So, firstly I'm sorry that you have to suffer with this. It's one of those things that you don't wish on anyone. Back in the day this used to be called "Pseudotumor Cerebri". Now let me, let you in on a lil secret. I have a "pseudo" brother-in-law who's a Neurosurgeon, it does not take weeks to read imaging studies, it does not take days. It can take hours and then a day or two to decide the best treatment, but do not let a Neurosurgeon tell you that it takes weeks to go over the Studies. That's the sign of a Dr. with too many patients.

The main concern with Intercranial Hypertension, is that it can slowly make you lose your sight, if proper medical steps are not taken to intervene. I imagine your headaches begin behind your eyes and build and build until the pressure just feels unrelenting, like if you banged your head against a wall it might feel better.

The main goal of your illness is to improve those awful symptoms and for you to keep improving your eyesight.

The ringing in the ears used to drive me batty, its like the noise of the whole world would go away, and there was just this high pitched loud ringing in my ears that I thought would drive me insane. Thankfully my Neuro discovered I had Cluster Migraines and a Seizure Disorder and those were treated with different meds and treatments

The exact cause of pseudotumor cerebri in most individuals is unknown, but it may be linked to an excess amount of cerebrospinal fluid within the bony confines of your skull.

Your brain and spinal cord are surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid, which acts like a cushion to protect these vital tissues from injury and that's a good thing. This fluid is also produced in the brain and eventually is absorbed into the bloodstream. The increased intracranial pressure may be a result of a problem in this absorption process.

Basically, your intracranial pressure increases when the contents of your skull exceed its capacity, and that's a bad thing. For example, a brain tumor generally increases your intracranial pressure because there's no room for the tumor. The same thing happens if your brain swells or if you have too much cerebrospinal fluid. The bones of your skull only give "so much", so it stands to reason that you can only cram so much in your skull before the pressure builds and it causes pain, and until the pressure is released the pain just increases from day to day. Any soft tissue parts like tendons and nerves tend to get "squished" (sorry for the over technical term) under the pressure and this is how your eyesight becomes effected and deteriorates.

There are treatments for this condition, i.e. Glaucoma Meds, Migraine Daily Preventitive Meds and Onset Meds, and Diruretics. There are also surgical interventions which sometimes can at times work best, they are:

Optic nerve sheath fenestration. In this procedure, a surgeon cuts a window into the membrane that surrounds the optic nerve. This allows excess cerebrospinal fluid to escape and relieves the built up pressure, which improves vision in most cases

Spinal fluid shunt. Is another type of surgery, your doctor inserts a long, thin tube (shunt) into your brain or lower spine to help drain away excess cerebrospinal fluid. It drains into your stomach and leaves your body through waste elimination.

The tubing is burrowed under your skin to your abdomen, where the shunt discharges the excess fluid. Symptoms may improve for some people who undergo this procedure.

I have a shunt, I've had it for about 9 yrs. now. It does get clogged every couple of years and I have to go in and get it straightened out, to make sure its draining well, but it does help.

Sorry you have to deal with this, it is a hard thing to have to deal with headaches of any kind daily. If you want more information you can go to the Mayo Clinic website and they have a pretty extensive section on your disease.

I had my Shunt put in at Duke University.

Take care,
kat

I don't have a neurosurgeon, I just have a headache specialist. But anytime my migraines have transformed in any way, I've been given an MRI, and it has never, ever taken weeks for them to get back to me with results.
I don't know if he is telling you that it is going to take weeks for him to look at your MRI, or he's going to look at your MRI but it will take weeks for him to get back to you. Whatever that means, I would be on them. I personally wouldn't wait to hear back, I would be calling about every 4th day.
OlderPCer is dead on when she says he sounds like a doc with too many patients. But that's not even an excuse. My headache center is busy as hell. People come from states away, and you never sit for fewer than 2 hours in the waiting room, but they ALWAYS manage to get back to their patients within a few days. Weeks just seem unacceptable. I'm so sorry you have to wait so long to get your answers.

Maybe your doctor is out of the office.