Pressure in head/intracranial pressure
 

Hey guys, just wanted to share a strong suspicion I have about what's going on in our heads. Now this from about a month of research on the Internet. Many of you on this forum complain of a pressure feeling in your head. I believe that it is not muscle/tension headaches that some of your neurologists label it as, however I could easily be wrong and it could be muscular for some of you.

In my experience with this feeling, I strongly believe this has something to do with intracranial pressure being built up in your head. Whether it's caused by inflammation/swelling of the brain or a build up of cerebral spinal fluid, I think there is an increase in intracranial pressure which is causing this pressure feeling. Yes your brain cannot sense pain or pressure because it has no sensory receptors along it, however there are plenty of sensors along the upper neck and the sinuses and so on, so the pressure feeling could actually be a build up of pressure.

Now this buildup may not warrant a lumbar puncture but in some cases some people on here did need that. It may go away for some as some have said their pressure feeling left but others it hasn't left. I would challenge your neurologist as I will mine about if it could be intracranial pressure built up or intracranial hypertension to see what he has to say.

I believe it is this for a multitude of reasons. There seems to be a strong correlation between intracranial pressure and head injury if you look on the Internet. Also like myself, many say it increases with exertion/exercise which would in fact increase intracranial pressure. The pressure feeling also seems to increase as other symptoms worsen which intracranial pressure would cause these symptoms. Laying down and sleeping also increases intracranial pressure from body position and the breathing while sleeping. These circumstances would increase intracranial pressure

Many of the symptoms you all/ I describe are completely shared with intracranial pressure. Such as tinnitus, severe headache, my eyes get red as if my eyes are swelling with pressure, the head swelling feeling, neck pain, feeling/hearing swooshing in your head and a bunch of vision problems. There are more as well. You can do some research on the Internet to affirm this.

Other reasons I suspect some of these symptoms are attributed to intracranial hypertension (term for increased intracranial pressure) is that when I took a vitamin with vitamin a the pressure feeling and all my other symptoms shot up. Vitamin a severely increases intracranial pressure. Exercise severely worsened the pressure feeling and other symptoms which exercise would increase intracranial pressure.

With my thinking that it's intracranial pressure affecting my head I decided to eat a very anti inflammatory diet and take anti inflammatory substances such as magnesium and fish oil. When I take this stuff it seems to greatly reduce the pressure feeling as one would assume an antiflammatory would reduce pressure in your brain because stopping your brain from swelling would lessen the pressure in your head. When I get the pressure feeling badly I take bromelain and drink green tea which incredibly seems to GREATLY reduce the feeling. Bromelain and green tea are very very anti inflammatory.

Now there is a difference between intracranial pressure being raised and idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). IIH is a chronic condition where the pressure is raised and it could permanently ruin your vision from swelling of the optic nerve. I don't know if you guys need to go get lumbar punctures to go reduce your intracranial pressure and cerebral spinal fluid which most of you just probably don't although 2 people in this forum actually did need that. As I said before, ask your neurologists about that and see what they have to say.

The only way to measure intracranial pressure is through a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) or a catheter which are both invasive so I doubt your doctor would order this but I would ask the neurologist to see their opinion. I will at my next appointment although idk how seriously they would take my suspicion.

In all likelihood you will not have IIH, but I strongly be live that your intracranial pressure is raised. That being said this whole post might be useless as you could know that it is raised as it seems sort of to be knowledge that concussions/TBI raise intracranial pressure.

So what is the point of this post? As I said, ask you neurologist about this, especially if your pressure feeling is constant and it turns into a terrible migraine as it could be IIH. Also, from my 3 months of research on concussions and the brain, inflammation/increased intracranial pressure is all around BAD FOR THE BRAIN especially a recovering brain.

So my advice is to avoid vitamin A supplements and great concentrations of it and to stick to a healthy anti inflammatory diet with anti inflammatory supplements. Bromelain works for me idk if it will for you and careful with the green tea because of caffeine, I drink decaf even though it has less of the "good stuff" through the decaffeinating process. It may not work for you but it seems to work for me!

