Hi everyone had a pipeline procedure for 7mm unruptured aneurysm in 2012. The pain in my head was so severe that the surgeon did a coiling and stent. Was going along pretty well and had returned back to work after 3 months. Worked 3 months then off again with stomache problems, hernia and ulcer. The last 6 months I feel like my whole world has turned upside down. Depressed all the time and crying. Am back at work but sadly some of my work collegues don't have a clue what I am going thru. They think I need to just get over it. Can't take anti depressants because of my stomache. Have tried a few different ones and they make me violently ill. Has anyone else experienced depression after such a long period of the coiling???? Cheers
Hi Kaye...Most of us after going through the worse of this journey are diagnosed with "PTSD" (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). There are many things one can do to help...other than Anti~Depresssants...talk therapy with a counselor, a group therapy for Brain aneurysm survivors, meditation, yoga, etc., You need to find a way to rid those feelings so you can somewhat "move on"...
One thing I have found is many people who haven't gone through this have no idea what we go through and can continue to go through...I found out who my true family and friends were when I was healing and the rest I had no use...
Don't suffer alone...come here and get your feelings out...and don't be hard on YOU...this is all part of the journey...Thoughts out to you ~ Colleen
I second Colleen. I hit THAT stage around my 6 month in healing (I'm about to enter my 9th now). When the insurance company nurse told me it sounded like I was suffering from PTSD I thought she was nuts and told her so. She strongly recommended seeing someone to talk to and/or finding an aneurysm support group. I did find a woman who's like talking to a friend and this site. I've also just signed up with the Habitat for Humanity as a volunteer. I can't do physical labor but I make calls to procure building materials for the homes. It all helped me. I don't understand how but atleast it keeps me from that horrid depressed state I was falling into.
And I third that Colleen! You took the words right out of my mouth :)! Hang in there Kaye and know that there are many here who genuinely care for your well being! {HUGS}
Kaye...welcome...many of us have gone thru, are still going thru, what you are sharing...
Were you given an ultrasound or CTA - abdomen while hospitalized? Were you put on probiotics?
I have asked numerous questions on the limbic system and the hippocampus...you may want to research them and ask questions of your docs...
The therapies I did included acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, vision therapy and more....and, still do...just not as much...memory jogging...
Have the doctors talked to you about a neuropsychology test? And, vision and/or hearing tests?
I was so surprised when my neuropsych testing could even track (do not know which tests) coordination ... confirming lack of coordination in both sides of my body...
Prayers for your results of each of your steps in recovery...and success in getting answers and referrals from your doctors...
Pat
Thanks it is nice to find a support group that can relate to what I am feeling.
Thank you Colleen it is wonderful to find such a caring support group and yes I have found out who my true friends are. I am trying hjard not to suffer and it is great to find people that will listen
Thank you I am trying to focus on good things in my life and keep reminding myself that I am a good person and if people in my life cna't accept me for who I am then they are not worth knowing. My husband is the only one that seems to understand what I am going thru.
What’s causing the stomach issues? Are you on an aspirin regimen as are most of us that we’re pipelined? Did this and the other blood thinners cause the ulcer? You need to find a good doc that will work through the ulcer problems with you so that anti depressants can be an option for you. Are you having head pain, migraines and such still? I ask because I was right where you were… No coils here, but I had an 8mm aneurysm pipelined, went back to work 3 months later as a public school teacher and thought I was going to need to change jobs due to migraines that stemmed solely from hearing my own voice. I did a lot of alternate therapies but an anti depressant was what got me through in the end. Talk to your general practitioner… If you don’t have one, get one, or if you’re having migraines, book a neurologist. Tell them what you’re going through and that your quality of life is suffering due to this. Life is too short to go through it being miserable. You owe it to yourself to get help… You didn’t go through the surgery to save yourself so that you could live like this… And you shouldn’t have to. There are medications for your ulcer that can be prescribed so you can stomach the other medications. The toughest things we have to do after surgery is be an advocate for ourselves. Write down what you told us here and take it to a doc… Or just pull up this thread at the doc’s office if you’re too upset to talk to the doc. Been there, got the tshirt.
You are certainly not alone! And my heart goes out to you! Please let us know how you’re doing!