I am having a problem, and need some advice from other adults with
shunts. I was diagnosed with Hydro at four weeks, and have had many
shunt revisions, my most recent one being in 1995. My question is
this. Have any of you ever experienced sharp, stabbing pains going
through your head, and if so, was this ever attributed to the
positioning of your shunt or the shunt touching a block of nerves?
You see, I am not having hydro headaches, so I'm relatively sure the
shunt if functioning normally (it doesn't drain as well when I'm
lying flat at night so often I wake up with morning headaches, but
that's all), however, recently I have begun experiencing
intermittent, acute stabbing pains that begin on the right side of
the back of the head (where my shunt is positioned) and radiate
around to the left. These have been growing in frequency and
intensity over the past several weeks. I am considering arranging a
visit with my NS, but his practice is in St. Louis MO (over an hour
and a half from where I live), and my insurance isn't that good, so
the diagnostic testing is expensive. I want to make sure there is
warranted cause for alarm before I go sounding the buzzer and jumping
into a bunch of expensive tests (my deductible is huge). Are these
pains common to people with shunts and something I should expect and
learn to live with, or are they a cause for alarm and a sign that
something will have to be corrected. I am planning a cross country
trip this summer, and hesitate to jump into surgery as I know I will
not be well enough to make the trip by my birthday in July. Can
anyone give me some feedback on this and advise me as to whether or
not I should call my doc? My symptoms always take a while to
manifest themselves, so tests may not prove conclusive at this
point. I would welcome any advice you could give me. My e mail
address is jw774@.... My name's Jeff, in case no one remembers
me. I'm afraid I haven't posted for a while.