I hope this post may help you all and I'm curious about your comments on my suspicion. I have a bad headache and no sleep so my apologies for the odd organization/sentences/grammar/errors. Thanks for reading!

A simple test for intracranial pressure due to inflammation would be a round of steroids to reduce the inflammation. If it causes relief, the treatment is the diagnosis. Steroids are commonly used to reduce neural inflammation.

Blood pressure can also cause the pressure feeling. Checking BP when this pressure feeling is strong would be a good idea.

I believe everybody should have a home BP kit. Don't use the wrist BP systems. The upper arm systems are more accurate. Getting a baseline BP would be a start. Then, when pressure is felt or head ache manifests, the BP can be compared to the baseline. Adrenal malfunction can cause BP issues.

Thanks for the response mark.

I have had high blood pressure issues ever since going to the ER 4 months ago. I have had adrenal tests in the past and they came back normal. I was on diuretics which lowered for about week however the diuretic seemed to worsen my concussion symptoms. I have been testing at home with an arm BP testing kit for about 2 months as I suspected I had high blood pressure and was correct. My bp has been less severe then it was before the diuretic, but after coming off it, it is now in the 140-150 systolic range and usually around 80 for diastolic. I am reporting the results to my physician and he will soon make a decision about putting my back on another BP med.

I know that the systolic number can correlate with raised intracranial pressure when high, another reason I have the suspicion. Also I know what a high blood pressure headache feels like as I had high bp for a short amount of time 2 years ago. This pressure feels a lot different that I am experiencing with the concussion. It's also not just localized to the back of my head like a high bp headache.

What is the neural inflammation test? Also raised intracranial pressure could be from increased CSF, would that neural inflammation test indicate that? I know that CSF being raised doesn't necessarily have to do with brain inflammation and raised CSF can still be attributed I head injury in some cases even regardless of neural inflammation. I read 3% could develop Idiopathic intracranial hypertension after a head injury and being as it is idiopathic it does not mean that is caused by any other condition including brain inflammation, but there was still a relationship with head injuries and development of IIH.

I have the same issue with pressure i my head, basically from your post give it to me in a nut shell...what should I ask my neurologist?, as I have an appointment Dec. 20th.


ED

concussedGuy,
There is a woman who posted maybe a 1 1/2 yrs ago. She had to have a lunar puncture. She also wrote about it because it took awhile to happen. I don't know it there is an easy way to search past posts, but she did write a lengthy post about her experience.

Best to you,

thanks for your post…If it is not IIH, acupuncture might work for you. My daughter used to have bad head pressure all the time, could not read, and had bad headaches. The integrative clinic at Stanford Hospital introduced us to acupuncture. It almost immediately reduced the pressure. This would last a few days until her next appointment. It was a positive experience.

Since then we have found someone locally because the multiple drives to Stanford/week were not good for her.

Is there a book you follow for an anti inflammatory diet? She was just tested (blood taken) for inflammation in her body and it came up negative. I think the doctor was looking for some type of arthritis.

I was the one who had to have the lumbar puncture a couple of years ago. Jan '11 to be exact.

The pressure felt severe - the course of strong steroids that were prescribed didn't help me (that I remember) which is why the lumbar puncture was ordered.

There is a huge difference between inflammation and an increase of intracranial pressure. They are two different and separate medical conditions.

I was in such severe pain that I had trouble moving, walking and talking. Sitting upright was not an option. Our windows had to be covered with black out curtains to allow 0 light in - even the tiniest amount of light was excruciating to me. I could not even tolerate whispers.

I can not convey how excruciating the pain was all the time and the pain increased in intensity slowly over the six months I had it until the lumbar puncture was given - then ALL the pain went completely away within about 5 minutes of the lumbar puncture - it was a complete medical miracle to me and I believe it saved my life.

I believe there is some merit to your assumption concussedGuy - but trust me when I say that you do not need a lumbar puncture unless your neurologist thinks you do. If your body and brain can adjust the pressure inside your skull naturally which may take some time, then you need to allow it the time to do that. It is certainly worth bringing up with your neuro, but it might not be worth fighting for because other things might help you.

