Hi!

The positions you describe (head upright is bad, lying down is good) can indicate over draining. The headache is hypotensive, low pressure. Generally over draining bothers people more at the end of the day. My daughter can be bothered if she gets up too early or over did it the previous day, she doesn't seem to have any reserve built up. This morning presentation causes confusion with some less experienced surgeons. Imaging does not show over draining unless they note your ventricles becoming slit like. First thing to have them check is if your valve is at the correct setting, some failed valves can lose their settings or exposure to a magnetic field could adversely affect your system. You can request having your shunt reset to a higher setting (this does not always work if the higher setting is too much or if you really need an ASD). We have the valve adjusted up every so often. If you don't have an antisiphon device, you may benefit from having that added to your shunt system (some valves have one built in). Talk to your surgeon's office. Let people know how things turn out.