How to live normal life wit 5mm brain aneurysm

Sorry guys I think I made some spelling mistakes. Not easy to learn suddenly a health problem like that…:(

Must be;
“Any help would be appreciated”

“Living with 5mm aneurysm”

Hi
I personally do not have your condition.But my close friend just went through the coiling.It was a success she's doing well.The aneurysm has disappeared, so try to think positive.I'm sure it's very, very difficult as I know.My friend struggled with a lot of emotion. I also have a close family member who lives with a brain aneurysm.And has for ten years and has not had a problem. Maybe try some cognitive therapy to help with the overthinking. We all struggle with that when we have a medical diagnosis. I am just getting thru breast cancer. Hang in there 🙏 💓

@adamaustralia Good morning from the U.S. and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. From what you wrote it appears that the 5mm aneurysm is a recent discovery. While I personally have not experienced an aneurysm I have friends who have. I'm thinking of one friend who had one several years ago and had no symptoms. Like you, she had (and still has) a very healthy lifestyle including her diet and exercise.

I understand how frightening this is for you and why you feel like you have a "ticking time bomb" inside your head. It is alarming to suddenly learn about the aneurysm and wonder if or when it could rupture. Personally, I would feel the same as you under these circumstances.

Since you learned of the aneurysm through a CT scan I'm thinking that you've already been in contact with physicians including a neurologist. You are waiting for an appointment with a specialist. Will that be with a neurosurgeon who can discuss treatment options with you?

I'd like to suggest that when you search around on the internet for information that you read sources that are valid and reliable. Valid and reliable sources are from professional journals, well known medical centers such as Cleveland Clinic or Mayo Clinic, and national health agencies such as the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. or the equivalent clinical/research institute in Australia. Why do I recommend this? There is so much misinformation on the internet posted by well, who knows? I am a retired university professor and I spent years teaching my students how to find valid and reliable sources on the internet and I marked their papers down if they did not cite valid and reliable sources.

I cannot answer all of your questions but I'm hoping that in the coming days other members of Mayo Clinic Connect will chime in with their experiences. In the meantime, here is information from valid and reliable sources on aneurysm diagnosis and treatment:

Mayo Clinic-Brain Aneurysm:

-- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brain-aneurysm/symptoms-causes/syc-20361483

Cleveland Clinic-Brain Aneurysm:

-- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16800-brain-aneurysm

Johns Hopkins Medicine-Cerebral Aneurysm:

-- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/cerebral-aneurysm

How are you feeling today/this evening? Do you have emotional support at home from your partner and family?

@adamaustralia
Sorry about your aneurysm. I would feel the same way as you do. As encouragement, I’ll share that a lady in my neighborhood fell and hit her head about 4-5 years ago. She had a CT scan and was told she had 7 brain aneurysms! She was afraid to treat them or not treat them. I don’t know details about her treatment, but she had a procedure on the riskiest ones. I still see her out walking her dog all the time years later. This lady thought she wouldn’t see another a Christmas. It’s hard not to worry but please stay hopeful. Prayers for you.

Don’t hesitate to get a second opinion if you’re not sure what to do.

I found out after a CT scan for another condition that I have a 6 mm. brain aneurysm. I understand how you feel like a walking time bomb. I met with a neurosurgeon who specializes in brain aneurysms. He said I'm on the borderline with regard to treat or not to treat. Lots of variables play into this decision like how large the aneurysm is, where it is located, how it is shaped, the age of the person, etc. I was advised of 3 options:
watch-and-wait (until my follow up CT scan) coiling, or clipping. I told the neuro doctor I saw that I needed time to digest all the information. I found a 35 minute podcast by a neurosurgeon, Dr. Omar Choudhri, at Penn Medicine, that enabled me to be at peace with my decision to watch-and-wait. By being at peace, I mean I am able to get up each day and live my life without being obsessed/anxious about the aneurysm in my brain. You can find it if you type in "You Tube Omar Choudhri."

Back when I had a brain injury and to this day no one has found out what caused it, so it could happen again, at any time, and it has. So, I learned:

You are a human be-ing, not a human do-ing. We, each of us are of immense value regardless of what we can or can not do. No matter how much you can accomplish in each day, it is good for others, as well as yourself.

Do not let those who harm you into your life. Life is too short for that. That includes family members, healthcare professionals, and any spiritual ones too. Benign is the worst that may have access to you. When/if you get stronger, then maybe you can serve those who might harm us.

Some days, it isn't one day at a time. It's one minute, one hour, at a time. That too, is just fine.

Last posted a year ago, August 2024. There are not a lot of posts here regarding aneurysms, as opposed to the meningioma forum, where there are quite a lot of posts and lots of information from people who have had craniotomies or stereotactic radiation. So I wanted to post a positive result, which was I had my 5.5 (or 6 mm. depends on the reading radiologist) aneurysm coiled 8 months ago (after waiting a year to make my decision, no pressure by the neurosurgeon, by the way )And then I waited another 8 months to have yet another cerebral angiogram to recheck it. (Was asked to recheck in 6 months) Anyway, the repeat cerebral angiogram showed that the coils are still perfectly in place and totally occluding the aneurysm. The whole deal of it, diagnosing via cerebral angiogram through the main artery in my wrist, the 2nd cerebral angiogram to insert the coils while I was under a general, and the 3rd cerebral angiogram to check if the coils were still in place, was not the nightmare I had envisioned. I was somewhat concerned about the radiation (lots of traditional x-rays) but now the neurosurgeon said I can just have MRAs for my annual recheck. When I was first diagnosed, the neurosurgeon asked if anyone else in my family had an aneurysm. I did not know, but had heard stories from my deceased mother that her mother, my grandmother, was making the bed when all of a sudden she screamed, "my head" and fell over onto the bed and died. Death certificate from the 1930s said cerebral stroke. But it could very well have been an aneurysm that burst. So I was sitting on the fence for a year, unable to make a decision, when out of the blue, because of an Ancestry DNA test I had taken a few years back, a first cousin I had never met (her mom and my mom were estranged sisters, and the cousin and I shared the same maternal grandmother who died while making the bed) Anyway this first cousin and I were talking about family history and she mentioned her older sister had died relatively young, in her 50s. When I asked why, she responded from a burst aneurysm. I interpreted getting a phone call out of the blue from a first cousin I had never met, and sharing that information with me, as a sign from the Holy Spirit that I should go ahead with the procedure. I guess all the research on the Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkin, etc. websites just wasn't enough to push me into making a decision and I needed that nudge from up above.

Adam in Australia: You posted a year ago. How is it going? What decisions have you made? No pressure. Just in case you'd like to share.

Thanks for your great posting! It helps me, in regards to an artery anomaly that I have lived with, by the pontine area of the brain. Neurosurgeons are reluctant to operate in that area, because it is too near the conscious control area of the brain!! So, I have been prescribed 2 blood pressure medicines, that keep my blood pressure low, and my heart rate low, at times in bradycardia mode! I appreciate your sharing and showing your patience, when decisions had to be made!

To adamanaustralia@ : We have two things in common - I have two aneurysms (2mm) which were discovered by accident, and I am also in Australia! The neurologists and neurosurgeons are the people to advise you. In my case they told me it would be more of a risk taking out the aneurysms than leaving them alone, although I have to have regular scans. Ask the neuro people for advice about exercise and lifestyle issues. I was told not to wrap myself in cotton wool, but to go on with my normal life. I was told, however, that if I develop a sudden, really bad headache I should go to the hospital ED department straight away. I was also told that if I hit my head in some way (for example in a fall or accident) I should get a scan straight away. I hope that your issue has been resolved by the time/if you read this.