Pressure inside the head is also how some people describe some different kinds of headaches. Your neuro may want to try some different headache treatments before opting for an LP.

I had to undergo many, many different kinds of treatments before an LP was even considered. Increase of ICP is considered rare after a concussion. I think that's why it took 6 months to finally have one suggested as an option. It definitely worked for me, but remember, every head injury is different and unique.

Esthers Doll, thanks for coming back and replying on this. I completely agree with you. I don't believe most people have a chronic increase in intracranial pressure as you did or close to the severity you had. I'm sorry you had to deal with it. Although it may be possible for some, so as you said it is worth to bring it up to a neuro. I think basically everyone here wouldn't need a lumbar puncture but maybe a select few. I'm not telling people to go seek lumbar punctures from their doctor (READ BOTH LINKS I HAVE AT BOTTOM TO SEE IF YOU MATCH SYMPTOMS)

ED, I would ask if it was a possibility that you have increased intracranial pressure in your head causing this. No harm in asking. See what he says and describe your symptoms because a lot of them are similar to as if your intracranial pressure was high.

Going back to my theory, I believe that intracranial pressure is increased or can spike a little at situations likely to set them off for those of you complaining of pressure in your head and how it increases when exercising or sleeping. I know a concussion can cause the brain to swell or be inflamed and that would cause intracranial pressure to rise. You can look it up on the Internet.

The condition I believe Esthers Doll had is Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, I could be wrong and this condition can be benign or chronic. Idiopathic also means that it is not caused by another condition meaning that swelling of the brain is not causing an increase in intracranial pressure. There's just a build up of CSF. In your case it sounds like it was benign because it was relieved from the lumbar puncture and didn't come back it sounds like. I have no idea, sorry if I'm making wrong assumptions about your condition, I truly apologize if I did. It's rare for you to have Esthers dolls condition but possible.

Now I don't think any of our brains are severely swollen or anything I think they may be slightly inflamed, or something be it idiopathic or not is causing minor increases in intracranial pressure.

At least for people that fit these symptoms: it feels like their brain is swelling or a pressure feeling that isn't localized in on area of your head, you have tinnitus, you can hear swooshing in your ears, and here is the main reason I believed that I have some spikes of intracranial pressure in my head: my vision problems. I had random episodes of where one of my eyes would move in a different direction for about 2 to 3 seconds. I wake up with my eyes feeling swollen and looking swollen and red (like a temporary papilledema). I also have sleep apnea like problems which increase intracranial pressure and that correlated with vision problems and other intracranial pressure like symptoms.

These symptoms strongly correlate to an increase in intracranial pressure. If you have these symptoms, think about it.

So this is my conclusion, I do not believe most of you have severely built up intracranial pressure that warrants being called a condition or would require a lumbar puncture (although possible so ask neuro as well as about inflammation of the brain, just bring it up), I do however believe there is some relationship no matter how mild or minor between rises of intracranial pressure built up and concussions/TBI for some of us sufferers. This is just my opinion because so many symptoms seem to overlap and they seem to be related from my research. I'm no MD but there seems to be a correlation between the two. Just do some research on it.

As I said most will not need a lumbar puncture and the pressure will go away on it's own, but I think stuff like anti inflammatories and not pushing too hard physically will speed this process up if it will go away on it's own. All I know is anti inflammatory = good for the brain, so it won't hurt. I guess saying "challenge" was too strong of a word but definitely bring it up to your neurologist. HOWEVER, If you have Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension symptoms and/or have a case like estherdoll definitely CHALLENGE your doctor! Here are some links to the IIH. Base IIH off of these links. READ AT LEAST SYMPTOMS FROM FIRST LINK, AND READ ALL OF SECOND LINK (mayoclinic symptoms on second page of first link)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pse...erebri/DS00851 (2nd page is symptoms, I suggest reading most of it)


http://www.ihrfoundation.org/intracr...sion/info/C20/ (read the myths)


http://www.health.com/health/m/galle...881_12,00.html (anti inflammatory food link)

Hopefullmom, I don't follow a book, I'm sure there is a good one out there which wouldn't be a bad idea, but I just research off the Internet. Mainly I eat a lot of fish (quality salmon), drink green tea (watch caffeine) but I may switch to white tea, eat lots of spinach, eat a lot of spinach, dark green leafy vegetables are anti inflammatory, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean beef.

