I have had surgery when I was 4 years old from my avm in the temporal lobe. I was wondering anyone has had mental disorders from this type of surgery.
Thank you
Leandra
Igcohen, After my surgery, I became depressed. Being on an anti-depresson med has taken away the depression.
Although I had GK for mine. In the left frontal temporal lobe. I now suffer with anxiety and short term memory loss from it.
I have had my surgery when I was 14 (23 now) and have struggled/still struggling with anxiety, ADD, and self-infliction. With medication, I am able to function and have a more stable life.
God love you. You're to young to have those problems. I am very THANKFUL the medicine helps you to have more of a normal life. keep your chin up (wink)..:)
I my AVM was located in the Temporal and the Occipital lobes. It was a very large AVM and it required three embolizations prior to my craniotomy. What kind of mental disorders are you referring to/ asking about? I suffered very strong depression for many years after my surgery, and even today, I find that I have to "watch it" in terms of depression....however, I wonder if that is due to the surgery or other things. I do believe that I had a tendency toward depression prior to my bleed and craniotomy... and I have also suffered many losses in my life over the years following my brain surgery... so, who knows if the depression has been caused by the AVM or if it is just one of many causes? I'm not sure.
In my case: a complete yes. I have had my avm since birth and was operated on in 2013. It was a front temporal lobe craniotomy surgery. Since then, I have been very emotional (ups and downs to the extreme)and extremely impulsive. In addition I have adhd like symptoms. I can't focus, and my memory in not the best. Luckily I am under the care of a neuropsychiatrist for these issues. However, my recovery has not gone far yet. I understand what you are going through, and do not feel bad to ask for help. Good luck.
I too had a bunch of embolisations on an occipital-temporal lobe AVM (around 2001) and have since been much more prone to emotional swings, shorter attention span, poorer memory.
I also have a lot more difficulty finding things when I'm reading. If I have a list, like the list of shortcuts in my web-browser, I can be looking for something, and be looking straight at it and not recognise it. I've re-trained myself to read each word slowly and think hard about whether it's what I was looking for.
Generally though, I count my lucky stars.
I had a small stroke in the right frontal lobe during an embolization for an ear AVM that left me with a permanently numb weak left foot and I have always wondered what the stroke damage in that part of my brain might have done to me mentally but my family doc doesn't seem to know. I grew up in an abusive situation so have always had some depression, anxiety and PTSD. I notice I can't recall words when I try to retrieve them sometimes and sometimes if I'm asked a question I can see a picture in my mind of the answer but I can't think of the words.
Mm i suppose we all get depressed. Ive just managed to stop antidepressants. Sometimes i think its accepting your not what u were. Not as quick thinking and a terrible short term memory. 34 years of seizurzes an avm bleed and 2courses of gamma knife is bound todo something to yr temp lobes.
Hi everyone.
I had a rupture on my right side in 2011. I had major bleeding and my brain got shifted. For the first maybe 6 months I was VERY roller coaster emotional and also a little violent. I also would sleep for days at a time and would get fatigued very very easily.
Keep your hopes up.
It gets easier.
I am 3 years out. Granted I lost the vision in the left half of both my eyes but I donāt feel like Iām losing it anymore.
Sleep. Sleep as much as your body wants you to. Your energy will come back when itās ready.
1 Like
The frontal lobes are basically the emotional control center of the brain. Depending on damage done by bleeds & surgery to the tissue and surrounding tissue it is QUITE possible to be different from the norm. Our brains already are as they have learned to function in and around a mass tangle of connections.
There is no shame in seeing a Neuropsychiatrist and trying to resolve the issues or at least make them easier to handle and function around.
I exhibit signs of severe anxiety and hyperactivity along with BURSTS of OCD. They come out of the blue as Iām going about my day. Suddenly I see a splatter or spot that causes me to stop eating, or whatever I may be doing, and start scrubbing and slamming things around in a rage.
Its not easy to be calm and happy while in pain and mad. The Valium helps but nor enough to completely stop it.
Aww THank you
Hmmm... My understanding is that the term "mental disorders" is a broad catch-all phrase to describe a myriad of negative conditions. Some described having had depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and other conditions after their surgery. There is a lot of fear associated with having a "mental disorder" but in my experience here I have never heard of anyone developing a mental disorder (i.e., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.) as a direct result of surgery. Yes, depression and anxiety are both common after a surgical procedure but that is a very common way for the body to react to a physical and emotional trauma. It just makes sense. If you are fearful about the outcome of surgery, talk your doctor about your specifics concerns and see if he or she can address your questions. Best of luck to you!
