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-   -   VP Shunt (https://www.neurotalk.org/hydrocephalus/74035-vp-shunt.html)

mikeymike87 08-22-2011 02:43 AM

cell phones ... and shunt
 
Hi i'm 23 i have had a shunt for most of my life . The shunt was put in at 6 months old . It was due to hydrocephalus . you said something about the megnets in the shunt and the cell phone . I have had the same phone and nothing has happened . Has she tryed to use a other phone's ? I dont know where you live but in binghamton ny the neuro there is the best . dr.Bajwa. . maybe something you can write to them or something . also I know for me the headaches are bad most of the time ! something i will have to live with . hope she gets better i know the feeling of everything she is going throw . take care you can write me if any Qs:)

kaprina0510 09-21-2011 10:11 PM

have a vp shunt
 
Hi , my name is kaprina and i'm 32yrs old living with the same promblem she is. They said my shunt was fine with the ct scan. But i'm still having bad headaches, i have passout with a seziure too. So i know how it feels.

Jesse_Bulldog 10-24-2011 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacban62 (Post 453827)
New to the site. I have a question. My daughter, 21, was determined to have hydrocephalus 15months ago and received a VP SHunt. It has been a reasonably good experience for her overall but several small things have come up and Neurosurgeons office doesn't seem to be a good resource for getting answers....my guess is they don't see a lot of people her age.

1) ongoing faint/blackout type seizure activity continues upon rising but my daughter is able to control it by breathing. This was an original factor in determining she needed a CTSCAN and then MRI to find the hydrocephalus.

CT SCANS all prove to indicate that the shunt is working fine and no answer seems to be available regarding the faint/blackout type seizure activity and doesn't seem to worry any of the DR's other than GenPrac Dr, who referred her back to Neuro Dr.

2) living it Florida, really cold weather is rare. Last week it was cold and she is working outdoors and found to have horrible headaches last week. She is not sick with a cold nor did she have cold symptoms, just a horrible headache that made it very difficult to manage.

Daughter called to make appt to see the Neuro DR and was intercepted by his asst and was told that she did not need to see DR for annual followup or any other reason unless she has an ongoing problem that had not been previously addressed. She just thought she should see him to answer some of these questions but they don't appear to want to see her.

3) Daughter has a blackberry cell phone and has had to have it replaced 5 times in the last year due to phone problems that affect the ability to hear her or for her to hear others. She is a college student living away from home and the phone gives her a lot of problems. I have the same phone and no problems so just curious if cell phone might be affected by the magnets in the VPShunt device.

asked the cell phone provider and they have no clue.

Any help or input her would be appreciated. My daughter is very grateful that she has not had any major issues and her body has accepted this VP Shunt without any real problems, but would love to hear input regarding the above mentioned issues and other people's experiences.

Thanks,

concerned MOM:confused:

If your daughter's shunt is programmable/"Medos or Codmen" VP shunt and there is some type of magnet to the phone she is using it will change the pressure the shunt is set at, which can give her bad pressure headaches. A CAT scan doesn't show if the shunt is working or not. If done of the head it's going to show placement of the shunt and status of the cyst or fluid. However she would need a shunt injection where they place dye in the shunt and do x-ray's as it flows from the valve into the peritoneal to know if the shunts blocked or flowing properly.
I have a shunt myself and weather seems to have an effect on it at times. Headaches generally pressure headaches that can even be felt behind the eyes & cause blurred vision are common in my case. I read somewhere that the barometer has some kind of effect on I believe the flow of the spinal fluid.
I wish you and your daughter the best, and hope for better days

sixpats 11-29-2011 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacban62 (Post 453827)
New to the site. I have a question. My daughter, 21, was determined to have hydrocephalus 15months ago and received a VP SHunt. It has been a reasonably good experience for her overall but several small things have come up and Neurosurgeons office doesn't seem to be a good resource for getting answers....my guess is they don't see a lot of people her age.

1) ongoing faint/blackout type seizure activity continues upon rising but my daughter is able to control it by breathing. This was an original factor in determining she needed a CTSCAN and then MRI to find the hydrocephalus.

CT SCANS all prove to indicate that the shunt is working fine and no answer seems to be available regarding the faint/blackout type seizure activity and doesn't seem to worry any of the DR's other than GenPrac Dr, who referred her back to Neuro Dr.

2) living it Florida, really cold weather is rare. Last week it was cold and she is working outdoors and found to have horrible headaches last week. She is not sick with a cold nor did she have cold symptoms, just a horrible headache that made it very difficult to manage.