Anti inflammatory supplements I take are fish oil and bromelain. Magnesium may be good too. I'm also on a vitamin regimen and a drink a bunch of water. Be careful with supplements everyone reacts different to them but I think the bromelain helps me. Read up on these, before taking and look up drug interactions. I hope this helps you daughter!

For the record, I did not have idiopathic increased intracranial pressure. This happened to me after I was in a MVA. I did not suffer from headaches before the accident. After the accident, I had a constant headache that continued to get worse and worse over six months time. I became incapacitated from the headaches around weeks 6-8. The headaches completely went away after the LP. That was almost three years ago. Increase of ICP can be caused by a concussion, as mine was, but it is rare.

PLEASE DO NOT DIAGNOSE ME UNLESS YOU ARE ONE OF MY PHYSICIANS - thanks in advance.

You apologized for possibly making a wrong assumption in here twice but then at the end of this little paragraph affirmed it again and you went even further to call it "my" condition - when it is not.

I think I've been very clear in past posts and current ones that this happened to me due to a concussion I sustained in an MVA. I apologize if I wasn't clear about that.

I do not like to "own" a challenging medical condition. It's not "my" concussion, etc.. It is a concussion that I sustained.

First of all, I apologize for offending you. Looking back at what I said, I see clearly how it comes off as offensive, especially in the assumptions I made. For what it's worth, I'll explain my thought process, but clearly it was flawed and mislead. What I meant by condition was something you had to deal with medically and temporarily at the time. I'm sorry for saying you had a condition.

I was going off my understanding that intracranial pressure being raised is called intracranial hypertension (hypertension meaning high pressure) in any case and idiopathic if they find nothing like a tumor or infection causing the increase of CSF. The Internet uses it as a very loose name describing both a chronic condition or something benign that would be relieved and never come back after a lumbar puncture, but clearly my understanding is wrong. It was wrong to say you had it because your right I have no business in giving you a diagnosis. That was my thought process. I made too many careless assumptions and was careless in wording

I think another mistake I made was using Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension interchangeably with increased intracranial pressure, which is what you had, because the Internet uses it so loosely too. All that being said, it's not an excuse, I was wrong for labeling you. I had no right to do so. I am genuinely sorry and hope you forgive me.

Idiopathic does not mean it does not come from any other condition. Idiopathic means they do not know what causes the condition. The simple concept is they are Idiots regarding the Pathology of the condition.

Has you doc tried a beta-blocker like propranolol or atenolol ? It could help with your BP and anxiety levels.

Lol mark, that's a good explanation.

But yeah idiopathic intracranial hypertension was the wrong term, just intracranial hypertension is raised intracranial pressure whereas idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a type of intracranial hypertension. It wouldn't make sense to say idiopathic if it was caused by a head injury, so again I was wrong.

Im not going to do anymore labeling. However I still believe there is something going on with pressure in my head because of my symptoms


Mark, I've read that some say to avoid going on beta blockers as lowering the pulse could be dangerous. I'm weary of any medicines to be honest, had some nasty side effects to an anti seizure med and the diuretic made me feel out of it.

Hi concussedGuy,

Of course I forgive you.

But I felt I had to be very clear about what happened to me and to warn you about labeling what specific people are going through.

It's perfectly fine to speculate about your own condition, or what may be the cause of some anonymous person's symptoms or make a suggestion or speculate about the general cause of PCS, but I really didn't like it when you made an attempt to speculate about what has been going on with ME. Especially since I have exceptional physicians who have been working with me for over three years to get me back to a place of normalcy.

Thank you for your apology. I trust you will be more cautious in the future.

And I do agree that an increase of intracranial pressure, even a temporary one, could cause a lot of PCS symptoms and not be properly caught or diagnosed in many peoples' cases. But I am a layman.

