I was wondering if anyone is experiencing any difficulties since having a coil procedure. I noticed that sometimes, I am slow to process information and other times, I feel like there's an empty room and I am trying to find information that is stored there somewhere. I sometimes have difficulty speaking clearly. I also notice I do not sleep without some time of medication. (i.e. Tylenol PM, Advil PM, etc.) I am afraid to take ambien or any other sleeping pill, heard to many horror stories.
It has been 6 years since my annie, but I don't always feel like I am improving...it is such a slow walk to recovery. Just wanted to ask the group if this is normal?
Penny, It's been 7 years since my rupture, and like you, I have days that I think I've improved greatly and others that I feel like I haven't improved at all. Memory re-call (recent) seems to be the most difficult for me. It's strange, I can remember events prior to the rupture very well - not so much with what I did this morning. I get overwhelmed easily if I try to process too much at once. I feel like I have to listen extra hard to REMEMBER something. I agree that it does seem like a slow walk to recovery. But hey - we're here to recover!!! Yay!! Happy Holidays!
Mine was coiled two years ago. I still have problems finding and using words that I have known and used for years. I cannot always voice the same words that my mind has just composed. I seem to have problems that are similar to yours but I believe mine may be a little less severe. I do note improvement as time passes. I do use sleep aids. I believe your recovery is in the "normal" time window. We all recover at different rates. Keep trying, keep a good outlook and I will be praying for you.
I'm 11 months out, and YES I experience this. I had clipping surgery, and the days where I am pushed back and feel like it's only a few weeks out are frequent. I'm trying to stay positive, but it can make you feel a little nutty :O As for the sleeping issue; I can't answer anything there. I know I can no longer sleep in, but I think that's my age rather than my annie issue.
I have been having cognitive issues for long before my anurysm issue or my coiling. They think I might have PSP, but they won't disagnose me. It is very hard to type.
DEFINITELY check out this video about the phenomenon known as "flooding", originally posted by ronk. You might also find it helpful to read the thread about it on another discussion (just search for "flooding" in the search box at the very top right of this page)
Hi all. It's been 14 months for me. Clipping right ACA. I am 57. I keep thinking I am depressed and my anti depressants are not working. I am tired all the time and I do take vitamins. Dizzy alot. Daily headaches and fuzzy brian feeling. No ambition or motivation. I've tried several jobs that have not worked out. Trying one now (work from home cust svs). Overall feeling of dread. I also take a half of a otc sleep aide. My house is suffering. Each night I promise tomorrow I will clean, but still I don't. Thank God my children are grown. Hopefully this will pass soon. I keep going. You do too.
Hi penny I had my annie burst in 2010 that was clipped. In 2012 I had my 2nd anni coiled n I started feeling better right off the bat mine was one on right the other was on the left in about the same area my balance got a lot better my vision got better. Sleeping I stayed awake till after news then would watch TBN Christian channel till 12 then from 12 to 12 30 reading my bible then pray to Jesus n thank him from surviving n was able to sleep 8 hours straight through, just ask for what u want n need n u will receive AMEN
Hi Penny, I'm about 15 months from having an unruptured aneurysm clipped. I did have alot of those 'empty room' type moments where I thought I knew the information but just couldn't put my finger on it. As my healing progressed they weren't happening as often but if I was tired or overwhelmed I'd forget things, like my son's name. My Doc told me to learn a new instrument and a new language. I figured he was trying to give me busy work. In my case, I started keeping notes for myself on everything. If I couldn't remember the name for something I'd google crazy things like..."what's the name to that thing that sucks up stove fumes". But I saw the greatest improvement when I started doing things like singing along to different music, volunteering at the Habitat for Humanity, making phone calls to ask for supplies, playing mind games on Lumosity and the Kindle (scrabble, Sudoku, Marble Saga), anything that made my brain work. I have trouble sleeping so I listen to any meditative music and it seems to lull me back to sleep. Well that's what helped me. Good luck!
Dear Penny, yes I do too, some days are better than other, it is more easy for me if I don’t have stress or emotional issues. But, because I look perfectly ok from the outside I have to remind to the love one that I don’t always perfectly understand what’s going on and need to rest. I suppose it will still improve but it’s such a long process, I mean “patience” is something I have to learn. So have wonderful hols, don’t worry and be happy. I do take sleeping pills once in a while because otherwise I don’t sleep and when I am deprived from sleeping then everything seems more difficult, I am trying to quit the medication, but not yet there.
Technically, my AVM wasn’t coiled; it was cut out, in a 14-hour operation, in 1987. Then, in 2003, I began using Dragon NaturallySpeaking! and it really restrengthened my cognition: especially my short-term-memory.
