Brain bleed and flying

[Needermyer]

About 10 years ago, I had a brain bleed (SAH). There was no apparent cause -- no trauma to the head -- just a kind of a mild "popping" feeling in my head and within an hour I was throwing up and had a massively violent headache. They did 2 or 3 cerebral angiograms and an MRI or 2 and found no aneurysm or genetic defect to cause the bleed. In short, they don't know why it happened. When asked about chances of recurrence, my doctors have just said "probably not".

But it happened about a day after I had flown in a plane, something I had done frequently before then. Is it possible the flight somehow caused the brain bleed? I have flown once (nervously) since then, but am considering another flight soon. Will flying be safe? I've never gotten a straight answer from my doctors.

Thanks

[Stephen528]

On the last flight i was on i had a headache in the back of my head while flying is that something to be nervous of or am I overeacting

[allmymarbles]

In today's Science section of The New York Times they discussed cabin pressure and its effect on passengers. Cabin pressure can vary from Denver altitude to 8,000 feet. On long transatlantic flights some passengers suffer altitude sickness at that height. This would include headaches which I assume are due to vasodilation. If you are planning a long trip by air, it might be wise to ask about the cabin pressure.

[allmymarbles]

I didn't know the pressurization is comparable to Denver. Just to show you how old I am, I remember cabins being pressurized to 10,000 feet, hence the reason for my comment.

[caregiver222]

The answer is, if you were flying in a commercial aircraft, assuming the aircraft did not undergo decompression in an emergency,  the flight had absolutely positively nothing whatsoever to do with your bleed. No ifs, ands or buts.  Modern aircraft are presurized at altitudes comparable to that of Denver, and clearly there are not a lot of people having brain bleeds who live in Denver. Flying, insofar as a risk of brain bleed, is completely safe.

[allmymarbles]

Here is how you might phrase a question to your doctor. Does the lower pressurization of the cabin result in dilated blood vessels in the brain, and if so, would taking a vasoconstrictor, such as coffee, eliminate the problem (assuming vasodilation is the problem, of course)?

[Needermyer]

Sorry, my post was not intended to be overly critical of my doctors. I understand there are many things that can't be known. And even if they said it would be safe to fly, there are no guarantees in life.

I was just hoping for more feedback from knowledgeable people of their opinions about the situation. Plus, like I said, it's been about 10 years, maybe there have been new discoveries that shed more light on the possible connection between a brain bleed and flying.

[allmymarbles]

Probably because they don't know the answer. They don't know everything.