I totally get you guys.
Back in November 2009, i had a medtronic strata put in after my fixed valve decided to over drain too much too often.
From the very night i had it placed it gave me troubles. There is 5 options/pressures on it right? They started off in the middle, and went up in pressure depending on how i felt. When they all failed, the pressure went on the lower pressure settings, not a single one worked but they said it took getting used to.
Not sure what pressure they set it to in the end but they told me to come back if things hadnt improved in a week. I gave it 3 days, was in agony.
Got the pressure changed and when they checked it reset itself but as mentioned above, they assumed they wrote the wrong pressure down and that it DID NOT reset itself. They also assumed this before when i first had it put in. It was seriously changed about 6 times in the space of 2 weeks, each time with different pressures as to what they set it to. About 2 weeks after the shunt got put in, i had a red mark around my tubing in my neck and a little bit of a temp, but blood tests ruled out infection.
I gave up in the end and stopped going back and forth as it was quite a journey, i suffered the headaches but they got worse and worse over a week.
Until I passed out several times in the night, got taken to my local then referred to my specialist hospital where they done more blood tests and my infection levels were horrendously high, by then this infection had spread to my heart through my VA shunt and throughout my whole body. Although having that infection and the experience of it was one of the worst experiences of my life (and over my silings birthdays, christmas and newyear), i am extremely grateful that it happened, as otherwise ild still be stuck with that s****y medtronic programmable- as doctors really didnt wanna believe my suspicions of a faulty valve.
As with all infections, my shunt was revised and a fixed pressure was put back in, along with a subtemporal decompression. Havent had any troubles since!
One year on