Aa
Pineal Cyst
I have a benign pineal cyst that measures 1CM with no mass effect. However, I have been experiencing alot of headaches or *pressure in my forehead*. My neurologist seems to think this cyst is just fine there.......should I be trying to see an eye doctor for their opinion?
Putting this out there, I'm 14, almost 15, and yesterday my vision completely went black, it was like I was blind. I couldn't see anything and it was like my entire sight sense was cut off. I was diagnosed with a cyst (unsure of mesurements) about a year ago. (End of May-ish) i went to the children's hospital in my area and they couldn't find what was wrong. Here's what happened.
I was eating frozen yogurt with my dance team in a shaded area. I suddenly got a headache (it was really cold, brain freeze) and I started to massage my temples, as I usually get headaches in that area. When I opened my eyes, my vision was fading to black. The last thing I saw was the shadowing and light on a few of my friends faces before I went blind. I couldn't see any thing. It was like whenever you close your eyes, you can't see, except mine were open. My friend helped me across the street to get me to air conditioning. (Walking without being able to see is hard!) I was still unable to see and my friend called my mom, who was then on her way to pick me up and take me to the ER. I hadn't cried yet, because I was thinking of the best possible situations. When my mom go there, she helped me out to the car. (My mom said my pupils were very dialated and my lips were blue.) She drove me over to the ER where they did the normal talking, I.V., and scans. I had a CT scan done, as they didn't have an MRI scan at that location. I stayed there for about 50 minutes, and my vision started to come back. I could see light and dark, but that was it. My mom and dad (he met up at the ER) drove me to a children's hospital about 30+ minutes away. By this time, my eyes had cleared out in front, but I had no peripheral (sorry if it's spelt wrong, I'm only 14) vision. I was admitted into the hospital at around 9:30 pm. I stayed there for about an hour, when my vision started to return to normal. It was around 10:30 when I was able to leave. I was hungry, so we stopped to get tacos and then I went home. The doctors couldn't figure out what happened. My mom has to call and get an MRI scheduled on Monday and after that, they can find out if the cyst is what caused it. Right now, none of my doctors were sure what happened, because no one had ever heard/seen it before.
I was eating frozen yogurt with my dance team in a shaded area. I suddenly got a headache (it was really cold, brain freeze) and I started to massage my temples, as I usually get headaches in that area. When I opened my eyes, my vision was fading to black. The last thing I saw was the shadowing and light on a few of my friends faces before I went blind. I couldn't see any thing. It was like whenever you close your eyes, you can't see, except mine were open. My friend helped me across the street to get me to air conditioning. (Walking without being able to see is hard!) I was still unable to see and my friend called my mom, who was then on her way to pick me up and take me to the ER. I hadn't cried yet, because I was thinking of the best possible situations. When my mom go there, she helped me out to the car. (My mom said my pupils were very dialated and my lips were blue.) She drove me over to the ER where they did the normal talking, I.V., and scans. I had a CT scan done, as they didn't have an MRI scan at that location. I stayed there for about 50 minutes, and my vision started to come back. I could see light and dark, but that was it. My mom and dad (he met up at the ER) drove me to a children's hospital about 30+ minutes away. By this time, my eyes had cleared out in front, but I had no peripheral (sorry if it's spelt wrong, I'm only 14) vision. I was admitted into the hospital at around 9:30 pm. I stayed there for about an hour, when my vision started to return to normal. It was around 10:30 when I was able to leave. I was hungry, so we stopped to get tacos and then I went home. The doctors couldn't figure out what happened. My mom has to call and get an MRI scheduled on Monday and after that, they can find out if the cyst is what caused it. Right now, none of my doctors were sure what happened, because no one had ever heard/seen it before.
I had the surgery five weeks ago - no more cyst. no more symptoms. Go figure.
I started having headaches, daily and neck/ear/jaw pain back in May 2010 - sudden onset. . Went to an ENT, a dentist, a TMJ specialist, back to PCP. In June started getting migraines - about 1-2x a week lasting for hours.
