Im new to this forum and thank the the Lord I found it. I just recently had a vp shunt placed and im 8 weeks post op, but the med they put me on for the headaches has worse side effects than I can deal with. Go back to neurologist this week for change in med and surgeon for shunt adjustment. The surgeon says he has to lower the pressure in my head and it will make my headaches worse. Does that mean he is pulling more fluid off at a faster rate? And my short term memory seems to have gotten a lot worse since surgery. Anyone else experiencing the same thing?

Hello, I'm brand new too. I had my first vp shunt placed 3 years ago. I get really bad headaches a lot and I have memory problems too. I'm glad I found the forum. I have had my shunt adjusted many times in 3 years. So sorry you are having trouble.

hi, i just had a shunt put in 6 months ago i am sorry to hear how you are feeling i also have had a lot of head aches an pain in my stomach which does not seam to go away i found what has help me to expain to the doc how im feeling is keeping track of when an how many head aches im getting so that why they can better adjust the shunt i hope all the best for you if u need anything let me know
tammy

With my daughter there are two types of headaches. Very bad headaches, usually with vomiting, usually begining upon rising. This is a partialily blocked or full shunt failure, requiring surgery.

The second type of headache is milder, over her eyes again. It occurs after she has been up for awile, usually around late morning. It goes away always, by lying flat, with no pillow for 15 t 20 minutes...every time. This has been described to us as an overdraining problem of the shunt. If you have a programable shunt you can have it adjusted in the office and sometimes they will keep you overnight to observe you.

I think the problem for the neurosurgeons is in finding the right adjustment to keep your shunt at. If it drains too much, you get headaches for slit ventricles. If it does not drain enough the higher pressure may affect things in a growing child like spine allignment or have an effect on her eye muscles. This has been our experience. She is now 13.

I think they try to tweak it as best they can. I do not give headach meds to my daughter, nor does my daughter's neurosurgeon tell us too.

She has had her shunt since birth. The same scenarios have played out for 13 years. She has had 7 revisions. She has not had a revision in 5 years now. But from time to time she has had her programable shunt pressure adjusted.