Nicole, I cant believe that you have the surgery already! Were did the time go?
I'm glad you are this side of the surgery and seem to be doing well. Except of course for that damm abdominal pain. The one the surgeons don't tell us about!
I get so mad about this. They let you home, with no idea that this can and most frequently does happen with no explanation.

I can say with some confidence, it is the extra csf being drained out by the shunt in to your peritoneal area.
Your body does not recognise it and treats it as a foreign body, which causes you such pain.
It does get easier but it takes time. See if you can get an anti spasm med from your dr. This was the only thing that helped me.I ended back in hospital, by ambulance,3 weeks after my surgery so I know how you are feeling. Sometimes, changing position helps.

You can also get a shooting pain in your private area, again, some thing that settles down.
But, no harm in calling your neuro to make sure its not the catheter part of the shunt, which is free floating and may have got tangled with an organ, usually the liver.
But don't panic, its usually the above reason.
I m glad to hear everything else is going so well. Hds gone as well?
Its been a long road for you, and I'm glad you are nearing the end! Cath

Cathy,
Thank you so much for your response. I think you are psychic I got the shooting private area pain today! I'm so relieved to have an answer to this crazy pain I'm having. It came out of nowhere, I was feeling so good after surgery, but like you said this is something they didn't warn me about at all. A little heads up would have been lovely!!

My head feels so much better already. I just have some pain at the incisions in my head. I feel like I'm actually so much more aware of whats going on. I hope this is a good move in my IH story!
I'm going to ask my Dr about the anti spasm med you mentioned.

I hope you are doing well and thanks again for your response!
Nicole

We talk so much about our head pain, no one mentions the abdominal pains until AFTER the surgery. Totally normal. I had pretty bad abdominal pain (doubled over, hurts to breathe) on and off for a few weeks right after surgery. I also got that lovely pelvic pain you and Cath spoke of (isnt that fun!). I even got to enjoy some stabbing rectal pain for a few weeks, ahh the joys of putting foreign objects in our bodies. Those pains have subsided (my VP shunt was July of last year) but still occur at times. I actually went back to NS about 3 months later to ask about it. Basically, he told me the only solution was more surgery and if I could tolerate it, then I just needed to. It's way better than the headaches so I just deal. Definitely I can tell if I'm having a 'high pressure' day because I get crampy pains in my belly, I assume from the CSF collecting down there. My friends have mentioned that I often rub the right side of my belly, like a pregnant women might, although I don't realize I'm doing it until they point it out. Also, now that I'm working out again, I get soreness in my belly on the right side just above the scar when I'm running. Depends on the day, some days worse than others. But, it's not a HEADACHE and for that I am grateful. Good luck with your recovery, sounds like you are doing well!