Idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Hi, @keza71 First off, I have absolutely no doubt about your history. None whatsoever. Many of those symptoms match many of mine. Some are different, but a lot of it is the same. Starting off, I have spent about the last 30 years thinking I was a hypochondriac. In fact, the chief cardiologist at the center where I was trying to get help simply said I was a nut case, and would not put anything but that in the records. This made it impossible to get help anywhere else. And the thing about pain and opiates. I cannot walk from the bathroom to my big chair without stopping for a break from the pain in my feet, knees, hips and back. Some kind of Amyloidosis is the probably culprit. And gaining weight is a curse, a sideline of Amy. Neurologists. Ophthalmologists. etc. etc. So I started keeping my own records and putting it on the 'net. Nice thing about Dropbox.com. Gives me a chance to talk and talk, and........ I had about 10-15 concussions in my younger days, and not all from angry girls. So you can imagine what my head feels like. I have cerebellar amyloid amorphous deposit, like Alzheimer, and other deposits all over my body. Well, honestly, I doubt I need to have an excuse to operate like I have Alzheimer's. Anyway, Be certain you are dealing with a well-experienced and funded center, not just local medicos. Places like Mayo-MN, Brigham and Women's, Cleveland Clinic, Fred Hutchinson. Have them check for mis-folded protein in the blood and urine, etc. If they tell you they cannot find the problem, just tell them maybe if they actually thought they might get paid they could look a little harder. And hang in there. I figure suicide is probably not all it seems it would be. I figure I would still have to deal with someone like Pilate.

Hi, @oldkarl Thank you for your response. I did fail to mention also that I live in Queensland, Australia. Specialists are very hard to find here. Especially ones that deal with neurological disorders. It's an uphill battle.

I understand. Most specialists here are around 100 miles away. Might as well try to find a platypus.

Definately. The closest specialists to me are in Brisbane 750km or Sydney1500km. I can find a platypus in around 30km. Lol.

Hi, @keza71. I add my welcome to @oldkarl's.
I'd like to also invite @aprillelain to join this discussion. She recently joined Connect and talks about being diagnosed with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, previously known as Pseudo Tumor Cerebri.

Keza, you may also be interested in this discussion
- Empty Sella Syndrome https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/empty-sella-syndrome/

You sure have been to more than your fair share of doctors. Who is following your care now?

Hi @colleenyoung thank you. At the moment I am being looked after by a doctor at the hospital in the Medical team. Where I live we don't have Neurologists here. So my doctor has been talking with the neurological team in the closest town to me. Since my lumbar puncture on Friday I am still in so much pain. My head feels like it's going to split open, I have limited movement with my neck due to the pain in my head and when I walk the pain in my head gets extremely bad. I can deal with alot of pain but this is getting beyond a joke. Nobody here seems to know what to do...

Hello! I've had Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension since 2013. I went through 4 hospitals and too many doctors to count to help me. I had 2 strokes due to the high pressure on my frontal lobes. I've recovered from them well. I've had to have over 30 spinal tap to help control the pressure and in January I had 2 stents placed in my transverse sinus. They have helped tremendously and I'd recommend seeking a neurosurgeon to take a look at that for you. If you have stenosis of the transverse sinuses, you may be a candidate. Also, a shunt may be an option to help drain the fluid continuously. The IHRFoundation.org has a lot of information on their website as well that may be helpful to you. Also, from what you described pain wise after your spinal tap, it sounds like you got the dreaded low pressure headache afterwards. Unfortunately, since I just saw this, it won't be helpful this time, but if you have another tap and get a crushing headache afterwards, you may need a blood patch after to seal any leaks from the tap. It helps a lot.

I was just diagnosed with IIH last week by my nuerologist, I see a nuero-opthomologist in a couple of days. Ive been dealing with dibilitating constant migraines that make my vision blurry and make me see random shadows since July 30 2018. I hear random clicking in my ears and have a hard time with balance. I get dizzy easily and sometimes cant guage depth or run into things. I lost my job because of it but luckily I at least have disability through my job that pays a portion of what I made. I am scared to drive more than a couple miles of my house due to my eyes playing tricks on me all the times. I have lost pretty much all of my independence and am lacking as a mom and wife because I cant be who I was because I feel miserable 24/7.

My nuerologist seems very thorough and I like her, but it had taken so long to get here it seems, like she doesnt believe how much pain I am in and the symtoms I exhibit. She reminds me at every appt each month to lose weight, but doesnt seem to grasp that I am steadily trying, but nothing is working. I am obese, and either the medication or IIH leave me where I overheat easy so I cant work out so I have been strict with diet, but the weight isnt budging. I am also wondering if the partially empty sella has something to do with the struggle to loose as your pituitary is responsible for hormones, metabolism, thyroid, etc. Basically I was prescribed Topiramate since July and now Diamox. For migraines all the triptans and diclofinacs (that dont work). She has scheduled Botox for me next week, maybe that will help.

Where does everyone recieve treatment? Maybe i can point my nuero in thier direction since IIH is so rare, I am hoping this is why she just doesnt know what/where to go with me. Thanks in advance!

Hello, @rrmoss - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. That is a very new diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), and hope you can connect with others here who will empathize with your situation. Having challenges with blurry vision, clicking in your ears, balance and gauging depth to the point you sometimes run into things sounds very difficult, and even more so with a job loss due to it. I am a mom and wife, too, and I'd have a hard time if I felt concerned about driving and felt I'd lost a lot of my independence as you described.

A couple of threads on Connect that may be of interest to you are:
- on migraine is https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/silent-migraines/?pg=1#comment-252463

- on empty sella syndrome https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/empty-sella-syndrome

You might also be interested in starting or participating in a discussion in the Diabetes & Endocrine System group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/diabetes-and-endocrine-problems/ related to your pituitary questions.

I'd like to invite members who have participated in this discussion previously, like @keza71 @oldkarl @aprillelain to return and offer their insights on idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), as well as where they receive treatment, if applicable. I'd also like to ask members who've mentioned IIH, like @kellysieck @aprillelain @oceangirl @tracyj, to offer their thoughts for you with this new diagnosis. @johnbishop may also have some thoughts or information for you.

Do you have other questions you'd like to ask members related to idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), @rrmoss?

@rrmoss Hello, I'm a Mayo spine surgery patient, and my physical therapist made a comment recently talking about dural pressures on the brain and that Myofacial release can help that. Here's information about MFR treatment, and I do this myself. The beauty of it is that it can reach into the interconnected areas of the body and release restrictions in tight tissue and a trained therapist can feel where the tightness is in your body. When tight tissue compresses nerves it causes issues, and this opens up those spaces allowing normal function and movement. Not all doctors are familiar with this, but it is gaining acceptance. It has been able to reduce seizures in a child with epilepsy. Sometimes things are physical problems and this therapy can help so many things . Here are some links to information-

http://www.myofascialrelease.com
https://myofascialrelease.com/about/problems-mfr-helps.aspx
https://myofascialrelease.com/downloads/articles/FasciaAsALever.pdf
https://www.massagemag.com/therapeutic-insight-the-john-f-barnes-myofascial-release-perspectiverufus-the-cat-12559/
https://myofascialrelease.com/resources/mfr-talk.aspx
There are a lot of articles at this link.
https://myofascialrelease.com/resources/therapeutic-insight.aspx