Wondering if anyone is familiar with this. I was suffering from severe headaches, visual distortion, a weird sound in both my ears and feeling as tho my ears were clogged. I assumed it was a sinus infection and went to my doc they put me on antibiotics. Four or five days in I was getting worse and I just happened to have an appt to get new rx for glasses...thank God I did. The eye doc said I had edema in both my eyes and referred me to a specialist, she explained that my optic nerves were swollen and it could mean I had too much cerebral spinal fluid, this was Tuesday, got an appt with specialist on Thursday morning. Well that night I just couldn't take I. Couldn't sleep felt like my head was going to explode. Called specialist as soon as they opened and they fit me in. The doc confirmed the edema and sent me directly to a neurologist, who sent me for a MRI and right then at the hospital and schedule me for a spinal tap first thing the next morning to relieve the pressure. Now I'm home and wondering....wth??? They say this pseudotumor cerebri is most common in overweight women who are in child bearing age....great. any experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I've been reading this and I'm not the type to think I have everything, but for the past 5 years I've been suffering terribly from headaches, some lasting months at a time that no medicine seems to help, My ears feel clogged all the time, my hearing varies and I can hear my ears contracting from noise, I've had two sinus surgeries and been treated for sinus infections so many times with NO success, I've got floaters in my right eye. My optometrist couldn't find anything. How do you get this checked out. I swear sometimes my head feels OVER FULL of Fluid. It makes me neck hurt at times. Just wondering...

Bren

Hi Bren!

Here is some information on diagnosis from the The Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation at http://www.ihrfoundation.org/intracranial/hypertension/info/C72.

How is Diagnosis Made?

The Modified Dandy Criteria for Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension is the official criteria used to diagnose IIH. According to the Dandy criteria, an IIH diagnosis is appropriate if a person:

• has signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, such as papilledema and headache;

• has no localizing findings on neurological examination (Localizing findings are findings that point to injury of specific brain areas. For instance, a localizing finding could be the inability to move a certain muscle.);

• has a normal MRI/CT scan with no evidence of venous obstructive disease;

• has high intracranial pressure of 250mm/H2O or above on a spinal tap, with no abnormalities of cerebrospinal fluid;

• is awake and alert;

• has no other cause of increased intracranial pressure found.

A secondary IH (SIH) diagnosis generally pinpoints the cause of the elevated intracranial pressure. Consequently, there may be abnormal findings, in addition to the signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure and a high opening pressure on a spinal tap.

What is a spinal tap?

A lumbar puncture (or spinal tap) is considered the gold standard when it comes to an IH diagnosis. This test measures the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid that circulates in the sub-arachnoid space, which surrounds the brain and the spinal cord. When intracranial pressure is high, that pressure is transmitted through out the entire sub-arachnoid space. Diagnosis is usually confirmed after a spinal tap reveals a high opening CSF pressure.

How is a spinal tap performed?

The typical position for a spinal tap is to lie on your side, with knees slightly bent forward. Local anesthesia is given to numb the lower back. Sometimes, an x-ray (fluoroscopy) may be used to help guide the needle connected to the manometer, the device used to measure intracranial pressure, into the subarachnoid space. Once the spinal needle is inserted, the physician may have you extend your legs and ask you to relax in order to obtain an accurate reading. Holding your breath, bearing down (Valsalva maneuver), or sitting, rather than lying on your side, can produce an inaccurate reading. The opening pressure must be measured before any CSF is removed. (The amount of CSF drained during a spinal tap depends on several factors: the opening pressure, the desired closing pressure and the amount of CSF the physician requires for lab studies.

Intracranial pressure can be measured in millimeters (mm)/water or centimeters (cm)/water. For example, a reading of 200mm/H2O is equal to 20cm/H2O.

For adults:

Normal pressure readings are generally below 200mm/H2O.

Borderline high pressure readings are between 200-250mm/H2O.

Anything above 250mm/H2O is considered a high pressure reading.