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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Could I have had a subarachnoid hemorrage- posting for traffic

30 replies

RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 11:24

I've posted on the health board but it doesn't seem that busy and I'm really worried.

2 weeks ago I was hit with a sudden and extreme pain in my head. I fell to the floor, couldn't get up, vomited etc. My parter called 111 and they said I needed an emergency ambulance. 2 hours later we were still waiting and the pain had started to subside and I was overcome with extreme tiredness so we cancelled the ambulance. It has taken me up until Saturday to see my GP he has now referred me for CAT scan and said there is a possibility I may have had a subarachnoid hemorrage. I've since done some research and although the description fits almost exactly I think I can't possibly have had this as apart from mild headaches and feeling a bit tired I feel fine. What do people think?

OP posts:
lougle · 11/07/2016 11:29

It's quite possible. Can you describe how the pain felt and where it was?

Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 11:36

It felt like something had exploded in my head. It was absolutely agonising, I'm struggling to point out exactly where in my head. It was just all-encompassing.

OP posts:
Glittered · 11/07/2016 11:38

This was 2 weeks ago? Surely you would be critically ill by now? If gp really thought it was that he should have sent you to a/e.

Glittered · 11/07/2016 11:39

Ps isn't it supposed to be in the back of your head and similar to being hit by a cricket bat?

Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 11:39

That's what I'm thinking! I mean I don't feel 100% but certainly not ill.

OP posts:
Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 11:41

To be honest apart from the pain, vomiting and panic I don't remember much about the episode.

OP posts:
Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 11:42

My GP said the scan will be this week.

OP posts:
mrgrouper · 11/07/2016 11:46

One half of people who have SAH have a warning bleed in the weeks before it. You need to have the scan Asap as they will be able to coil the aneurysm preventing a further bleed.

Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 11:49

Thank you Mrgrouper

OP posts:
mrgrouper · 11/07/2016 11:55

I used to work as a junior doctor in neurosurgery. Having the aneurysm coiled is low risk but you definitely need a scan. I would also recommend they do a cerebral angiogram

Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 11:58

What's a cerebral angiogram?

OP posts:
GERTgert06 · 11/07/2016 12:02

I had a brain hemorrage some years ago. It felt like a very bad dose of flu, with a general sort of headache. Within an hour I was unable to control one arm and leg, and had no grip in the hand on that side of my body. I was unable to count or remember words, and didn't know the date or what day it was.

Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 12:03

Oh fuck, I just googled it. Can I have a general anathestic for that?

OP posts:
Lucked · 11/07/2016 12:10

A normal ct scan will not necessary show an abnormality 2 weeks after the incident. A CT angiograms would probably be required but In a lot of areas GPs cannot request this more specialist test. Perhaps ask the GP what has been requested, he could always discuss it with a radiologist, it may be you will require referral to a neurologist for work up.

A lumber puncture may still be positive but is invasive.

On another note 2 hours for an ambulance with that history?? Ffs that is unreal!

Lucked · 11/07/2016 12:12

there is nothing to a ft angiogram, only an injection. that would be first line.

mrgrouper · 11/07/2016 12:14

As lucked has said a straightforward CT is unlikely to show any abnormalities. An angiogram is a way of imaging the blood vessels of the brain.

Mummymoanasaurus · 11/07/2016 12:22

A close relative of mine has just had 2 anuerysm's coiled. She had the same initial symptoms as you. You really need to have that scan, good luck op

Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 12:27

Thank you everyone. You've been great.

OP posts:
lougle · 11/07/2016 12:27

I'm surprised your GP is happy to deal with this, tbh. Angios are normally done with a local anaesthetic - just a small tube into the groin which the catheters are passed up through (I used to be a neuro-angiography scrub nurse).

Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 12:38

Really no-one has been happy to deal with this, from the ambulance not arriving, to a walk in Doctor who chose to lecture me on not changing my GP when I moved house, to being told I had to wait 4 weeks to see my GP once I had re-registered.

Now at least I have a referral to the hospital for the scan!

OP posts:
Fomalhaut · 11/07/2016 13:40

If it happens again you need to go to Aand E. They'll do a cat scan and possibly a lumbar puncture (happened to my dh last year, thankfully nothing found..)

I'm surprised your GP has waited this long. Thunderclap headache plus the symptoms you describe needs immediate attention

GoblinLittleOwl · 11/07/2016 13:49

I had a subarachnoid haemorrhage some years ago; it was the worst headache I have ever had in my life, as though an iron band was tightened all round my head and it was instant; I was sick, although I didn't collapse. I went to casualty the next night where they diagnosed it as a tension headache, gave me tablets for which I had to pay and sent me away. The headache didn't go, although it wasn't so bad; I saw my GP two days later and he sent me straight to hospital where I had a CAT scan and a lumber puncture, which revealed I had had a haemhorrhage. I was fortunate in that it healed itself; I had two angiograms, with an anaesthetic and they were not unpleasant.
PLEASE, go to hospital without delay and have all the scans they offer you; don't do any exercise and stay away from work until you have been thoroughly checked out. Don't delay. I made a full recovery and it doesn't appear to have made any difference to my health or life.

Original poster
RestlessTraveller · 11/07/2016 14:07

Hi thanks for the advice. The whole thing is complicated by the fact that when I was younger I had a kidney x-Ray where a contrast dye was used and I had an anaphylactic reaction which stopped my breathing. This has left me with an extreme needle phobia (for which I have had NHS counselling) so the possibility of lumbar punctures and other procedures is making me ridiculously anxious.

OP posts:
Lucked · 11/07/2016 23:08

That actually does complicate things because that is a severe reaction to a variation of dye which is also used in CT angiograms and cerebral angiography, it was probably an older, no less longer available, type which lots of people reacted to however anaphylaxis is not to be sniffed at so you may not be able to get those tests.

I would imagine for you the test that would be most suitable is a MRA (a MRI) as the dye is a completely different compound.

Fomalhaut · 12/07/2016 13:01

You may also be able to ask for a mild sedative if you're having trouble with the tests (as they are so so important.) we often need to get mri scans from elderly agitated patients and gentle sedation is often used. Talk to the team treating you about it - they do all see varying degrees of needle phobia every day.
It may sound odd but often a lumbar puncture is one that doesn't trigger the phobia a sit can be done without the patient seeing the needle