Been 2 years since my clippings. I was just wondering if anyone has experienced any noticeable issue with their tempers after having an aneurysm? I am not by any definition a violent person or anything like that and I've never really been too quick to anger but ever since my surgery I've noticed that i can have a real flash temper with the dumbest things but that is mostly brought on when my speech staggers or i have one of my wonderful mental blanks which are extremely frustrating.
Nowadays i just seem to feel sometimes in a situation that I'm holding back some really explosive anger and this only started after my bleed/clippings etc. Everyone gets ticked off in a situation or argument but I've never felt this before. In such circumstances i feel like i could tear a room apart and just "see red", it can come down to something trivial like simply being spoken to rudely or something that is genuinely been done to me and I've been stewing about it, and its gotten to the point of excluding myself from confrontations deliberately for fear of exploding.
I've never started a fight in my life, always walked away and was subject to a lot of bullying during my schooling years, but I'm just a little concerned now of if my anger gets the better of me
Anyway, thanks for reading and appreciate any replies.
Hi Dan...I have heard this from others with bleeds and/or ruptured aneurysm's...and depending where they were located in the brain...I knew a lady who had a ruptured aneurysm years ago and clipped...she was the kindest, funniest lady you would ever meet....but every once in awhile she would snap and be nasty and you could see she couldn't control...That being said, I think it happens...however, if you are concerned it isn't controllable...I would talk to the Doctor about this and see what he/she suggest...and you may be good candidate for some "one on one therapy"...perhaps they can help you to pull back the anger when it happens...~ Gotcha in my Thoughts ~ Colleen
Dan, I understand what you are saying. I had a clipping and find that I have a short temper since my surgery. I do not know why. It never seems inappropriate to me at the time, only afterwards. Yes, this is part of "the new me" since my surgery. There have been times when I would "imagine" a confrontation would happen when I think of something that someone said or did that I took offense to for some reason, as if I were wishing the confrontation had happened, almost as a release. I had found that there are therapists who specialize in TBI and I was thinking it might be beneficial to talk these issues through. I know others on this site have also mentioned personality changes after surgery and some have mentioned anger issues (like we have nothing to be angry about :)) We should all invest in a punching bag. Take care, Carol
Do you have, have had, a neurologist assigned since your treatment? ...?
What kind of therapies were you provided?
Was a neuropsych exam given to you...to assist in selected therapies?
One of the worst things (my personal opinion) we have...is not having any planned recovery programs...
Yes, we all have variances in what we need...tho there should be a plan w/variances...based on the location of the damage...
I so recommend (personal experience...no expertise)...try yoga... when you have a strong sense of anger/anxiety...do the deep breathing...It begins in the gut...w/index and thumb touching...slowly and fully deeply breathe into your gut..3 times..
Then put all four fingers to your thumb...same deep breathing, 3 times in your chest...
Then put your thumb on your palm, all fingers wrapped over it...raise the same breathing to the highest level of your chest...
If it is something comfortable for you, you may want to pursue yoga lessons...some people can self teach off a DVD...but some of us were discharged out of alignment being strapped onto tables, etc...or having collision in rehab...needing x-rays...other spinal injury...
I get my worst part from my inability to concentrate/remember...i.e. when I read, I have to outline/re-read /study and have no guarantee I will remember it...I lost my reading comprehension...therapy brought me back to it...I get a high frustration living in accumulated years of squalor...each step is a tiny one...
I have what I call fits of rage. For any stupid reason. they just come on. It is not a daily thing but it is literally where I start yelling at people or I will slam my hands on the table to get them to go away cuz they have angered me. my mom use to come over everyday but now I think she stays away from me because her talking to me can get me so upset. I am not sure if its me trying to isolate myself from everyone or what but I know I didn't have it before. It is different from the way I felt before my rupture/coil. I hope this helps.
Pat, so true, I sometimes draw circles on my hand when I feel I am going to lose it, and I just concentrate on the circle going round and round, and breathe (I guess my own form of yoga on the go). It is so true. They pat us on the back and say "you're fine, good luck" and off we go. It took me 4 months into my recovery to find this site. Carol
interesting! for me is just the opposite! I find it hard to get angry, even things that I know should make me angry they don't anymore, which is confusing in itself. I had to bleeds within 6 months 2 years ago.
HI,,as I am reading your discussion I am thinking, WOW, You just wrote about me, down to the exact details. I'll give you an example....I called the police on my Son in Law one night for just a disagreement. I am a small frame lady with just kindness and a big heart for everyone. I have no idea what came over me that evening. It took alot of PRAYING and apologizing to get his forgiveness. After 2 years of my Brain Aneurysm Bleed and Coiling and diagnosises of FMD,I think my family finally realizes I am not and never will be the same person I was before all of this. GOD BLESS. IF ONLY THE ONES AROUND US COULD WALK IN OUR SHOES FOR A SHORT TIME THEY COULD HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING. :)
Thank you everyone for your responses, its nice to know im not the only one feeling such things. Ive always struggled with anxiety/depression but this flash temper issue has only ever been since my aneurysms. Some times things that would normally piss me off arent an issue but it can be something as stupid as someone repeating a story to me or being accused of taking something out of the fridge that wasnt mine and i want to explode, this is not to say that i DO explode but there is just a real boiling anger that comes on instantly and i so far cannot pin down things that instantly trigger it. Ive always been able to anticipate my depression and its triggers but this seems to be a whole different thing.
