A mom has revealed how having sex with her husband led to her having a stroke that left her permanently paralyzed and wheelchair bound.<\/p>\n
Lucinda Allen, 38, from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, a small town 125 miles northwest of London, found herself on the brink of death after she was hit by an excruciating headache after climaxing with her engineer husband Tony five years ago.<\/p>\n
At the time, the mom-to-be was six months into her pregnancy and went in a medically-induced a coma after a series of strokes left her permanently paralyzed down her left side.<\/p>\n
Headaches after sex weren\u2019t uncommon for Allen, but on that fateful day, she experienced a sharp pain above her right eye that left her unable to sleep.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI was writhing on the bed in agony and crying when Tony phoned my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve experienced what\u2019s known as post-orgasm \u2018thunderclap head-pain\u2019 all through my adult life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pain I usually have after orgasm is a bit like brain-freeze \u2013 quite painful but never lasts long.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut after a while, I realized it just wasn\u2019t going away.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was rushed to the hospital in Birmingham, England\u2019s second-largest city, in an ambulance and said she started to panic when she was unable to speak.<\/p>\n
Allen said: \u201cI thought I might be having a brain hemorrhage. After that, it was a blur. All I remember is confusion, dreams, and reality mixed together, fear \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was put into an induced coma to let her brain rest and during that time, she had brain surgery \u2013 a craniotomy where part of her skull was cut open to release the pressure on her brain.<\/p>\n
The doctors were worried that the baby was going to need to be delivered and there was an emergency delivery team on standby.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, further scans revealed the baby was fine and after six days, Allen finally emerged from the coma, but paralyzed.<\/p>\n
Allen said: \u201cWaking after a coma is nothing like it is in the movies. It\u2019s a slow and confusing process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was extremely distressed \u2013 suicidal at times \u2013 and I refused to acknowledge that I\u2018d survived a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen had in fact survived a series of strokes: one initial stroke, followed by four more while scans were being performed.<\/p>\n
After a further three months in the hospital, Allen was allowed home for two days, then after that she was straight back in for a planned C-section.<\/p>\n
Husband Tony was by her side all the way through, and was on hand to help when baby daughter Marri-Alice, now an energetic 4-year-old, was born on November 19, 2012.<\/p>\n
Allen revealed she would love to run around the park with her daughter like the other moms do with theirs, but because she\u2019s now wheelchair-bound and that\u2019s just not possible.<\/p>\n
Referring to the way her face had collapsed after the stroke, she said: \u201cThe only bit of me that\u2019s spontaneously recovered is my \u2018wonk-face!’\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am totally paralyzed down my left side. I\u2019m a full-time wheelchair-user.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mom hopes that stem cell therapy could one day help her regain some of her movement, but she wonders if her paralysis could have been prevented.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cNobody talks about post-orgasm head-pain and that\u2019s understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, because of what\u2019s happened to me, I am now on a mission to raise awareness of how this pain can be a warning sign of impending brain hemorrhage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of it, I have lost a huge part of \u2018me\u2019 \u2013 my career, any siblings my daughter may have had, my plans for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen\u2019s \u00a0neurosurgeon Alessandro Palazzo assured her that there was no need to worry about it happening again in the future and that, scary though it was, they shouldn\u2019t give up on their love life.<\/p>\n
He advised: \u201cAlthough Lucinda\u2019s condition is very unusual in that it presented in pregnancy and caused a bleed inside the brain, people who suffer from HSA (headache associated with sexual activity) should be aware that the headache could be the sign of an underlying condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you get a headache during or after sex and the pain is severe, you should seek immediate medical attention, as this could be a sign that a brain hemorrhage has taken place. If it\u2019s the first time you\u2019ve experienced post-coital head-pain, it\u2019s advisable to see your doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the pain persists, go to the emergency room of your nearest hospital. If the post-coital head-pain has happened before \u2013 if it\u2019s an episodic occurrence \u2013 and you\u2019re concerned, get advice from a neurologist and maybe get an MRI scan, just to rule out any underlying conditions or vascular malformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen said: \u201cI\u2019m lucky to be here at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I want now is to make other people aware of this terrifying condition. I think if people are aware, they\u2019ll know to deal with it quickly when it strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough I\u2019m happy, I wouldn\u2019t wish what I\u2019ve been through on anyone. I don\u2019t want what\u2019s happened to me to happen to anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened has changed me for the better. I appreciate every moment and, after the birth of my daughter and the amazing support my family and friends have given me, I now have a better understanding of what real love is.\u201d<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: NY Post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A mom has revealed how having sex with her husband led to her having a stroke that left her permanently paralyzed and wheelchair bound. Lucinda Allen, 38, from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, a small town 125 miles northwest of London, found herself on the brink of death after she was hit by an excruciating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,117],"tags":[8870,8871,8872],"yoast_head":"\n