your time,
enegry and any effort into helping me. I am 501(c)You have had a Cat Scan or an MRI. This is the first diagnostic tool to discovering your AC. They need to do contrast which is a natural mineral in your body already to see if the fluid is clear and not a tumor.
You should request to have a MRI Mylogram to see how high the pressure in your brain is if you feel you are already having pressure damage which I think are these unique forms of headaches we have termed "Arachaches". A MRI machine with a tesla rating of 1.5 or higher. A lot of doctors will not order this test. Instead they will run an angiogram (DO NOT DO THIS TEST OR ANY TEST THAT INVOLVES PUTTING DYE IN YOUR SPINE!), which like with migraine meds, is totally useless and causes more pain and damage to your system.
EKG and EEGs are typically normal except for left frontal lobes.
Spinal taps are done and they are very dangerous because if you have a cyst in the back of your head when they pull the fluid out it can make your tonsils descend which can cause Syringomyelia as well as a Chiari Malformation. It's like having an epidureal which is how a lot of women start having problems after they have children.
Most shunts are unsuccessful. The protein is a little too thick and you run the risk of it coiling around arteries and nerves.
Most doctors should be doing fenestrations by now unless you find one that uses lasers.
- Have you ever treated anyone with an AC before? (this will save you hours)
Obviously if you are playing Russian Roulette if your doctor has never treated anyone with this disease. If you live out in the boonies you should call to the biggest city to find a good doctor. They will all be nice to you but they might not know which coarse of treatment to take. They don't live with you. They don't know your daily habits and typically don't care to. They don't know which symptoms warrant treatment and most Neurologist want you to leave them alone .
Neurologists and Neurosurgeons are different. If you are being seen by a neurosurgeon then that means you are already being evaluated for brain surgery. These doctors don't always work well together and often don't provide you with understanding your illness.
- Which symptoms are considered to warrant treatment?
You should know if you are not comfortable with your body. If the pressure in your head is too great for you to function at a normal level in order to survive the marathon then you need some treatment.
You might be showing symptoms and not even know it. You might be acting goofy, you can't sleep at night, you can be forgetting things all the time. You rest and never have energy. If you are not comfortable living in your body you have to make your own decision if surgery is the answer for you. There is a risk but always keep in mind there are no long term studies and the fact of the matter is that you do not recover from surgery when you are younger so easy.
- What are you doing to treat my cyst?
If a doctor wants to do an aspiration (key hole) surgery you need to walk out the door. Fenestration or Marsupialization are the best forms of surgery and seem to be the most enduring. When you just have an aspiration they are only taking pressure off your brain for a limited time because if the cyst is not communicating or broken then it's blocking CSF from flowing which can cause you long term CNS damage.
Some of us don't have a choice and have to have shunts put in our cysts. This causes a slew of new and different problem in which I am not accustomed and do not have conviction in writing about.
- What are the benefits of surgery?
- Do I have arachnoiditis?
- What are the problems that can occur? How will my body change after surgery?
- What are the long term treatments?
- What are my choices in therapy?
- Should I be seeing a physical and emotional therapist?
- What are the best foods to eat for my problems?
- Am I in danger of developing other diseases because of this one?
