Hello @mjp,

I went through an arachnoid cyst two years ago, when I was also 48. My cyst also looked enormous on the MRI and CAT scans. It’s quite shocking, isn’t it? Do you know if yours is lodged between your skull and brain or deeper down? Mine was deeper down and pressing on the fornix, which is part of the memory-creating apparatus. Of the symptoms that you are having, I had headaches, nausea and short-term memory loss. I am a college lecturer, and (apparently) I would forget what I had just said in class. Although my wife was very disturbed by it all, I was unaware of this particular issue of forgetting. It’s only when the doctor showed me the image of the huge cyst that I really got it. I was given memory tests, and my IQ level was so low that the doctor said without surgery I would get to a dementia-like stage. The surgery wasn’t fun, but couldn’t be avoided.
The outcome was initially very good, and my IQ levels had bounced right up a few days after surgery. On the other hand, subtle memory loss continued and I got diagnosed with Transient Epileptic Amnesia at the end of last year. This isn’t the well-known fitting kind of epilepsy but silent memory fails. I would not recognize people I had previously met, for example. I was started on anti-convulsant medicine and that issue is now under control, although I have to stay on this drug permanently. It was mentioned as a risk of surgery on the consent form.
Around the time of surgery, I also developed tinnitus, but the doctor shook his head when I asked if it is related to the cyst. I do not know why he considered it unrelated. So I am interested to hear you have a similar issue. In my case, it is a low constant ringing. It doesn’t disturb me too much and I have had no treatment for it.
The surgery itself left a small indentation on top of my head, but the scar is gone. The surgery involved draining the cyst and closing up the tissue again. Physically, I recovered completely. Good luck, and get back and let us know how it’s going.
David