I'm being told-without really seeing this myself-that my character has changed since my ruptured aneurysm. Has anyone else experienced that?
I also suffer from Vertigo and react with extreme tiredness and dizziness to all weather changes too (sun as well as rain).
I have been told that my "fuse" is shorter since my rupture 8 years ago. In two weeks I am having another one clipped.
Yes, I am a totally different person since suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2007. Mainly, I tend to gravitate towards positive people, and I have let go of negative relationships, they just bring me down. Life is too short to be in a down mood. I am grateful that I am still here to be with my wonderful, loving husband, my children, and my amazing grandchildren, including newborn twins, six months old. I also used to be a "yes" person, always agreeing so that I would not hurt anyone's feelings, whether I wanted to do whatever they asked or not. I actually couldn't say "NO". That has changed. I pick and choose what I want to do, and feel no guilt at just saying "No". I feel that the changes in my life as far as the emotional ones, are very positive. I still have memory loss, lose my thoughts in the middle of a sentence when I am tired, and become very tired. But I am alive. Good luck to you.
Neither of mine ruptured. They are being monitored. I have been told by many people my attitude has changed. I agree! I live life now I am me and don’t let people walk all over me anymore. These have give me a new perspective I want to be as happy as I can be for as long as God lets me . I have two beautiful kids that make me smile everyday. I love the new me !
Tara
Hi Gabrielle! not really, I think its their perception partly, I was told I was unappreciative!! which I definitely am not- maybe I forget to say thank-you. The person was angry at me and just spouting off cause I disagreed with them so I just ignored it after defending my position, Be very cautious about what others say is my advice, tc xoxo ps yes I have those issues too, snowing now 5" ugh
I find that I am a bit 'sharper'/impatient! My balance is not good - I walk with a 'wobble'. I did try to get 11-12 in bed each night - now after 4 months aiming for 9-10 hours!
Sharon,
I, too, suffered from loss of thoughts through a middle of a sentence. I've suffered through bouts of depression...and lately, I'm finding out that I have to give myself 'crash courses' with things that I used to be able to do, effortlessly. I've suffered my rupture Jan 2014.
Sharon E. Morey said:
Yes, I am a totally different person since suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2007. Mainly, I tend to gravitate towards positive people, and I have let go of negative relationships, they just bring me down. Life is too short to be in a down mood. I am grateful that I am still here to be with my wonderful, loving husband, my children, and my amazing grandchildren, including newborn twins, six months old. I also used to be a "yes" person, always agreeing so that I would not hurt anyone's feelings, whether I wanted to do whatever they asked or not. I actually couldn't say "NO". That has changed. I pick and choose what I want to do, and feel no guilt at just saying "No". I feel that the changes in my life as far as the emotional ones, are very positive. I still have memory loss, lose my thoughts in the middle of a sentence when I am tired, and become very tired. But I am alive. Good luck to you.
My husband suffered SAH in Sept 2011. He is a completely different person. Not the man I married, it is also very difficult for our children. Every once in a while there is a glimpse of him before the SAH, so we continue to hope for more improvement and that we will soon see more glimpses.
Yes! Just had this discussion the other night with my Mom about this very topic. Its been 2 1/2 years and you should be back to your old self by now… Nope. It is better than it was last year at this time, but will take a little longer than most realize. I hear myself in all of the posts to this question so far. Decided it is time to try and talk to someone in a rehab for brain injury to hopefully get some help with these issues. Hope this helps.
This is a great topic to speak on. I am new to this. I suffered my rupture January 20, 2014, and I am still (as I probably always will be) going through the phases of recovery. New questions arise everyday. I am open to any and all questions to better understand changes.
I think it very reasonable to expect changes. I am grateful that my wife appears to have changed for the better. She, like others, appreciates life just a little bit more, and is much more emotional, in a good way. Any deficits after her grade 4 SAH are minimal if at all, but with a bleed comes damage in the brain, and based on what what I've read, re-routing of all the things that fire to comprise your intellect, emotions, balance, etc. She cries at songs and cards and life, which for me is a good thing. I think no changes after a rupture would be extremely rare.
