What Is Intracranial Hypertension?
(video below)
Intracranial Hypertension is a rare neurological condition in which spinal fluid pressure increases around the brain and spinal cord, often times for no reason whatsoever. This condition also goes by the name pseudo-tumor cerebri, meaning “false brain tumor”, because the symptoms often mimic that of a brain tumor.
Symptoms Include:
- Headache
- Fullness or pressure in head
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Dizziness
- Balance Issues
- Back Pain
- Jaw Pain
- Neck stiffness & pain
- Whooshing noise in ears (Pulsatile Tinnitus)
- Auditory changes
- Ear fullness
- Vision changes
- Pain when looking to the side
- Papilledema (swelling of the optic nerve)
- Vision loss
What It Feels Like:
- Like thick caulk is filling up your head and body beyond the point of maximum capacity and then pulsating repeatedly.
- Like waking up with the sick achiness of the flu every morning as though it’s Groundhog’s Day
- Like the muscles in your eyes are too bruised and sore to look around or that they will be pushed from their sockets
- Like a full body labor contraction (complete with peaks and breathing through it)
- Like your neck cant support the weight of your head
- Being unable to stand to let gravity relieve the pressure because you’ve been up for nights in a row with no sleep from the pain
- Unable to stand also because your back feels broken
- Being unable to turn your head because the circulation in your neck feels cut off… as well as the circulation in your arms
- Like you might as well have an actual brain tumor because the nausea and vomiting surely must be as bad as the side effects from chemotherapy
- Like your body hates you because it is yelling at you like roaring angry waves inside your head
- Never knowing which headache or episode is going to disrupt your vision again
- Like there’s no escape
What can be done:
Unfortunately, IH is still a mystery to most, and many will say there is still no cure.
Medications most often tried are diuretics to reduce the fluid content in the body. Various forms of pain and nausea medications are available as well.
Some doctors may see the need for their patient to have shunt surgery to divert the excess fluid elsewhere.
Other doctors prefer stenting to help open the veins, allowing the spinal fluid to flow more freely.
Spinal taps may be performed to relieve the pressure.
Oftentimes, simply reducing salt intake and losing excess weight can be the cure. Some natural remedies may also help relieve symptoms.
Every patient must work and pray to find the method that works best for them and ultimately the cure for all.
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
– Psalms 139:13-16
If you believe you may have Intracranial Hypertension, please seek a medical professional for a proper diagnosis and treatment plan.
If you have or feel you may have this condition, regardless of whether or not you have been diagnosed, please reach out to us.
For information on Intracranial Hypotension (low levels of spinal fluid), please click here.