The topic of yoga though and things such as this has been brought up with me on numerous occasions so maybe i will have to look closer into this. Im kinda stuck in a unpleasant living situation at the moment and i find it hard to get the time to even attempt to exercise in any fashion but when i do im always glad, maybe i need to a be a little kinder to myself, its as if i blame myself for all this happening in the first place.
I am researching so much on the neuropsych tests...our lobes, cortices, and limbic system...
My reason may surprise you: my initial neuropsych testing was 90 days post-discharge..
The report notes: "the sensorimotor exam was deferred. "... by psych of same facility as the minimally invasive procedure(s)...The tests were insufficient for SS Disability to accept/use for Disability; they did a tremendous test level... As I was finally able to read/comprehend, I called the psychologist who did my SS testing; he was not able to re-test me; tho gave an excellent referral...and, local to me...
The sensorimotor cortices: the motor cortex is at the end of the frontal lobe where it meets the sensory cortex...which is also the beginning of the parietal lobe...
The sylvian fissure is between the top (roof or lid?) of the temporal lobe to where it meets the frontal/parietal...the sylvian ends at the connection (juncture?) of the frontal/parietal...
I have been a promoter of the neuropsych testing to help us thru therapies...Pat (not on the back)
I’m only 6 weeks out from my rupture/clipping surgery, and I haven’t experienced this phenomenon. However, I feel a little more “numb” in terms of sad situations and angry situations. I do have unbearable anxiety, and I too recommend yoga. I wasn’t able to do yoga prior to my rupture due to a sprained ankle, and I can tell the difference in my well being, going 6 months without it. I can’t wait for my follow up appointment to get permission to get back on my mat. Hope you find it helpful!
Dan...the deep breathing itself takes minutes; can be done where sitting, lying down or standing... I do it intermittently...the one thing it has not really helped is my circadian rhythm loss for normal sleep times...tho I do sleep well; just not consistent usual patterns...
hi, my husband had a ruptured annie on Nov 8th, he had the coiling procedure done, he had lots of complications after cus of how long his brain bleed had occurred. He is now very irritable, quick to anger over really little thing, very critical of almost everything around him. He still has headaches and sometimes I think well he has a headache and doesn't feel good, will let it go but we have been home in recovery since Dec 10th and doesn't seem to get better, my husband b4 this happened was an easy going, fun loving guy, enjoyed life and love me and never would say negative or hurtful things to me. we are continueing to doctor to try and get meds that will help with headaches but not been very successful, It's not been the easy ist, but I guess I try to remember the brain heals very slowly, hope I can survive it we have been married 28 yrs. so my thought is that anything that is messed with in the brain can cause a lot of changes. take care tam
Hi Dan . It has been 16 years since my aneurysm and I went on being angry and very short tempered with everyone , this cost me my marriage . I lived that way for about 13 of those years . Then my Dr said I was a good candidate for welbutrin . Now I am on the strongest dose they have and my mood swings are few and far between now . I’m on the 2 a day dose .
In Scott's "Long Term Emotional Effects... I noted some info on the limbic system which may be of interest... I did not know anything more than hippocampus / memory failure and the hypothalamus / body issues so grandly shared by John in UK...back in mid- 2012... Even when searching and attempting to comprehend...I did not grasp anything on the term: limbic system...
I have definitely had a lot of mood changes since my rupture. I am overly emotional sometimes crying for no reason, and also get angry quickly. I try to remember that there was at one point a possibility that I wasn't going to make it and to not get so mad over little things, but it is still difficult. I would like to understand more about how it has changed my brain/emotions. Very frustrating and difficult to explain to people.
I so recently noted about our limbic systems and the parts to it...one being amygdala... On the news this morning and it (amygdala) and pre-schooler depression...
Amygdala relates to emotions...not just depression...My input here is the promotion of learning about amygdala, the rest of the limbic system...and, asking your docs...
Yes, there very well could be a physiological/medical reason for this. Do you know if you experienced any frontal lobe damage to your brain? The frontal lobe is responsible for controlling emotions. I would check with your doc. =). Teresa
Teresa...I did...when the initial neuropsych test was done apx 90 days post-discharge... the report notes "sensorimotor exam was deferred"... additionally it was not re-scheduled...
Extensive testing was done by SS Disability; and I continued w/additional testing each two years...to determine advancements, declines, to "no change"... to guide my therapies...to aid in recovery...I am far from it....e. gained apx 2-4 productive hours 7 days a week...
The motor cortex is at the end of the frontal lobe and meets the sensory cortex which is at the beginning of the parietal lobe...
The MCA (middle cerebral artery) travels the sylvian fissure...up to the connection of the sensorimotor cortex...the sylvian fissure is a separation (like a canyon...our Grand Canyon?) of the temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal lobes...
I have no expertise...this bit of info may help members in research and in forming questions to ask their docs...our "ask the doc" may be a great first choice to help in asking your docs...
We are blessed w/this site's "ask the doc"...as in the terms gliosis and exvacuo... and my memory is blanking on the others...
I started having issues with anxiety and anger about two months after my coiling for a ruptured brain aneurysm last April. Not sure if it was a coincidence or not, but that corresponded with the end of keppra taper. Back at work, I had to have my desk moved away from others because I found that the slightest noise from conversation severely gets on my nerves. Also had insomnia issues starting about that time, so I was put on a low dose (0.5mg) of klonopin at bedtime. After a couple months on that, I began having inter-dose withdrawal symptoms in the afternoon which made my anxiety and anger worse. Since then I have slowly tapered off the klonopin. Now my anxiety and anger are not as severe (maybe half as bad as they were last summer), but they are still there definitely.