've had an illness which is in one of high risk groups.

My wife gave up smoking 16 years ago and in march this year had an sah and 2 annis found, now smoking may or may not have caused those but my own feeling on this is that she would be foolish to ever consider smoking again and i would never ever dream of smoking near her again

Thanks Rod

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I suppose we all know deep down that smoking is not good for us.

However, having said that, I can honestly say that I have never felt so unwell in my life as I have since quitting two years ago. I think it is very sensible to never start smoking, but having been a long-term smoker (36 years) can't really say that I feel any benefit at all from giving up.

I came very very close to starting again when my husband had his SAH 7 weeks ago, but managed to resist. My husband stopped smoking 18 years ago and yet didn't mind me still smoking. I only quit to prove to him and my son that I could actually do it - no gum, patches, drugs or anything like that - just cold turkey! Also of course I had promised myself that one day I would stop, it is just incredible how fast the years go by and that promise gets harder to keep:biggrin:

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