csf leak and confusion

[stuckbetween]

my neuro is concerned that i have another csf leak.  which from what he is telling me the symptoms are i would have to agree.  the blurred vision, double vision, ringing in the ears, crushing head pain (if in an upright position for 20 min or longer), ears feel like they are full of fluid, balance is off...ect.  the one thing that is really throwing me off is if my spinal fluid is too low is it normal to get confused and zone out?  i can be sitting concentrating on what my 4 year old is doing and saying to me and all of a sudden she is hitting me and yelling at me and i don't remember what was happening or even remember zoning out. the other issue i have been having and no one has listened to so i am assuming is not a big deal is when i have been up for too long i will feel like someone is sitting on my chest and that my lungs just don't want to inflate it is sore like it is being crushed.  (it feels almost like once in a while i will forget to take a breath and i have to concentrate really really hard to breathe and take a deep breath.)  my stats are always normal as far as o2 97 to 100, but i will still feel like i can't breathe.  is this normal?

[stuckbetween]

thank you for the info.  the csf leak is possibly related to a previous spinal tap that was on back in february which had a leak then and was supposedly fixed with a blood patch.  The headaches were still there and pregressively got worse to the point where my old neuro put me on csf lowering meds (topomax) due to posibility of pseudotumor cerebri.  went to a new neuro because did not feel comfortable with the diagnosis and he confirmed that i do not have pseudotumor, but uncontrolled migraines. but when the migraines (or so i thought) got worse he determined that i may have a csf leak (or more) i have to wait a few more days for the test to be done to see how many if any leaks are actually there, but until then the pain continues if i get up for more than 5 minutes and the dizziness and sickness are becoming more constant.  no fevers are present though and just finished a taper of prednisone for migraines (they thought that that would control it before they determined a possible csf leak)

[Dr Rajgopal]

Hi,
Did your neurologist tell you the cause of CSF  leak ?Have you had a trauma or brain surgery or child birth involving epidural anaesthesia ? The chances of improvement or the treatment depends on the cause of leak..Yes confusion and alteration of mental state does occur because of CSF leak.  Most cases heal spontaneously with no lasting symptoms. If the leak is due to head trauma or surgery, complications may be caused by underlying conditions. Careful attention should be paid to the possibility of infection, which can also cause serious complications. Regarding your lungs, it is not related to this. There could be a lung infection, plural effusion or some other pathology . Please consult a pulmonologist for that.Hope this helps you. Take care and regards !