People tell me that my character has not changed ince my rupture four years ago. What I'm mostly aware of myself is a loss of confidence - in my abilities, my own judgement - but I'm not sure that counts as a character change. It all depends whereabouts in the brain the damage is. Mine was more in the motor vontrol department. After lots of physio, I can walk OK, thank goodness, but I still cannot (maybe never will be able to) fully straighten the fingers on my right hand (I am left-handed) and suffer anxiety and depression, very different to my former upbeat, optimistic self. Again, is that character? Or simply mood change? Working on it with CBT.
I've always have had a positive outlook on things, once again, I do agree with you, & I do the same by straying away from negative people and situations...life is way too short to live in misery. We've all had a traumatic experience by dealing with (and surviving) a rupture.
I wish one day in the future my wife will be able to say the same ..
Currently she is in minimal concious state something like awake comma after a raptured aneurysm on July 2014 which happened an hour after she gave birth to our twins
Sharon E. Morey said: "...Life is too short to be in a down mood. I am grateful that I am still here to be with my wonderful, loving husband, my children, and my amazing grandchildren, including newborn twins, six months old..."
I have definitely changed. I find myself getting very impatient at times. I also have apathy which has really affected my motivation and any sense of reward in completing tasks. I've been told this is from having heavy bleeding around a certain area in my brain. A lot of times I feel very flat and empty, I have trouble laughing at things, or being very interested in things, it's like Im disconnected from my emotions for the most part. Our brains control everything, our emotions, primitive systems to even make us want to get up and do things, our memory, you name it, our personality and how we behave is all in our brains so depending on what was damaged, we can have mental changes as well as/instead of physical/mobility changes.
Hi Gabriele
Agree with JB, great topic to speak on. My Partner had an elected procedure in 2011 on an MCA cerebal aneurysm (no rupture) and his character has changed; glimpses of his old character come through now and again but on the whole he has changed. He used to have a larger than life character but not now. He is more sensitive and gets more emotional; cries easier. I can see most of the posts have the changes of character with a rupture but unless something did happen in my Partner's procedure like a bleed that we were not told about? Before his procedure I did ask the surgeon if my Partner would change in any way and was told No, but he did change. Wondering if anyone else has had changes in character with an elected procedure? Sharon (posted here 20 mins ago) has a wonderful attitude especially with saying YES or NO - she has her priorities figured out! Gabriele, like yourself my Partner does suffer from EXTREME tiredness whereas before he had so much energy. He also used to be a sun worshipper but not any more, he dives for cover when the sun is out, preferring the shade. But saying all this, the procedue probably saved his life. Just to add, he is very sensitive to any medication he has to take also.
Would like to take the opportunity to say that this site is a wonderful place and I would have been completely lost without all the wonderful, say it as it is people. Love and best wishes to you all.
Although my aneurysm has not ruptured, my mother's did. She came home from the hospital a totally different person character-wise. She was always a very shy woman. When the phone would ring, one of the 5 children had to answer it. That's how shy she was. After the rupture, she not only answered the phone but felt pretty free to tell whomever she was speaking to exactly what she thought about them. It often wasn't pretty. This was decades ago and she is still like this. She never went back to her old character. It took some getting used to, but I like the new mom better.
Shay
My Aneurism burst in Jan. 2014. It was coiled. I had a Flow Diverter implanted in March 2014. I think my philosophy and priorities have changed similar to what these other patients have experienced. I am not afraid to say, “no”… It’s almost as though the brain surgery has given me permission and my friends and family are much more understanding and forgiving.
I removed a very negative friend from my life which was tricky but such a relief. She was all consuming and smothering and now I don’t have to deal with it.
I would say I had total fatigue for a year and depression. Both have gotten better… I am under the care of a psychiatrist for the depression.
It’s so hard to be patient, I know, but hang in there.
I have been told I have changed. I get irritated very easily. My anxiety is bad and I suffer from PTSD.
Based on closely observing my husband, I think that a person's personality is set. But when certain cognitive abilities are lost, such as emotional control, new behaviors result. On the surface this can look like a person's personality has changed. But I think it's the expression or repression of what was already one's personality that changes.