I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 2 after 2 AVM bleeds. Message me if you want to know anything.
Yes, Iāve dealt with mental struggles due to my AVM. The worst of it was during my first two years post-operation.
I dealt with depression prior to my rupture, but it became more intense after surgery. I also struggled with anxiety, and fits of mania.
When I was taking Keppra after my gran-mal seizure, it didnāt help with what I was going through mentally. I had fits of paranoia, and would call my friend many evenings and do a lot of crying.
Luckily, Iām no longer taking Keppra, so I no longer deal with the paranoia. The mania that I had has gotten better, and Iām a lot calmer now.
I still struggle with depression and anxiety, but I manage that with meditation.
Hey all, I missed this before, sorry.
Yes to the mental issues and frustrations with that - in random order - horrible short term memory issues. Like there are times Iām writing on my computer and I need to look something up - I switch from Google Docs to Chrome and I canāt remember what I needed to look up.
I have a hard time understanding whatās being said and happening if the pace is too fast or I donāt know whatās happening. For an example of that, the other night, my daughter was expecting a call about a job interview. The phone rang ā this is the home phone where 9 out of 10 calls are spam. So Iām continuing to read or whatever and my dear wife points at me and says, āAnswer the phone itās probably for Abby.ā I thought she was saying there was a phone by the chair I was sitting in, so Iām looking around for a phone and sheās expecting me to go get one. I didnāt know the call was coming in and I thought she was telling me the phone was by me. Confusion, stress, not fun.
I have a hard time communicating thoughts. Thereās a lot of the āoh, whatās the word for thatā¦ā that happens and never did before. Thereās also a lot of leaving out words when Iām writing. I will be writing along and before know it I forgot to put the word you in there.
Much more emotional than Iāve ever been. Iāve always been a softy, Iāll admit, but this is way more than it used to be.
Dang, I canāt remember what the next thing was I was going to say. Really, I canāt.
Oh and rarely, at supper time, can I recall what I was doing in the morning. "So whatād you do today? Wellā¦
Not only more emotional but more up and down and much more quickly. It only takes one relatively small thing for me to go from having an OK day to wanting to lock myself in a closet and get away from everything.
I have lapped my ADHD kids in terms of concentration, focus and productivity. Itās awful and I hope we can do something about it.
27 years ago, my wife had a nasty bout of postpartum depression and admitted years later that she had thought that weād be better off without her (anyone who knows her and knows me to realize immediately thatās not true.) Last month a friend and fellow adoptive parent committed suicide. I have made a promise to my wife, my therapist, my best friends who āunderstand,ā and my pastor that if I ever get to the point of thinking seriously about suicide, I will scream, stand up and make a scene and beg for immediate help. So far, Iāve only ventured towards that cliff enough to see that if someone felt really really bad, they could think that the cliff was the better option.
Itās not. My therapist has a poster up in his office that tells a neat story about how asking for help is really being strong.
Then I need to ask for help a lot moreā¦
TJ
1 Like
I seem to keep saying āOuchā to many of your comments TJ because they are all TOO real. As we get older things slow down our thought patterns slow down. Is that why I miss things? Is that why it takes time to process. As a joke I blame the wife, sheās older than me and I tell her that her old age is rubbing off on me. SLAP. āHeyā¦ ā¦I didnāt deserve thatā (Well, ok so, maybe I did 
)
But it is all very real. My memory āwasā one of my assets, now if I donāt write it down, poof, itās gone. I used to be great at multitasking, having 10 things on the go all at once and keeping a track of each. Now, Iām sitting at the computer, switch from one window to the next and think āNow what was I looking for?ā Poof, itās gone. At times I can think āOhh wellā and not worry about it, but other times it really does get to me quite badly.
My emotions seem to be very close to the surface now. Little things that would have just washed over me previously seem to occupy more of my mind than ever before, even admitting that can be a little confronting. I think previously, when I was working, I didnāt have time to think too much about the little things, now I have too much time and I seem to over analyse, everything, big, little, EVERYTHING. It can be very exhausting. Is this a mental thing due to my āalteredā brain wiring or my mind running wild. Trying to define this can be really difficult and rather scary to look at too.
Merl from the Moderator Support Team
Hi,
Did the care of the neuropsychiatrist help? were they able to link the emotional issues directly to the AVM?
Do you mean mental disorders from the surgery or from the Avm itself? I think my Avm has given me a mood disorder. Certainly upsets me when other people are healthy while I have to suffer with my Avm and other health issues. Itās just not fair. Maybe people are loved more then I am. They certainly treat me like Iām lower class at my moms church. Oh well, enuff of me for now.
1 Like