Hi everyone - I had my PED placed on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. I’ve been have headaches ever since. I’m calling the doctor tomorrow but I was wondering if anyone else had experienced headaches? And if so, what did your doctor say/do about them?
When I was in the hospital recovering, they didn’t seem to think my headaches were related to the PED.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
Hi Lisa and welcome to the group. Headaches are, without a doubt, the number 1 complaint of PED recipients! I had my PEDs placed 4 years ago and suffered with horrid headaches that lasted for about 6 months. My NS warned my husband that they were a possibility and that over time they would lessen. He said that was the body’s way of saying, hey, there’s a foreign object invading the brain! I took fiorcet for the headaches and was headache free at about the 6 month mark.
Please let us know what your doc says.
Best wishes!
Linda
Thank you for the response Linda - I will let you know what he says. When I told him about the headaches when I was in the hospital, he didn't give me any indication that they were normal or to be expected. But, he did give me a prescription for hydrocodone - that has helped a little but didn't help at all last night. And the headaches aren't horrible - I could live with them for 6 months - I just want to make sure something isn't wrong :).
Thanks again for the response!
I had headaches for a few weeks after my PED was placed.
Fiorcet worked much better in relieving them than Hydrocodone. Much better.
I have to say, the headaches I had before discovering my ICA aneurysm were incapacitating.
Since my recovery, I have had no headaches!
i too had headaches for 6 months. they varied from crawling in bed to just being in the background. Fiorect was VERY effective. i thought i'd have them forever and then one day, they were just gone. I'm surprised he didn't mention that they were part of the healing. My neurosurgeon said that as the annie shrinks it can trigger headaches because of the movement in the brain. I had a couple of terrible headaches a few days in a row around 4 months post op and did a round of steriods that quickly resolved the headaches.
Thanks everyone for the input - I had another really bad night last night (one on Tuesday also) and the hydrocodone didn't work at all. So, I just called my doctor and asked for something new - and mentioned Fiorect. Just waiting for the nurse to call me back now. Hopefully, they can give me something to help. :)
Hi Lisa, hoping that you did get the fiorcet and that your headaches have lessened. Sorry that I haven’t responded earlier, but my dad recently passed and I had gone away last week to spend some time with mom getting things organized. Hope all is well.
Linda
My PED was placed on April 28, too! My surgeon didn't want to release me until my headaches were "under control" and he prescribed steroids for the first 6 days at home. I haven't had bad headaches. They have come and gone with some mild dizziness. He did say that the larger the aneurysms are, the longer the headaches may last. Mine were pretty small (3.3 mm and less than 2 mm), so I think that's why I haven't had it too rough. I hope you get something that works well for you!
I had headaches for about 3 months following my surgery. Managed them with Tylenol the best I could. Since then, I have only sinus headaches now and then.
They really should inform people of the headaches nod how debilitating they might be! I went on nortriptyline with a mix of anti seizure drugs to stop the rebounding migraines. Tylenol and caffeine were evil for me. Everyone finds a different path in healing. For me, it was a SOT chiropractor, and the meds I mentioned. The biggest advice I can give you is to be an advocate for yourself. Try something and if it doesn’t work, tell your doctor and switch things up.
I had PED 4 days ago and have had only a couple of mild headaches so far and everything seems good. The surgeon told me there was a good chance of headaches as the aneurysm generally swells slightly before it starts to shrink which is the reason for headaches in many people. Hope this helps
A sudden severe headache and horrible eye pain signaled the discovery of my 3 aneurysms. I was started on aspirin and plavix and had my PED's placed on June 17 and the headaches come and go, never that severe, but my eye pain continues with double blurred vision in right eye. I remember my NS and ICU people telling me to have patience with my recovery; that each patient heals differently; that the brain takes longer to heal; that the procedure went well, etc. I do take Ibupofen if needed, but also have Oxy on hand if very bad. My aneurysm was very large with wide neck that took 2 PED's to close, so perhaps that is why my eye continues to give my troubles. I see a Neuro-Optomologist soon.
I hope Lisag your pain is now under better control.
My Dad gets headaches still and his PED was placed at the end of May this year.
I never had headaches like I did after getting my PED, but it saved my life, and it was worth the long recovery. I had surgeries in March 2012 and December 2012 (same location, initial placement and then extra PED lengths added on) and I think I haven't had a real headache since late last year, so about 4 years of them, but they dwindled significantly as time wore on. I had a large/giant at 2.3cm (23mm) in the vertebral/basilar artery, and they had to fill it with coils so it'll never go away. I am sensitive to most medications and so I only ever used a combo of Tylenol and ibuprofen to combat the headaches, and it was a toss up as to whether they would help the first time or if it would last another dose or two. I usually could sleep through them, albeit a bit restlessly. My headaches felt like a throbbing, piercing pain that beat in time to my heartbeat, like there was a block in the flow in there. I could feel them in the exact location of my annie. If I sat very still and relaxed, it would subside in the pain department, but it did not go away per se. And they would leave me very tired and mentally drained, especially the next day. As time went on, the headaches didn't affect me so bad and I hardly paid them any mind, but in the beginning they sure made me wonder if there was something wrong! I believe my surgeon said to seek a neurologist for the pain but I never did. He told me the aneurysm was "cured" so the headaches were an issue he wasn't need to fix and he never did admit really that they were caused by the PED, but I know they were. I just wished I'd known ahead of time so I didn't worry or wonder.
Thanks. For all the experiences and advice
Of course I am having eye pain and headaches as today is one week post PED glad to be
Here