Symptoms and treatment for arachnoid cyst?

  I am a 34 year old female that was diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst in September 1997.  It was found by accident when I was in the ER and diagnosed with viral menegitis.  The cyst is on my left side of my head and is about 4 inches in diameter. I was born with CP that afgfects the right side of my body and the ER doctor believed I've had the cyst all my life.
  I haven't had any symptoms from the cyst until 6 months ago.  I am now experiencing constant headaches originating from the left side of my head.  They often are severe in nature.  I have blurry vision, even with my brand new glasses on, light headedness,and tremor that effects my left hand.  I've also been experiencing worsinging urinary incontence that cannot be traced to any other source.  
  I went to a neurologist who stated I had migraines and did an MRI.  The cyst has grown since 1997 but he seems to think it is a coincidence and my symptoms are not caused by the cyst.  What do you think?  Are these symptoms from the cyst?  What are the tx's and how long of a recovery time is involved with tx's?  Thanks for any help you can give me.
  
  Dee  

[CCF Neuro[P] MD RPS]

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Dear Dee:
It is difficult to give you an accurate diagnosis without having seeing your MRI and the degree of progression.  Arachnoid cysts can grow with time, and some may require to be surgically drained and some event need shunting.  Most the the latter two types will declare themselves with rapid growth and focal neurological deficits (deficits depending on where the cyst is located).  So without knowing where your cyst is located, it is different depending on the location.  Since your neurologist feels that the cyst is not causing the symptoms, I would assume that the location of the cyst doesn't fit with your symptoms (but again I can't tell for I haven't seen the scan).  If this troubles you, then I would suggest that you get a second opinion about the arachnoid cyst.  I hope that this helped.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro[P] MD

[loly303]

A related discussion, Arachnoid Cyst was started.