Post-orgasm headache may lead to stroke; Stourbridge mum shares her life’s scary experience

A Stourbridge mum has revealed how an orgasm nearly killed her. Lucinda Allen, 38, slipped into a medically-induced coma five years ago after having sex with her engineer husband Tony.

She was then six months into her pregnancy. Lucinda suffered a series of strokes after climaxing, which left her permanently paralysed down her left side. She was hit by an excruciating headache, a sharp pain above her right eye. For Lucinda, headaches after sex were not uncommon. On that fateful day, the headache refused to subside. She was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital in Birmingham in an ambulance. She panicked and was unable to speak. She has to be put into an induced coma to let her brain rest.

Doctors performed a craniotomy. Part of her skull had to be cut open to release the pressure on her brain. It was a critical situation as she was pregnant and the baby needed to be delivered. Scans revealed that the baby was fine. Lucinda emerged from her coma after six days but was left paralysed. Lucinda suffered a series of strokes; one initial stroke and four others while the scans were being performed. She spent three months in the hospital and was allowed to come back home only for two days.

She returned for a planned C-section. Tony and Lucinda’s baby daughter Marri-Alice was born on Nov. 19, 2012. Lucinda is now wheelchair-bound as she still is totally paralysed down her left side. However, she hopes that stem cell therapy may one day allow her to regain some of her movement. She wonders if the paralysis could have been prevented, and she now wants to spread awareness how post-orgasm headaches can be a warning sign of impending brain haemorrhage.

Lucinda’s neurosurgeon Alessandro Palazzo has assured her that she need not worry about any such thing happening in future again and that she should not be giving up her love life.

“Although Lucinda’s 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. If 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 haemorrhage has taken place. If it’s the first time you’ve experienced post-coital head-pain, it’s advisable to see your GP,” Dr. Palazzo told The Sun.