There is a lot of information about a lot of medical terminology and different conditions and you may find that "the internet" uses terms interchangeably, but actual Physicians and researchers do not. They are actually quite specific. Every term has a very specific meaning - Medicine is considered a science and many Dr.'s have a scientist's brain or thinking pattern. Most of the Dr.'s I have met in the last three years (over 30 of them) do not like to speculate and they also do not like to use or try experimental treatments on their patients. They are very interested in facts and evidence and not very interested in speculation. (In my opinion, the best doctors are the ones who trust their patient's experiences and opinions about their own symptoms.)

I've done quite a bit of research about this stuff and I'm glad you are making a very serious effort to learn about it too. I've seen all those links that you posted a couple of years ago - there is a lot more out there for you to find too. It's truly fascinating stuff.

pressure
 

Just curious...Is the pressure you are referring to feel like someone is pressing on your temples? It almost feels like a vice on both temples, right above my ears. It usually turns into a migraine when the pressure starts. I have told my doctors about the pressure but they seem to just dismiss it as part of the TBI...a typical symptom. Thank you for steering me in the right direction.
Ann

It feels almost as if my brain is too big for my head and it is pressing against either all of the front of my skull or all of the back of my skull. It's not really localized to one spot like the temples just more of a big area and it turns into a migraine for me too. I would look up intracranial hypertension and see if you fit any of the other symptoms as I seem too. Your doctor could be right as if it is just a migraine caused by tbi or it could not be. I believe my case has something to do with actual pressure being built up in my head.

Either way my advice is to eat healthy anti inflammatory things/supplements and not to push yourself too hard as long as following marks advice. You can ask your doctor about the intracranial pressure too, I just don't know how much they will be able to do for anyone unless it's severe enough to need a lumbar puncture which I doubt. Thanks for your reply!

I wonder if you are just suffering from Post Trauma Head aches. I have them that have a pressure feeling. More likely the front of my head feels the pressure. If I get head aches at the back, they are usually just one side. I have had chronic head aches after a head impact that lasted 6 months with highs and lows in intensity.

The OCD/anxiety common to PCS can make head aches feel different.

Mark, I suffered from anxiety and OCD for about a month but for the last two weeks, I really haven't felt anxious or compulsions any more. I'm starting to look at things more objectively. It's not really a headache but a pressure feeling that sometimes flares up into a migraine every once in a while. It's not painful most of the time, rather uncomfortable.

The pressure feeling also hasn't been as bad as I have been off the vitamin A supplement and eaten anti inflammatory food and taken anti inflammatory supplements. I don't think I have intracranial hypertension but the intracranial pressure seems to spike every once in a while because when this pressure feeling worsens, visual symptoms and tinnitus kicks in. I also hear swooshing in my ears as if there is fluid. I can tell you that these symptoms are in no way associated with anxiety or from looking up things on the internet and believing I have this. I am way too smart and reasonable to do that and would recognize if I was doing that.

I'm going to try to get to a doctor who can asses my neck because I have neck pain and I've seen that things in here that said when people visited the buffalo clinic that is renowned for its post concussion syndrome treatment that it turns out 90% of the patients also have a neck injury that creates pcs like symptoms. I am hopeful that my symptoms will eventually resolve.

I used to get the most dreadful head pressure when I tried to exercise, it was like a crushing sensation. Just one length of the swimming pool would do this. My neurospychologist said it was muscular but now I am not so sure.

A combination of Cymbalta 30mg and Imigran for postconcussion headaches really helped, but I had near constant sinus and ear pain with fatigue and light sensitivity to contend with. I needed 5 months off work and a lot of rest. The crushing sensation went after 4 months.

A year on I have gradually built up my exercise tolerance and have been back to the gym, I now work full time. However recently the ear pain came back with the headache in my temple area.

Just over a year since my injury a doctor has suggested Occipital Neuralgia and prescribed Lyrica. I am still taking Cymbalta, as the last time I stopped that I had tingling in my teeth gums 24/7.

