Hi there I am 43 years old now. I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus first when I was 11 then when I was 17. When I was 11 specialists put me on fluid reducing steroids for 6 months and told me to have a nice life. The headaches started getting really bad when I was 15 but when I would ask my family physician he would tell me to relax and not stress. The headaches were so bad I would often have nausea and vomiting to relieve some of the pressure. I finally managed to get my doctor to refer me to a specialist and then it was a race to get my first shunt inserted before I would suffer irreversible brain damage from over swollen ventricles. The doctor promised me that having a shunt would cure my intolerable headaches but he was wrong.