Sudden change in personality. Any experience?

[Notsurewhatsgoingon]

Hi all,
Bit of background: I'm 32, married, two children, working part time, no job or money worries, nice home etc, no previous mental health or medical issues.

So about 3 weeks ago I woke up with a bad headache, took pain relief but it lasted about 3 days. Each day I woke up feeling worse, not so much the headache but just in general. I can't explain how I felt really well, but just off. Once the headache had gone I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. Just worn out and exhausted. I spent the next few days close to tears but for no apparent reason. Everything became too much to cope with. Even driving to the supermarket had me in tears because it felt exhausting, stressful and overwhelming. Things that I do every day seemed impossible in my mind. I felt fuzzy, confused and a bit scared but I couldn't put my finger on why. Nothing has happened to trigger this and that makes me feel selfish as I know many people are suffering right now.

Since then I have spoken to my gp who has advised me to take a bit of time off work and to have some blood tests. I'm still waiting for the results.

3 weeks on I feel like a different person. I'm normally a yes person and egar to please. I go out of my way to help friends and family and often volunteer in the community. I never show my emotions and am described as smiley and happy by friends. I can count on one had the amount of times I have shouted at my children in their entire life. Im just chilled.

But now I'm angry with the whole world. I'm angry at my family and friends and my children for no reason. I am still able to not show this to the children as I have not completly lost it but even normal day to day actions leave me feeling seething and then sad and emotional.
My friend had an issue and I'd have normally gone out of my way to solve it and see her but I was abrupt and rude and I don't know why.Even simply writing a message like this has me feeling angry and overwhelmed. I am rude to my husband and don't want to bother with chit chat in public as I usually would.

I have been having thoughts of running away from my family and caught myself thinking of driving too fast and causing an accident this morning but obviously I didn't, so I can be rational when needed.

There are occasions where I feel awful for having these thoughts and for snapping at the kids but they last a split second and I'm back to feeling upset, angry, emotional, overwhelmed etc....

I don't want to spend time with anyone, even my own husband and children. I'm usually very social and have enjoyed social distance meet ups but now I couldn't care less.
I'm scared how bad this will get as I'm starting to have very worrying thoughts. At the moment I'm able to stop myself and keep telling myself to sort my shit out but I can feel myself slipping further into this distress each day.

This is not me. I don't feel depressed. Something tells me this is medical but maybe I'm wrong.
Has anyone come across anything like this?

I would query whether the 3 day headache was a TIA. A scan might help.

I agree the cause could be migraine and the effects can be quite severe. I am also thinking Labyrinthitis?

I'm echoing the go to A&E.

All your symptoms are the same as mine when I had a bleed on the brain. Mine was from trauma (horse riding accident), but that doesn't alter the fact that your symptoms are the same.

Please go.

Ring the GP. If you don't trust them totake you seriously, can you ask to see a different doctor at the practice? Or take a different route, 111 perhaps. Sudden personality change could be something serious.

Please go to A&E today. It's the brain fog that is telling you to put up with this. If your child had these symptoms you wouldn't lose a second in getting a scan. Hospitals are quiet at the moment. The ringing in your ears for hours further suggests a brain issue.
Not to scare you, but to prompt you into action, I lost a friend to an aneurysm. The only symptom was a very painful headache. She was 45 and in otherwise good health.

How you doing OP?

Could it be peri menopause?

The previous poster who questioned whether it could be an infection may be onto something. Have you spent time outdoors and had any tick bites in recent months? I caught Lyme disease from a tick bite a number of years ago, and my first symptoms involved personality changes such as depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, memory loss, headaches etc. It all came on very suddenly and was totally out of character for me. Not everybody who catches Lyme disease notices a tick bite, as ticks can be as small as a poppy seed and only a small percentage of people get the characteristic rash. Wonder if it might be worth asking your GP to carry out a blood test for it.

I work in the hospital and regularly with neuro patients and my first thoughts were stroke (if cause isn't treated, you could have a massive stroke next), brain tumour (huge increase in these as people have ignored symptoms over covid) or encephalitis (we've seen an increase in this as covid can spark it)

Not trying to scare you but being realistic. Your symptoms are atypical in your age and need investigating.

@hayfeverhellish I'm a nurse, and I completely agree. My first thought was Encephalitis.

How are you feeling OP? Wanted to check in with you and make sure you're feeling better now.

Hi @Notsurewhatsgoingon , I just randomly came across this post of yours from 4 years ago and thought I would check how you are? I hope you're ok and that you got help in the end.

Hope your feeling better soon op, sounds very worrying 🙏