Hello! I’m new here so hopefully I’m in the right place. I presented in the ER in the summertime with a horrible migraine which the doctors thought was brought on by a UTI. I got an MRA and they discovered a small aneurysm in the ICA at the ophthalmic artery. The MRA was after my hospital visit, as I told my GP about the experience and he ordered the MRA. Fast forward a month, I was having episodes of head pressure and it got so bad one night I went back to ER. The neurosurgeon was concerned about the first visit with the migraine, and sent me to a larger hospital with more resources. After meeting with their neurosurgery team they determined because the first event was potentially a “leak” they wanted to treat it. The location & wide neck were difficult to treat so they decided the flow diverter pipeline stent was the best option. Surgery itself went very well, I had one small episode after where my hand went numb and I got tachycardic but it lasted only a few minutes and I was in the hospital still so the team could assess me and they weren’t concerned. Fast forward, I felt “off” after surgery. It’s hard to describe but I felt lots of brain fog, head pressure, off balance and like I wasn’t quite there. In hindsight, I should have stayed off of work longer, but I returned after 3 weeks to a job that heavily relies on computer use. I had a follow up MRI, the stent is working correctly, there are no concerns. At the 3 month mark (last week) they determined I could come off the brilinta and remain on baby aspirin. For the last few months I’ve been dealing with brain fog, severe fatigue, weakness, visual disturbances (light in eye, static in eyes). I visited a neurologist who explains he believes I have a migraine disorder, although I have no classic “headache” symptoms. Last week I had an episode where my vision went blurry and lights were everywhere, then I lost vision for a few minutes in my one eye. I went to the ER because I was concerned about a stroke after ending the blood thinner. The CTA showed the stent is in place and blood is flowing correctly through it and no other evidence of stroke / clots etc. my neurosurgeon took a second look at the scans and they were reassuring that the stent is working correctly. I’m looking to see if anyone has had on going weakness, brain fog, fatigue, and general feeling of being off for months after surgery? The trick is that they can’t say for sure if the aneurysm ruptured or not originally, although they believe it did not. I know it takes a lot for your brain to recover, and from a structural standpoint, the surgery was successful, however, I didn’t expect to feel so off weeks and months later. I’ve had several scans & bloodwork and everything comes back normal. I’m still working with my GP to get to the bottom of this but Looking to hear about others healing experiences, as much of what I read says people felt fine relatively quickly. Neurosurgery team is wonderful & they don’t believe it’s related, however, I didn’t have any of this before the surgery. Thank you!
Hi @Casshe -
You are so welcome to be here with us, and yes, you are in the right place!
My aneurysm did rupture, and I had a couple of related issues pop up as well throughout my own journey. Post-rupture, I had a 2 mm aneurysm left, and as it was growing, my neuroradiologist treated it with a pipeline flow diverter as well. However, I am not able to link my fatigue, etc. to the flow diverter as that is something that I had already been experiencing after the my brain injury.
A UK-based organization, Headway, has some resources under their “Effects of Brain Injury” that may be of interest to you. Personally I like their “Fatigue after Brain Injury Guide” because it talks about things that can trigger fatigue AND most importantly, how to manage fatigue!
Post-injury I can no longer do what I used to - but honestly that is a good thing as I was burning the candle at both ends. I have learned to prioritize rest and take breaks to go through my day. E.g., I actually take a lunch hour now (instead of working 9-10 hours straight 
), and during that break I find that either meditation/mindfulness and/or listening to sources such as Brain.fm help me to recharge throughout the day.
In my journey, I had many wonderful speech therapists, but my very favorite was a Certified Brain Injury Specialist here in the US. She helped me to understand that all those things I thought I was doing that was relaxing are actually NOT. For example, anything with a screen is NOT relaxing, so streaming/movies/tv/phones are all draining to your brain, and may be contributing to feelings of fatigue.
You may also be interested in the Brain Injury Association of America’s Fatigue After Brain Injury as they also list some coping strategies. I particularly like the battery image as it helps to understand the differences we experience pre- and post-injury!
As the Headway guide suggests what recharges me may not recharge you. They do have some suggestions in there, but some ideas are meditation/mindfulness, yoga, art, music, and - of course - naps!
Around here we (as patients) speak of healing in terms of months and years, not days and weeks. You’ve been through a lot; please be kind to yourself and go easy on yourself!!
Fin Whale Fan 
Hello, yes you have come to the right place. I’m sorry that you feel the way you do, but I think you will improve if you give it time. I also had visual disturbances after my stent was inserted, but that disappeared after about a year. Many people in this forum write about the same experience with visual disturbances especially when looking at bright light. Have you tried using glasses for computer screens ? Some people say that they helped them. I suppose that you are busy at work so try to get some rest when you get home. Go to bed early and get a good nights sleep. Make sure you eat well and stay dehydrated. Try to eat a protein rich snack or a fruit when you are working to fuel your brain. Don’t skip meals! You wrote that you have stopped Brilanta and you were worried because you had ended the blood thinner medication. I have to correct that, Aspirin is a “blood thinner “ eg. a platelet inhibitator, so don’t worry about that part.
As @FinWhaleFan and @oct20 you’re in the right place, well done you! I’m going to make one correction on @oct20 suggestion, I’m 100% positive “stay dehydrated” should be the opposite, keeping hydrated is what we absolutely need to do. I’m betting the computer jumped the gun, she’s a very smart cookie!