They did MRI in July and found a pineal cyst 1.2x 1.7x1.0. More tests, more meds, doctors telling me I've always had headaches, they were sinus headaches, that the cyst wasn't causing the headaches. Migraines were coming 3-4 times a week - lasting 6 hours or more, I was taking way lots of drugs and not functioning well.
Saw a surgeon at Barrows Neurosurgical in Phoenix (where I live) and she said we should rule out all other possibilities, try different meds. Of course good advice- no one wants a craniotomy right?
My MRI showed no hydrocephalus but mild mass effect on the tectum.
Went back to the ENT, saw endocrinologist, opthalmologist, two neurologists and tried 8 meds. Kept getting worse. September had more MRIs , they showed no growth- so we decided to wait and do another set of MRIs after Christmas and see if we could find meds to control the pain. Was having migrines almost every single day at this point.Also neck, jaw, ear and facial pain, some motion sickness too.
Was taking a ton of pain meds and topomax and imitrex every other day , sinus meds- you name it I took it and nothing was controlling it. Woke with a headache every day, was with me all day, went migraine at night. Was horrible and I'm no wuss when it comes to pain believe me.
I ended up in the ER Oct 18th with a migraine we couldn't stop. I literally cried for hours, two doses of IV meds, stayed in bed a week. Saw the surgeon & she read everything & said all conservative measures failed, she'd do the surgery. So on October 25th I had brain surgery. Posterior fossa craniotomy - so they went in from the back of my skull (which is why I still have my hair) , endoscopic tube up there and pulled out the cyst . And now five weeks later I have no more headaches, migraines, jaw/ear pain. All done. I do have alot of fatigue, some nerve pain which they tell me will go away (sharp stabby pains on the side of my head above and to the side of the incision) but totally worth it. I couldn't function with the headache- was in bed in the dark most nights, couldn't play with my kids, was pretty horrible. But I'm good now.
Was a scary month but have lots to be Thankful for. Great surgeon, great health insurance, supportive friends, family and church. Made it through and can now enjoy Christmas without daily pain. I'm on NO MEDS at all now except my thyroid meds and some melatonin for sleep (pineal gland controls circadian rhythms and sleep/wake cycles and still having sleep issues) and still some neck pain they think probably from scrunching up due to the headaches.
DO not give up. Read on pubmed.com and other published medical journals. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18005138
Talk to surgeons. Rule out everything else it could possibly be and do not give up. I have complete resolution of symptoms other then the nerve pain which should dissipate with time.
Hope some of this helps
Barb
I started having headaches, daily and neck/ear/jaw pain back in May 2010 - sudden onset. . Went to an ENT, a dentist, a TMJ specialist, back to PCP. In June started getting migraines - about 1-2x a week lasting for hours.
They did MRI in July and found a pineal cyst 1.2x 1.7x1.0. More tests, more meds, doctors telling me I've always had headaches, they were sinus headaches, that the cyst wasn't causing the headaches. Migraines were coming 3-4 times a week - lasting 6 hours or more, I was taking way lots of drugs and not functioning well.
Saw a surgeon at Barrows Neurosurgical in Phoenix (where I live) and she said we should rule out all other possibilities, try different meds. Of course good advice- no one wants a craniotomy right?
My MRI showed no hydrocephalus but mild mass effect on the tectum.
Went back to the ENT, saw endocrinologist, opthalmologist, two neurologists and tried 8 meds. Kept getting worse. September had more MRIs , they showed no growth- so we decided to wait and do another set of MRIs after Christmas and see if we could find meds to control the pain. Was having migrines almost every single day at this point.Also neck, jaw, ear and facial pain, some motion sickness too.
Was taking a ton of pain meds and topomax and imitrex every other day , sinus meds- you name it I took it and nothing was controlling it. Woke with a headache every day, was with me all day, went migraine at night. Was horrible and I'm no wuss when it comes to pain believe me.