So PCS has left me with intermitent Neuropathic pain, a changed sleep pattern and being fatigued more easily. However they say that it takes 2 years to recover from a brain injury, so perhaps I will be better in a years time.

Thanks for the response, mouse1.

My old neurologist who was a real ***hole didn't listen to any of my symptoms called it a headache and prescribed me an anti seizure drug that gave me terrible side effects and never even responded to when I called the office to tell him about the side effects. I told him pain wasn't the main issue just the awful uncomfortable feeling if pressure but he said the anti seizure drug would help with the pain, BUT AGAIN PAIN WASNT THE ISSUE.

It makes no sense to me how it could be muscular tension. First of all for me at least, I wouldn't really even classify it as a headache! It's more of a really uncomfortable feeling that at its worst turns into a migraine occasionally. The feeling doesn't radiate from any muscles on my head/face/neck. It feels as if pressure is being pushed not my skull from the inside out, like my brain is too big for my skull. Crushing, as you said, was the right adjective.

All my other symptoms worsen as you said, when this feeling gets worse, like tinnitus, but also visual problems, and brain fog and plenty more. Muscular just doesn't make sense and it feels like actual pressure, which is why I believe it is intracranial pressure, plus a multitude of other reasons. Now I don't know how believing that intracranial pressure is the cause will help my pcs, because there seems not to be any knowledge in the medical field about this crushing feeling, nor do I think a neurologist would take me seriously.

I think you're right that time will improve it and am sorry to hear you relapsed. Just don't push yourself too hard is my advice and eat healthy.

Also I was wondering if you or anyone else has a sensitivity issue as well. Those are two of my biggest issues, the pressure feeling/head sensitivity. The littlest bumps to my head seem like mini concussions, as they disorient me and worsen my symptoms for a couple of days. Maybe this is related to the pressure issue? I don't know but I'm curious if there's a correlation.

ConcussedGuy,

At my very worst point I experienced hypersensitivity.

This entailed post concussive headaches, extreme light sensitivity, and the ability to hear conversations clearly in the downstairs of the house (like they were in the same room), painful tinitus and hypercusis, as well as chronic fatigue and sensory overload. I would also get the crushing sensation if I over exerted myself.

I believe this was down to either swelling, changes in cerebral blood flow, dilated blood vessels, neuralgia - or all of these.

Whatever the crushing was it has left me with Neuralgia and numbness in my teeth and gums, and a degree of light sensitivity. Thankfully Cymbalta has helped my Neuropathic pain and hopefully Lyrica will help it further. For PCS headache Imigran (Sumatripan) really helped.

Some anticonvulsants can indeed help neuralgia - Lyrica is one of these.

The fact is the medical world do not understand Concussion or PCS fully. I hope you recover!

concussedGuy, I know we've talked a bit briefly and I know we have similar symptoms and stuff.

I just visited a doc yesterday who had a degree in psychology and psychiatry I believe, and I told him a bit about my story.

Recently, I've had a pretty high level anxiety about anything that may cause concussion symptoms, and I told him that.

Obviously, small bumps in the car, hard steps, jogging, jumping, showering, and any other head jolting isn't causing brain damage. Our brains are just responding to them like concussions. So basically, we need to rewire the brains to not react to nonconcussive hits. One thing he recommended for my anxiety and to get rid of my sensitivity was "exposure" in a safe manner.

When our bodies aren't used to things they become sensitive. I started wearing sunglasses, and I still wear them quite a bit and I'm slowly weening off them, but right away when I tried to ween off it brought back lots of symptoms. It'd be the same thing as working out for the first time in a while. He said for the sensitivity use an eye dropper and drop water on my head, for me, and slowly build up. He said maybe try tapping really softly your head, seeing what that can do.

Now, I haven't tried these things quite yet, but my head is very dry and itchy because it's cold here and I have noticed that touching my head has reduced my head sensitivity quite a bit.

I have noticed my sensitivity to walking is down a bit too. He recommended walking, then brisk walking, and going from there. Same with exercise. Start small, and gradually build up.