After I ruptured and the ensuing diagnostic and repair angiograms, we never knew how I would change. The first diagnostic gave me a tremor and FAS and all she did was take a look around my brain. Each one also set me back months and I’d have to repeat ST and PT. Until she put in my stent, I did really well with that one. But for me, I had to drink 3 bottles of those 32 ounce Gatorades and either double or triple of that amount in water for several months, sorry I can’t remember the last time she was in my brain was 5 years ago. If I don’t hydrate enough, eat enough protein, I will still have bad days. Her mantra is hydrate, eat protein, hydrate some more, rest and repeat. Ask your physician how much protein, water and electrolytes you should be taking.
@Moltroub 
off course! Hydrated not dehydrated
Hi Casslyn,
Warning - this is LONG! My story is different than yours, but we have some similarities in that we aren’t exactly textbook recipients of flow diversion. With my first, my surgery went longer than anticipated and I had a stroke on the table which they immediately treated. When I woke up I had no feeling on my left side. I recovered rather quickly in the months to come, but I did have lingering effects of brain fog and fatigue (quite extreme). The visual disturbances I experienced at that time were actually pretty typical of flow diversion around the ophthalmic artery – I had skittering objects in my peripheral vision and occasional fireflies in my right eye (I had a right ophthalmic artery aneurysm). I was also experiencing severe headaches with and without aura, and also had odd pressure in my head that seemed to pop up in different places all the time.
I also went back to work quickly which yes, I believe ultimately delays healing. The brain needs time to heal just as a muscle does, the difference is that messaging from the brain isn’t as straightforward so we tend not to heed and just push forward.
About a year into all this I went to a great neurologist who found I had convergence insufficiency (eye issue from childhood resurfaced post-stroke), and an autoimmune disease that also causes fatigue and brain fog. I was also diagnosed as having auras (migraines with visual disturbances, no headache), and my typical migraines were being exacerbated by low iron. I did therapy for convergence which greatly improved and reduced headache frequency, raised my iron which decreased migraine intensity and improved the ability of medications to work, the auras I still live with but since they come without pain, I can deail with it. Fatigue and brain fog are still with me, but get MUCH worse with anesthesia and after angiograms.
Back to the aneurysms, I had another flow diverter placed on the right a little over a year after the first, then a new one was found on the left which required intervention at the 2-year mark. That was when things got really crazy. I had a flow diverter put in there (also at the ophthalmic artery). When I stopped Brilinta after 4 months, about 5 days later I had a bizarre electrical storm in my left eye followed by complete vision loss for about 5 minutes. Another angiogram showed no issues and occlusion of the aneurysm, but I went back on Brilinta for 2 more months. After I went off I had an issue with heavy weight in my legs and repeated auras, occasional numbness and loss of feeling here and there, balance complications, and a couple more occurrences of vision loss in the left. A cardiologist raised my 81 mg aspirin to 162mg (2 per day instead of 1). A couple more neurology consults led nowhere clear except to state I had some frontal lobe damage and some people react differently to “artifacts” in their brains. Another angiogram showed VERY slightly decreased blood flow to my right eye (but my vision loss was in the left). Neurosurgery raised my aspirin to 325mg per day. I stayed that way for over a year until I had a coloscopy scheduled and was told by all it was okay to drop to 81mg (but not 0) during the 5 days leading up the procedure. That morning, I lost vision in my left eye. I now won’t drop the aspirin below 162mg. My last oral surgery I stayed at 325mg then dropped to 162mg 3 days before and was fine. Of course you have to have a surgeon comfortable with that due to bleeding risks. Let’s hope I never need more critical surgery where you can’t have any. I think I’ll have to pass.
I still have some other weird physical effects, but now I attribute them to neurological effects of my autoimmune issues and don’t worry about them because I’m still standing. I personally think they were brought on and exacerbated by all the brain “activity”, and I hope the longer no one goes fishing around up there, the less it will occur. However, since all that fishing saved my life, I’m okay with it.
Anesthesia really bothers me and it takes a long time to recover from brain fog. The contrasts used in angiograms and CT’s also are an issue since I’m allergic, but I still do them when necessary to make sure the aneurysms are okay since I haven’t had a major anaphylactic event. But I now anticipate requiring extra time for my brain to calm down and refocus afterward.
Sorry, this is long but our stories both converge and diverge so I want to be clear – I don’t claim we have the same thing happening so please keep pursuing your own answers. However, we have enough similarities for me to reach out and say you are not alone. It doesn’t go perfectly for all of us, but we’re here. A fabulous Vascular Neurology RN gave me great advice which I continue to follow to increase arterial health. Drink half your weight in ounces in water per day (I’m mid-120’s, so minimum 60 ounces per day). Extremely limit caffeine, don’t smoke and avoid second-hand smoke, do not take ibuprofen or triptans. Since you do have some symptoms that mimic stroke warnings, this certainly can’t hurt. I’m probably missing something else, but it was likely something I don’t do or I’d remember eliminating. If I find my paperwork from her, I’ll share more with you.
Judi
Thank you so much for sharing. There definitely seems to be similarities here and I appreciate you sharing your experience. I’m wishing you all the best moving forward.