I'm so sorry sweetie. I have been wondering how the return to work has been. Do you have narrowed veins? If so, push for stents. If you need a shunt revision, ask about a cistern shunt. It is placed at the back of your head where there is more room. They had been done for ages before LP and VP shunts. The ventricles collapse. I do k ow someone whose niece had that done 2 years ago and has had no problems. I've considered going to her surgeon myself. I'm so sorry this is rearing its ugly head again. I think it's even worse to feel good for a while and then have it come back. It feels so much worse. I am feeling more pressure and I'm trying to stave off the inevitable review and appointments. I am feeling it on the opposite side of my stent now. And also wonder if my shunt is doing its job. It sounds so selfish, but I just want to be that case that had the surgery and went about my life for the next 20 years and don't think about it again.
I feel for you. Don't put it off because I feel the worse the headaches get, the longer it takes to recover.
Amy

Thanks Amy,
Work was going great. I was loving being back with my kids. It was stressful, but worth it. I'm going to the ER today. I just put the call into the neurosurgeon and they said to head to the ER. My husband is at work, so my mom is going to take me. I was walking around this morning trying to convince myself I could feel myself draining. It's crazy the games we will play with ourselves to not have to go through this all over again. Maybe I'm wrong and it's that the Topamax isn't working anymore and we need something new, and it has nothing to do with the shunt. Who knows? I'm just exhausted from trying to figure it all out, without knowing what's going on. I am asking about stenting and cisternal shunt. I brought the cistern shunt up last time and no one knew what I was talking about, but hopefully they've don't some research. I just hope it's a slow day in the ER and people are nice. Hope everyone is have a comfortable day!

Please let me know what happened and if they kept you!

Oh, dear. I'm so sorry things are awful for you right now. In the periods when things are undercontrol we're on top of the world, and when things go south it feels impossible to pick up and keep going strong. I'm kind of hoping they did keep you until things get figured out. Please let us know how you are doing.

I'm home! I'm in a bizarre kind of situation...I know I'm preaching to the choir! I went to the ER had the shunt series everything looked fine and the CT looked fine (typical even when my shunt is failing) had an lp which luckily went well, I had my favorite physician assistant from neurosurgery, the little things that make us happy! So my pressure ended up being 17. That's higher than my shunt is set at, but still not high for me. When my shunt has failed my pressure is usually in the 30's. he was able to reduce my pressure to 9, and I felt better. He thinks that since I have slit ventricles perhaps the ventricle collapsed and then opened back up to drain? Has anyone ever heard of that? My passed 2 revisions have been due to collapsed ventricles. I'm also curious if the fact that neuro increased my Topamax to 150mg Friday if that could have reduced my pressure giving me a false reading? So now I'm just laying flat, staying hydrated and anticipating thunderstorms that are heading our way.

Hmm. So, is it a wait and se kind of thing now? Topomax does reduce your CSF production, although I don't know how fast that happens. I think that although I stopped having migraines when I quit Topomax, 2 weeks later I started getting a pressure headache. So I think that could be the reason. I need some middle ground. Is your PA from neurosurgery someone you call call with questions? I would ask his thoughts. Is your head feeling better now?