DEFINITELY check out this video about the phenomenon known as “flooding”, originally posted by ronk. You might also find it helpful to read the thread about it on another discussion (just search for “flooding” in the search box at the very top right of this page)
Penny. First of all, I wish you, and all in the community well in your recovery. The more time I spend reading these boards it reinforces how lucky my situation was. My 39 year old wife had a ruptured basilar tip aneurysm in April and subsequent Grade 4 hemorrhage . After a failed coil procedure, she had it clipped and is doing remarkable, and actually returned to work 4 months to the day it happened as a college professor. She is emotionally and physically pretty sound, with most problems post op resulting from shunts that did not work, or got infected. She has spent 66 days in hospitals or rehabs, but as I write this, we are planning to go to Mexico for a vacation where she hopes to go surfing at some point. I am humbled by the bravery and persistence of those in this community who were not so lucky and continue to have struggles. That said, she does have some cognitive issues that we work through, very similar to what you describe. She does lose words sometimes. She describes it as reaching for a word that exists on a tree branch just beyond her grasp. Words that she knows, but won't come to her. Other times, she forgets if she bought a plane ticket, or on what airline, or if we had a conversation, or it was had with her friend. What she tries to do is similar to what others have said, brain games and such. We all use our phones, and she tries to download apps. She loves a mini NY Times crossword puzzle that only takes a few minutes on a daily basis. These things with a morning cup of coffee or on her commute really seem to help. She's also in a situation where I am around. I tease her about her issues so it's not a huge deal. I know what she's likely to forget, so I pay extra special attention so i can fill her in. I realize a partner is not something everyone has, but I try to be understanding, and lessen the weight. What has happened is so serious, that whenever we talk about it, we try to decrease the gravity of it all, and laugh whenever possible. We are very serious when talking with our doctor, but otherwise, just try to celebrate life with laughter in however that life exists today, that may have been different before the aneurysm. When we were dealing with her recovery and I had to return to work, her friends I enlisted to be with her were her 'brain-sitters'. There will always be others who are there for you, and love you, and however minor your changes may be post-aneurysm, people who love you probably notice it so much less than you do.
Hi Penny,
It’s been two years this month since my aneurysm burst. They did coiling and I lost several months memory. I’ve improved a lot, It’s slower than I’d like, I was more patient until i started living independently once again. I tried to return to work, but cognitive assessment showed that I have executive function deficits. Most folks can’t tell but I sure have been aware of it, even before cognitive assessment I knew something was very different in processing, decisions, and planning. I try to figure out how to be more patient with myself. Never was a strong point of mine. Good and kind friends help to encourage me, but it is frustrating at times. Best wishes to you, be kind to yourself, KD
I have those issues and I find it depressing. The best solution for depression is to become physically fit, and then you will use the bad areas of your brain despite the constant failures. The solution is to use the broken areas of your brain more. The connections are still there, but they are fogged. More use will fix them. The brain is very plastic. It can regenerate.
The best part of working out/sports is that there is a mind body connection. So, if you can physically multi-task, then mentally you will be able to do so, too. I swim as my sport and had challenges when I started back.
On the plus side, some of my broken circuits that kept me from focusing are also burned out, so I can concentrate more than I ever used to do.
Hi, Penny, I have learned my brain was changed, and 20 years later, in combination with aging, it is getting worsen. i have to make a “cheat sheet” to the shortcuts in computer programs. I can do simple addition and subtraction, but not determine percentages or divide four digit numbers. Word finding is an issue. In a dinner discussion about the 9-11 disaster, I referred to 7-11. my husband is my life historian, who tells me things I don’t remember. I worked for 20 years, but now I am on disability and am unable to work. I think i am in the bottom of the group, because I had significant damage from a bad bleed and from a deep clipping because the aneurysm was in an awkward position. My neurologist said no one would do the procedure now with the primitive tools they had in the 90s and now they have microsurgical tools and the coils. If you had a bleed, blood itself damages the brain.
For sleeping, I used melatonin in the early years but that has gotten better as my anxiety and panic attacks have been reduced with lamictal. Headaches with lying down also got better, even though it took many years.
Your brain is all that matters though. Don’t worry my experience will be yours, because the important thing is that everyone’s injury is unique and the brain can heal. Keeping your brain active is the way to do that. lack of sleep has cognitive effects even in people who haven’t had aneurysms. And, because you are thinking about this, you may be seeing things that affect “normal” people or be hyper-aware of any flaw. Also, you can ask to see a neurocognitive specialist to test your inividual brain health and give you strategies to overcome your deficits. I have found doctors dont want to be really honest about these issues, because they don’t know much about long term survivors. I try to remember I could have died and it’s better to have three quarters of a brain than none!
Hi all. It's been 14 months for me. Clipping right ACA. I am 57. I keep thinking I am depressed and my anti depressants are not working. I am tired all the time and I do take vitamins. Dizzy alot. Daily headaches and fuzzy brian feeling. No ambition or motivation. I've tried several jobs that have not worked out. Trying one now (work from home cust svs). Overall feeling of dread. I also take a half of a otc sleep aide. My house is suffering. Each night I promise tomorrow I will clean, but still I don't. Thank God my children are grown. Hopefully this will pass soon. I keep going. You do too.
This is to Cindy -- my doctor put me on antidepressants and I hated them. I was tired all the time and completely unmotivated to do anything. I quit taking them (on my own). I feel much better without them. I can deal with my problems in real time and, I feel much less tired and more motivated to do things. Just my experience.