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Nurses General Nursing

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I was a pt in the ER in the early part of December and they did a spinal tap on me because I was complaing of severe headaches for the past two weeks, extreme nausea and a stiff nech x 2 days. They did a spinal tap and they siad my fluid has high pressure. The ER doc said it was well above normal limits. Should I be worried and what would cause this?? By the way the headaches are gone and no more nausea or symptoms, etc.

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MCG..you have never had a shunt placed, have you? Just curious since they can become occluded which results in increased CSF and pressure. Other conditions that can cause increased CSF fluid and pressure: Meningitis (I am guessing they ruled this out with the lumbar puncture?) , Infection, Head Injury..If it were me, I think I would follow up with my MD..There isn't a lot of extra room in there..I think we only have about 125 cc of CSF in our central nervous system. If you are overproducing or not aborbing like you should the excess will push on your brain an spinal cord, which would not be good. Get your records from the ER or have your MD call for them and follow up..just in case.:) Erin

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Thanks for your reply and no I have never had a shunt. I will follow-up although. I was admitted and kept over nite for one nite by a neurologist. I followed up with him the following week and he started me on a diuretic called Diamox 1 tab BID, and since I have started taking it I noticed that it feels like I am leaning and walking to the side even though I am in a upright position, maybe my equilibrium is off. Let me know what you guys think

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What was the neuros dx? I would follow up with the neuro about the continued sx. They could be from the med..my mom takes diamox..she has Menieres disease. I would guess the sx could also be from increased pressure again so if it were me, I would go and see the neurologist...good luck.. Erin

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I am in remission from Pseudotumor Cerebri (in Canada it is called Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension)... too much spinal fluid backs up with nowhere to go. It results in SEVERE headaches, periodic loss of vision, "whoosh" noises in the ear that can sound like a helicopter landing on your head (very disorienting), periodic syncope, double vision, loss of vision. The pressure causes the brain to shift forward, compressing the optic nerves. The pressure also causes everything else from the neck up to be compressed. It is not pleasant. People with PTC usually have off the chart readings for ICP, and usually experience a temporary reprieve from symptoms following a spinal tap. I too was placed on diamox (diamox sequel) that I took twice a day, twelve hours apart... my dose was 1000mg/day. It doesn't ease symptoms immediately, takes a month or as long as three months. If you do have PTC feel free to PM me, my neuroopthamologist says that I know more about my disease than she does. It is fairly rare but the incidence of cases is on the rise. I live in a town of 8500 and there are eleven of us. Playing the numbers game, there shouldn't be any. My neuro only has three patients in her city of approximately 500,000. We are definitely a hot spot for this. Give the diamox a chance to work, it can work wonders for you. Shunts are an option, but unfortunately in cases of PTC, they fail 50% of the time and must be replaced. There are other surgeries (one that blocks the pressure from affecting the optic nerves and eyes) as well. I have been in remission for four years now and plan to stay that way.

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