I saw my NS last week and I have decided not to go for surgery. (not right now at least) and have agreed to see him in a year.
The reason I've decided against surgery is purely because I couldn't cope with recovery right now.
However.. Im starting to wonder if I did enough research..
What I'd like to know is.. did the surgery cure your brain fog? make it slightly better/worse or no change? Please be as honest and blunt as you can be!
This is the worst symptom for me.. and the Val salva headaches I can cope with..
Bozzylozzy,
Like the handle, but let me give you my perspective post op for about 1 month and some odd days, never have been good with a calendar or dates.
Prior to surgery, I would have bad brain fog and be overly critical of myself for not remembering things. One time at the drug store, I gave the pharmacy the wrong date for our daughter's birthday and they would not allow my wife to pick up the prescription. Fortunately, we were in the store together and I admitted to the clerk or pharmacist that I did give the wrong date. My wife gave the correct date and when I went to the that pharmacy again they always asked me a different question cause I could not remember. Now I do most of the time, I confuse it with out anniversary date and in all fairness it is OK cause they are only 4 days apart and I am a guy after all.
Post op I am doing better but I have good and bad day, but the bad days are slowly getting farther and farther apart. So yes it did help me and that is one thing that I am very appreciative about with the outcome of surgery.
I hope this helps and sorry for a slight ramble but I guess rambling is in my nature.
Take care
thanks Michael :)
I totally know how you feel about being over critical. I feel so awful that on the really bad days.. Im so not "with it" that I cant play with my daughter or give her much attention and that breaks my heart
i forget things all the time.. its scary!
i hope you continue to get better, i have been reading your posts
all the best x
Absolutely surgery cured my brain fog. It was one of my biggest symptoms. It was like the lights were on and nobody was home before surgery. I am an Accounting Director so I need to be able to think and it was so very hard before surgery.
I would stop mid sentence and forget my whole thought. I had stopped driving because I would get confused and my vertigo was bad.
I was just amazed during recovery waking up and having a clear mind.
I do believe you will know when surgery is the answer for you.
Good luck!
Diana
Diana.. that sounds exactly like me. and i havent driven for two months as i dont feel safe to drive!
i have told my surgeon, husband and family - that if my symptoms dont improve with the positive changes im making. then i will seriously consider having the surgery.
just i had 2 surgeries last year.. and one became badly infected. which is why im so reluctant right now
Emma, im so glad you have had a positive experience too. im feeling a bit more hopeful :)
Surgery eliminated the dizziness and light-headedness I experienced. I am about 9 weeks post-op, and haven't felt that way since coming out of surgery. (To me, brain fog from painkillers feels utterly different, and that was only while taking them for a week or two after surgery.)
Before surgery, I didn't want to drive, and was unsure of my balance. Now I am FINE!
Mind you, I am getting better "fast" with respect to these symptoms, probably because I didn't have them for long. (I had my surgery to prevent my syrinx from causing further damage to my peripheral nerves.)
Totally, completely addressed this issue for me.
It's good to hear everyone's responses! I'm so glad that a majority of you saw improvement in the fog! Looking forward to mine being gone!
Yea!!! This is starting to make me quickly feel better about surgery....I have brain fog like no other, and then I even have my words go through my head, but I can't speak them or they get all jumbled up...so so tiring! Good Luck!!
Im so glad I asked this question!
I feel a lot better about having surgery at some point in the future, because the two factors holding me back were;
1) my doctor telling me surgery is unlikely to cure the brain fog
2) not being ready for the recovery
so now, i just have to wait until i feel the time is right.
Thank you so much everybody for your responses :)