I’m 11 months into my recovery, and although some days are better than others, I’m recovering very well, and haven’t had any serious problems for weeks.
Until the weather started changing (I don’t know if this is correlation or causation) - but I’ve started feeling a sudden sense of pressure or mild pain inside my head itself, like I can physically feel the coil/stent. It’s manageable, but it is irritating, and I don’t know if this is something I should be concerned about? It comes and goes, generally on an evening/night
I heard something about barometric pressure or weather affecting coils/stents. To be honest I don’t really care what the cause is as long as it’s nothing to be concerned about. Is this normal? The level of pain/pressure is like someone pressing one finger onto the back of my head where my coil/stent is, so it’s not too debilitating but not ideal either.
Thanks in advance everyone. I would also welcome other people sharing experiences with similar problems?
Yea, I’m one of those affected by air pressure/weather changes. I can tell the weather better than a barometer I also have known issues with intracranial pressures and have a VP shunt to try and manage it all. I say ‘try’ because I still have issues with pressure within my skull even with the shunt. Some days it feels like my eyeballs are ready to pop, the pressure is so great. I’ve turned up to hospital on occasions thinking something was seriously wrong, but after a scan I was sent home.
Now what I look for is a progression of symptoms. Like I say a headache that’s normal for me, even a bad one, visual distortions are also fairly common, not daily like the headaches, but not uncommon for me. But if that progresses to one sided tingles and then nausea, for me that’s a clear sign of a greater issue and I need to ‘act now’ and seek medical attention. These are my precursor signs. It took me a while to identify what was normal symptoms (as if any of it is ‘normal’) and what was a sign of ‘ACT NOW’. Over time you too will learn your own signs.
Hi @Lemon — I too started my recovery journey 11 months ago, interspersed with a coil/stent or stent every three months, until my last stent on Halloween. Having said that, recovery has been, I suppose relatively speaking, not terrible for me with headaches the first week or so after each procedure (well, except for the first emergency procedure which entailed an 11-day hospital stay), but what I occasionally have is like a little wave of a headache/pressure that flows through and then goes away. Not long enough to take a Tylenol, but enough to freak me out a little. I am still in the midst of managing chronic fatigue and off and on dizziness. Per wisdom by @Moltroub, I try to keep hydrated with some sort of electrolytes. I have to constantly remind myself to do so, but going back to your question, is it possible with the cooler weather that you are not hydrating as much as during summer? I’m just throwing options at the wall here🤷🏻♀️. I use this one Amazon.com: Keppi Keto Electrolytes Powder No Sugar - Sugar Free Electrolytes - Keto Hydration Electrolytes - Made in USA - Delicious Raspberry Lemonade Flavor - Mixes Easily No Clumps : Health & Household which is not as sweet as all the “….ade” drinks. I say try keeping an eye on your hydration and see what happens?
Morning Lemon! First thing being the most important, reach out to your surgeon. Remember we aren’t doctors, although a handful of members are, none of us have your full medical history, so please either call or go through your patient portal.
Like Merl, I had to learn what was important and what wasn’t. It was not easy. My rules were stiff neck, nausea or vomiting and bad headache - go to ER ASAP! I have a spot that used to get a super sharp pain on the left side of my head. It’s a very specific spot and if I reached out to my Neurosurgeon it was always an appointment and then all the follow up imaging and procedures. Since she installed my stent, I haven’t been having that pain hardly at all. If I feel it, I stop hydrate, eat protein, hydrate more, rest repeat. I do that for all my headaches - it’s Dr. Q-W fault since she is the one who taught me. She’s pretty smart since it works for me.
Yes I’ve read here that several members are affected by weather changes. The only thing that gets me is my allergies so I can’t speak to how it feels.
Personally I’ve never felt my coils and I’ve got a lot, nor my stent (just one). Not saying you don’t feel what you feel, because you may very well be correct. I’m going to throw something else out there - are you having stress headaches? Could it be you’re feeling something else like an increase of pressure in your arteries? Do you have spinal issues? There’s as many different reasons as there are different types of headaches. Instead of playing the guessing/ worry game, please reach out to your doctor. When they tell you what’s going on, please come back and tell us! Sharing information and experience is how we all learn.
I also have known issues with intracranial pressures and have a VP shunt to try and manage it all. I say ‘try’ because I still have issues with pressure within my skull even with the shunt. Some days it feels like my eyeballs are ready to pop, the pressure is so great. I’ve turned up to hospital on occasions thinking something was seriously wrong, but after a scan I was sent home.