Lowered Intercranial Pressure

[Susan]

I have a lumbar peritoneal shunt that was placed in Oct.'99 to treat Pseudotumor Cerebri.  In June'00 I had a shunt revision as my pressure was again elevated.  In Aug.'00 my pressure again elevated.  Another revison was being considered but my pressure then decreased on its own.  I am experiencing syptoms that I have had post surgically after the shunt placement and revision, such as weakness, shaking arms and legs, nausea, and lowered pressure headaches.  I have also been experiencing difficulty with my mood, having lots of crying spells, feelings of hopelessness, some confusion.  My question is what affect does the increased pressure have on the brain and what happens when the pressure is lowered??  Can my mood and attitude be affected by this and what can be done to help.  Thank you!  Susan

[anon]

Who let this animal out of his cage??????????????

[zoobar]

my *** smells, what should i do?

[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

Dear Susan:

Sorry that your having trouble with your shunts.  How do you know that the pressure is now lowered?  Did they measure it? One can have neurological side effects when the pressure is too high or the shunt is draining off too much fluid and the ventricles are collapsed.  I would suggest that you talk with your neurosurgeon and find out what type of shunt has been placed, and if the pressure is indeed lowered, what the size of the ventricles are. There are various side effects of too high a pressure such as headache, nausea and vomiting, blurry vision.  Much the same can happen when the ventricles are collasped due to draining too much fluid off.  The emotional side effects we have had patients complain of, whether these are from you shunt can not be proven for sure, but if you did not have them before the shunt and now you do then certainly they are probably due to the shunt.  I do hope that you are reducing the other compounding factors to pseudotumor to help things along.  Let us know what happens.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD