Hi, to those of you who have had a clipping for an unruptured aneurysm - how do you feel 12 months on? Do you have any symptoms or worries?

[Jes1971]

I had a craniotomy/clipping 17months ago and am struggling with anxiety, worrying if i have another one! Trying hard to overcome this, i know i'm lucky and feel guilty at being so insecure. I had one follow up appoint with consultant at 6 weeks post op and that's it. I have memory trouble and do not have much patience anymore! I don't have regular headaches but get pulsating/heatbeat in my head where aneurysm was (which freaks me out)! Also still have a sort if heavy feeling round the same area! Thank you for reading. X

[Rogers]

Hi I had a coil for my ruptured aneurysm, I also have all the same feelings has yourself. I suffered my aneurysm January 12, I am currently struggling more with emotions and feeling insecure spent most of this bank holiday in tears. I also know I am very lucky to be alive, if I do get a headache I think the worse. I also had one follow up appointment with my consultant 10 months after the opp, he said I was suffering from post traumatic disorder following my opp, and go and see my Gp I did not bother. I have gone back to work on a part time basis that's been a nightmare having to keep proving myself dreading going in today think they will make me finish for due to low performance, ha well just something else to worry about. Chin up Xx

[Alicedenham]

Hi, I had 2 clips almost 2years ago and went on to have vasospasm as well. I think your experience sounds similar to mine. I had a check up at 4 mths and 16mths at the hospital but nothing in between! I did find a scheme that the GP can prescribe which is Exercise Referral. It is a scheme designed to help people recovery from serious illness. You can enrol onto a 12 week course paid for by the NHS at gyms or swimming pools that employ staff trained in Exercise Referral. This course it not about Lycra and running machines it is a scheme designed to improve your oxygen flow, balance and mobility (in my case) and general well being. I learned to Nordic Walk using this scheme which has improved my quality of life and help me have the energy to get through some tough times. It might be something you could consider. Good luck on your journey. Ax

[Jes1971]

Thanks for your replies and advise, i much appreciate it. Wishing you both well and hope. Thank you x

[pricklypilgrim]

I had a congenital subarachnoid clipped in 1997 after it ruptured and caused a massive bleed. It still affects me in some ways: as a stroke, it has left me with balance problems, so I walk with a stick when outdoors. There has been some memory loss, but I generally remember when reminded! I also continue to suffer severe hyperacusis (hearing sensitivity) but the severity increased because since 2008 I have also had Ménière's disease. Certain noises make me inclined to lose my temper uncontrollably, or burst into tears.

Back when I was first released from hospital, I thought I'd never get any better - but looking back, I have come such a long way that most people meeting me for the first time don't realise that I ever had a stroke. The 'twinges' in my head have subsided to almost nil. Don't feel guilty - a brain injury is a serious and frightening thing. Eventually the panic goes away... Recovery is a long process, but it *does* eventually happen. All the best, and hope that the fear will soon subside. d x

[Jes1971 in reply to pricklypilgrim]

Hi There, thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my post! I am glad to hear how far you have improved over the years! Thanks for your considerate words, much aporeciated. Take care x

[sardine]

I had clipping of an unruptured aneurysm too, 12 months ago. I still get all sorts of weird sensations in my head but it is normal. Sleep became a major issue 1 month after the op and still is. I do suffer from anxiety, the fear from before the surgery is still with me. Brain surgery is a big thing and full recovery can take a long time. Some doctors seem to think that i suffer from PTSD. I think that I have to recover from the general anaesthetic, as well as the actual surgery. But I know how lucky I am, and whenever I feel down, I remind myself of this. Hope that helps. Take care.

[Jes1971 in reply to sardine]

Hiya, thanks for you reply, it is so nice to hear from someone who has experienced the same as me with similar side affects! Here's hoping we will both overcome our anxiety issues in time! Every time i get a pain/twinge in my head i nearly have a cardiac arrest! Others have said this subsides with time, so fingers crossed. Thank you and take care x

[eileenleach]

I had two clipped in 2014 n sleep approx 18 hours s day since, don't AV energy to do anything n can fly of the handle by click of fingers, I to had a bad time handling why I was so lucky to have a fit which got me a brain scan which found two anyeursms, yet other people don't get any warning it ruptures n they die, mine was 18 mm n 10 mm which is very big x

[mikhtov]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear of your troubles, and I am also sorry if I have to say that I am also experincing different problems such as memory loss, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, and a lot of other things.

Here is the story since my surgery and the post I want to write here (I am very new on this site. This is my first time):

I am myself trying to find out if my health problems are common, and what to do with them.

I had a brain aneurysm surgery (clips) for an aneurysm in the right internal carotid and another in the communication artery, 4 years ago.

My surgery was done in the USA, and when I came back to France where I mostly live now, on March 2014, Doctors said I had a new aneurysm in the Pericallosal artery - but they were not sure.

In France, they don't want to do an RMA on me because, they say, their equipment is not compatible with the clips that were put in my arteries in the USA. You must know that in Europe, and France especially, they do mostly endovascular therapy and you find less and less doctors specialized in Brain aneurysm surgery, even for ruptured brain aneurysms.

Although the surgery seemed to have gone well, I never felt the same again. Nothing important shows physically although I aged 15 years since then, but my lifestyle has tremendously changed. I started to see things on a "dark side", hate everybody, lose my friends, refuse to go out and meet people, travel or anything I used to do very cheerfully.

I have headaches of course, but that is the least of my pains. It's the fatigue, the shortness of breath, the sleepless nights (like if I was on a permanent 12 hours jet lag), and pain in different parts of my body each day: allergies, asthma feel like, and all sorts of problems.

But I have been diagnosed a long time ago for fibromyalgia, and I am not sure if it is the brain surgery or the fibromyalgia that is responsible of my everyday and every night suffering.

I wonder though if the surgery didn't increase the fibromyalgia symptoms or made the crisis more severe, and almost permanent (before, I had pain and fatigue from fibro mostly when I had great stress).

Lately something new occurred: I have dizziness, my fatigue is making me feel like if I was disabled, which I am not really, not in the true sense of the word.

Moreover, for the last few weeks, I feel a strange dizziness, a fainting like sensation, and big physical pressure inside my head, my brain, my temples and ears. It’s like if my brain had a life on its own.

My ears are clogged as if a veil is covering my eardrums, far inside.

I have lost my appetite for good and healthy food which I used to cook my whole life, like steamed vegetables. Now I feel I want only junk food. I used to be very careful to keep my figure, but now I don't even care.

Because doctors in France don't want to give me an RMA as explained above, I am worried about these new symptoms, namely dizziness, clogging ears and pressure in my brain. CT SCAN alone, they said, is not sufficient to really analyze what is going on in my arteries and in my brain.

If you have any suggestion, please help. Thanks a lot