Daughter called to make appt to see the Neuro DR and was intercepted by his asst and was told that she did not need to see DR for annual followup or any other reason unless she has an ongoing problem that had not been previously addressed. She just thought she should see him to answer some of these questions but they don't appear to want to see her.

3) Daughter has a blackberry cell phone and has had to have it replaced 5 times in the last year due to phone problems that affect the ability to hear her or for her to hear others. She is a college student living away from home and the phone gives her a lot of problems. I have the same phone and no problems so just curious if cell phone might be affected by the magnets in the VPShunt device.

asked the cell phone provider and they have no clue.

Any help or input her would be appreciated. My daughter is very grateful that she has not had any major issues and her body has accepted this VP Shunt without any real problems, but would love to hear input regarding the above mentioned issues and other people's experiences.

Thanks,

concerned MOM:confused:



Hi jacban62!

Your daughter is not alone! I am now 25 and was only diagnosed with hydrocephalus and had my shunt placed when I was 23. I've learned that having a shunt at this age is very rare, but shunt placements seem most successful in our case. :) I've never had issues with my cell phone (not so far at least), but when it's cold, my shunt definitely hurts! I usually just take OTC pain killers like advil to get rid of it. I do take OTC pain killers to deal with different shunt symptoms on a pretty regular basis. Dull headaches, pain around the shunt itself, and most often, pain in my abdomin from the catheter. This seems to be the biggest problem. I am a very active person and hate that working out, doing yoga, running, etc seems to aggravate the catheter. Sometimes the pain wakes me up at night. My surgeon said he could do a revision of just the placement of the catheter in my abdomin, but my shunt has been functioning well for two years and I am not sure if it is the right decision to mess with it. Don't fix it if it ain't broke, right? Any thoughts on this? It's horrible to hear all of these complaints about bad doctors. My doctors in NY are the best. I am so lucky to have them on my side. They always address any complaint I have had so far and I've been so happy to have doctors who I trust. Hang in there! And just know that there are other young adults out there with newly placed shunts! :D

2nortonboys 07-25-2012 02:41 PM

magnetic shunts
 
Hello -my 7 month old son has a magnetic vp shunt. We have been told to stay away from all elecrotic magnetic fields - so no cell phones, not toys with magnets. No refigerator doors, no airport scanners especially the hand held wand ones, etc. If your daughters shunt is made by Medtronics they have a great website that helps explain the magnet issue.

lcms0516 07-26-2012 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacban62 (Post 453827)
New to the site. I have a question. My daughter, 21, was determined to have hydrocephalus 15months ago and received a VP SHunt. It has been a reasonably good experience for her overall but several small things have come up and Neurosurgeons office doesn't seem to be a good resource for getting answers....my guess is they don't see a lot of people her age.

1) ongoing faint/blackout type seizure activity continues upon rising but my daughter is able to control it by breathing. This was an original factor in determining she needed a CTSCAN and then MRI to find the hydrocephalus.

CT SCANS all prove to indicate that the shunt is working fine and no answer seems to be available regarding the faint/blackout type seizure activity and doesn't seem to worry any of the DR's other than GenPrac Dr, who referred her back to Neuro Dr.

2) living it Florida, really cold weather is rare. Last week it was cold and she is working outdoors and found to have horrible headaches last week. She is not sick with a cold nor did she have cold symptoms, just a horrible headache that made it very difficult to manage.

Daughter called to make appt to see the Neuro DR and was intercepted by his asst and was told that she did not need to see DR for annual followup or any other reason unless she has an ongoing problem that had not been previously addressed. She just thought she should see him to answer some of these questions but they don't appear to want to see her.

3) Daughter has a blackberry cell phone and has had to have it replaced 5 times in the last year due to phone problems that affect the ability to hear her or for her to hear others. She is a college student living away from home and the phone gives her a lot of problems. I have the same phone and no problems so just curious if cell phone might be affected by the magnets in the VPShunt device.

asked the cell phone provider and they have no clue.

Any help or input her would be appreciated. My daughter is very grateful that she has not had any major issues and her body has accepted this VP Shunt without any real problems, but would love to hear input regarding the above mentioned issues and other people's experiences.

Thanks,

concerned MOM:confused:

A VP Shunt doesn't have any magnets. If it did, I would have been dead before my first birthday. I have a congenital brain aneurysm, that is clipped. Magnets will pull the clips off, which is why I can't have an MRI.


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