He also recommended a form of deep breathing, pretty much meditation. You can sit. Sometimes I lay down, but breathe in through your nose, and make sure air is going through your stomach and not chest and breath out through your mouth making a 'fffff' sound. Focus on the air going in and out of your nose and mouth or your stomach contracting. It relieves pressure in the head and is a nice relaxing thing. He recommended 5 minutes in the morning after school and 15 minutes at night.

As far as headaches/pressure. Mine is in the front too. Laying down and breathing work the best for me. I haven't quite read this whole thread, but I will later.

I also stopped eating gluten because it causes inflammation in the brain and dairy. I stopped dairy a long time ago because I got acne from it, but some studies show it causes brain fog and some peoples brains are allergic to it.

One last thing, vestibular therapy has helped a lot and I can explain my exercises if you want.

I've been taking the same route you have in terms of recovery with the diet and rewiring my brain. I also do some balancing exercises on my own. It certainly seems to be helping. Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it

I'm still relatively new to this but have issues with pressure (the pressure that doesn't always come with pain, specifically).

J Buckl, if you're still around - can you explain more about your exercises and how vestibular therapy has helped (if indeed it still helps)?

Had terrible pressure in my head for months after a car accident, also severe headaches, felt as though my head was exploding and sometimes not even lying down in a dark quiet room helped.

I did go through vestibular therapy but not really sure if that helped with the pressure.

Accident was over a year ago and still get pressure but not as frequently, still have brain fog, a lot of confusion and suffered 2 big seizures last year.

I am so careful with my diet and take the vitamins listed on this site and I do notice a difference.

I don't have any crushing sensation anymore but the outcome of this is Neuralgia a year and a half on. I get toothache, cheek ache, headache in the temple area and predominantly earache on my left side. This pain can switch to these areas of my face on the right side for shorter periods.

Thankfully for me it is well controlled now by a morning SNRI Cymbalta, Lyrica three times a day and a tryciclic antidepressant called Gamanil. I can get on with my life with these medications at low doses.

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie. I have probable Pseudotumor Cerebri. I'm going for my spinal tap in the morning. My MRI of the brain showed no tumors, thank goodness. Do u have to fast before a spinal tap? Just wondering.

sherry,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. A spinal tap does not require general anesthesia so fasting would not be required. I don't think you would want to have a heavy breakfast, though.

Please feel free to tell us more about your condition and symptoms. There are lots of good people here.

My best to you.

They thought that is what I had as well but turns out that I just seems to have an empty sella for some other reason... I hope that the spinal tap works for you!

Thanks Mark
I thought I was getting r spinal tap tomorrow. The hospital called and said I have to have a consultation with the radiologist, So it's been delayed. My symptoms are dizzy migraines, shooting pains in my eyes and head. Both my optic nerves are swollen since October. I'm pretty sure I have it. So are the Drs.
Sherry in MI

An increase in intracranial pressure can cause an empty sella.

And an empty sella can be a sign of hormone deficiencies and/or pituitary dysfunction.

Sometimes a head injury can cause a temporary increase in intracranial pressure which can cause an empty sella which disrupts the functioning of the endocrine system (pituitary gland) and then after 2-3 years the pituitary gland inflates back up which makes the sella no longer empty but the dysfunction remains.

Hello Sara,
An empty SellA sounds awful too. I will find out tomorrow what's wrong with me. My spinal tap is in the morning. Thank you for the info. I just want to feel better and quite losing my eyesight.

I love you... I have not been able to understand this empty sella thing until now... you are amazing! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Can this be the cause of all my headaches, nausea and dizziness that has returned since the fateful yoga class?

Sounds like pseudo tumor to me... If that is what this is for you then the spinal tap should do wonders!

The other thing that they told me was if it was pseudo tumor was to lose weight... and sometimes even 10 lbs can make a difference... (I need to lose more like 100, but I digress)

Hello Sara,
How are u feeling? Yesterday I had my spinal tap, they told me that my pressure was not high. I'm totally confused, I bet I have an Empty Sella as well. I will find out on 7/28 when I see my nerouolgist. Last yr I fell and hit my head very hard on the cement. Sounds like u have had a rough time. Hugs