I ended up in the ER Oct 18th with a migraine we couldn't stop. I literally cried for hours, two doses of IV meds, stayed in bed a week. Saw the surgeon & she read everything & said all conservative measures failed, she'd do the surgery. So on October 25th I had brain surgery. Posterior fossa craniotomy - so they went in from the back of my skull (which is why I still have my hair) , endoscopic tube up there and pulled out the cyst . And now five weeks later I have no more headaches, migraines, jaw/ear pain. All done. I do have alot of fatigue, some nerve pain which they tell me will go away (sharp stabby pains on the side of my head above and to the side of the incision) but totally worth it. I couldn't function with the headache- was in bed in the dark most nights, couldn't play with my kids, was pretty horrible. But I'm good now.
Was a scary month but have lots to be Thankful for. Great surgeon, great health insurance, supportive friends, family and church. Made it through and can now enjoy Christmas without daily pain. I'm on NO MEDS at all now except my thyroid meds and some melatonin for sleep (pineal gland controls circadian rhythms and sleep/wake cycles and still having sleep issues) and still some neck pain they think probably from scrunching up due to the headaches.
DO not give up. Read on pubmed.com and other published medical journals. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18005138
Talk to surgeons. Rule out everything else it could possibly be and do not give up. I have complete resolution of symptoms other then the nerve pain which should dissipate with time.
Hope some of this helps
Barb
Neurologists may be very quick to tell you that you are fine with a pineal cyst and that it is not causing your symptoms. But beware: 1) Doctors in general don't really undestand what the pineal gland does; and 2) Some don't seem to understand the difference between symptomatic and asymptomatic pineal glands and tell their patients not to worry about pineal cysts.
Some things to keep in mind, according to the medical literature:
1) The most common symptom is headaches, followed by vision problems and dizziness, and in some cases insomnia, nausea and cognitive deficits, particularly if cognitive deficits are involved.
2) Pineal cysts can be symptomatic if they are larger than 0.5 cm. Problems occur when the cysts cause compression in the brain, or when they are associated with apoplexy or hydrocephalus.
3) Radiologists cannot easily distinguish between cysts and benign tumors, often leading to misdiagnosis. NOTE: A benign tumor is not metastatic, not malignant.
4) If you are in the 18-34 age group, your cyst can grow, so you should get MRIs every 3-6 months. If your doctor does not want to, get a new doctor.
The most important thing is to get a doctor who takes your pineal cyst seriously. It is a rare disorder, and few doctors understand it well.
Some things to keep in mind, according to the medical literature:
1) The most common symptom is headaches, followed by vision problems and dizziness, and in some cases insomnia, nausea and cognitive deficits, particularly if cognitive deficits are involved.
2) Pineal cysts can be symptomatic if they are larger than 0.5 cm. Problems occur when the cysts cause compression in the brain, or when they are associated with apoplexy or hydrocephalus.
3) Radiologists cannot easily distinguish between cysts and benign tumors, often leading to misdiagnosis. NOTE: A benign tumor is not metastatic, not malignant.
4) If you are in the 18-34 age group, your cyst can grow, so you should get MRIs every 3-6 months. If your doctor does not want to, get a new doctor.
The most important thing is to get a doctor who takes your pineal cyst seriously. It is a rare disorder, and few doctors understand it well.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your neurologist can give a better opinion than an Eye MD ophthalmologist about the pineal cyst causing headaches. I would ask the neuro what he/she thinks of the headaches and who you should consult next.
JCH MD
JCH MD
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Eye Care Community
Top General Health Answerers
Kansas City, MO
Grand Prairie, TX
San Diego, CA
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
In this unique and fascinating report from Missouri Medicine, world-renowned expert Dr. Raymond Moody examines what really happens when we almost die.
Think a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss? Here are five warning signs to watch for.
When it comes to your health, timing is everything
We’ve got a crash course on metabolism basics.
Learn what you can do to avoid ski injury and other common winter sports injury.
