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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Lupus / April 2004Anyone know about high intra-cranial pressure?
I'm going in for an MRI on the 28th to see if there is a brain tumor causing my optic nerve to be crowded and the high eye pressure. My optic nerve specialist mentioned that one thing that can cause the eye probs is high intra-cranial pressure (which can be caused by steroid use, so probably means I have to get off of prednisone). He will look at my MRI and see if there is a tumor, and if no tumor, which he suspects, then we will discuss having a spinal tap to check the intra-cranial pressure. If high, he said I will have to take pills to relieve it. Not sure what all this means and I have a smashing headache tonight so I can't think straight about it, but I feel anxiety about all this. I've tried surfing google for some answers, but I can't find anything. Anyone have some input or some sites that are out there on this? Thanks guys, you're always there even when I'm not all here, listening to me whine, or ask questions, etc. -Sharon Hi Sharon, I hope it's nothing serious & stopping the pred will stop the problem. I'm curious if the doctor ruled out glaucoma? It's caused by intraocular pressure in the eye & prednisone can cause it. I found several entries for intracranial pressure. I'm including the whole page of search results, so you can get as much info as you need/want, k: http://search.bay.webtv.net/Search.aspx?FORM=WEBTV&cfg=MSTVXML&v=1&c=US&q=intra+ cranial+pressure I'm gonna be on your butt come the 28th if you don't let us know, hear? : ) Take care of yourself. Saying prayers for you, hun. Hugs, Maggie > Hi Sharon, > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Hugs, > Maggie Hi Maggie, Thanks for the link. I found what I was doing wrong in the search engine. I was typing "high intracranial pressure" instead of "increased intracranial pressure." Now I finally get info, but it freaked me out, so I just put the computer away for the night. ;) My thinking is a lot clearer today thank goodness. Last night was a doozy for me. Didn't sleep well either, and I think it was the weather change, cold front (in the 70's only today here in Florida, tsk tsk!) lol Will let you all know how the MRI comes back. Hopefully nothing. My eye doc is watching for glaucoma but he says everything except for the pressure and the elevated optic nerve is all fine, so he sent me to this optic nerve specialist who is running tests now trying to figure out what's going on. Curious though that he didn't contact my RD (gave him his name and number) to see if they can reduce my pred... -Sharon There's drops for the increased eye pressure. The man down the street gets headaches unless he uses his drops. Some causes of elevated intracranial pressure (some of these are relatively easy to "process of elimination") and/or there could be more than one contributing cause. HTH J http://www.fpnotebook.com/NEU150.htm Venous drainage obstruction Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (Sagittal, Lateral) Aseptic (Hypercoagulable state) Septic Otitis Media Mastoiditis Bilateral radical neck dissection (jugular vein cut) Superior Vena Cava Syndrome Increased Right Heart Pressure (Cor Pulmonale) Endocrine disorders Addison's Disease Cushing's Disease Obesity Hypothyroidism Hypoparathyroidism Orthostatic Edema Other Conditions Pregnancy Iron Deficiency Anemia Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome - have you been checked for that - your father has "sticky blood"? Steroid withdrawal Acromegaly Sleep Apnea Turner's Syndrome Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Medications related to increased Intracranial pressure Amiodarone Chlordecone (Kepone) Systemic Corticosteroids (withdrawal) - so I wonder if any recent decrease in Pred was done too fast? Cyclosporine Growth Hormone Leuprolide (Lupron) Levothyroxine (children) Lithium Carbonate Nalidixic Acid Norplant Antibiotics Sulfonamides (e.g. Septra) Tetracycline related compounds Doxycycline Minocycline Accutane Mineralcorticoids Vitamin A Vitamin A Supplementation Retinoic Acid Oral Contraceptives http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/pred_ad.htm Neurological: Increased intracranial pressure with papilledema (pseudo-tumor cerebri) usually after treatment, convulsions, vertigo, and headache. Ophthalmic: Posterior subcapsular cataracts, increased intraocular pressure, glaucoma, and exophthalmos. > There's drops for the increased eye pressure. The man down the street gets > headaches unless he uses his drops. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > HTH > J <snip> Thanks for the research J! You always put in the good effort for us! The optic nerve specialist said it could be pseudopapillodema (that's just the way my nerve looks, nothing to worry about), or there could be increased intracranial pressure causing the crowded nerve and elevated eye pressure. This high intracranial pressure can be caused by, according to him and if I remember correctly, obesity, steroid use, or brain tumor. We're ruling out tumor, then the spinal tap I think is next, but my dad was not happy about that. I think before making any decisions on the spinal tap, I will talk to my original eye doc, the one who caught all this and referred me over to the specialist. I've known him for years and he was the one who referred me to my awesome RD, so I trust that he would have some good insight on this for me (pun not intended. lol) -Sharon Sharon, I had a friend at work that was dx with drug induced lupus. She was having very bad headaches and was dx with the intra- crainial pressure. I think that she took meds for it. I do not work there any longer, so I can't ask. But I remember when she told me her dx that I could not remember any of you here mentioning it before. I guess that is why it stands out in my mind. Most things don't anymore.... Hugs Cindy > Sharon, > I had a friend at work that was dx with drug induced lupus. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > guess that is why it stands out in my mind. Most things don't anymore.... > Hugs Cindy I'm surprised Shelagh hasn't chimed in. She mentioned it twice http://tinyurl.com/ywp5a I'm just not sure what she was saying, whether it stopped when her sinus problems improved or ??? Hugs J "J" wrote in message | I'm surprised Shelagh hasn't chimed in. | She mentioned it twice http://tinyurl.com/ywp5a | I'm just not sure what she was saying, whether it stopped when her sinus | problems improved or ??? The links you gave tells my story J. It was a severe sinusitis that was the cause of the increased intracranial pressure and once treated I was okay; and it hasn't happened since. I also have a pituitary microprolactinoma.... a small tumor in my brain that is being watched with annual CTs. It does cause headaches and puts pressure on the ocular nerve at different times but I haven't made a decision to have it removed yet as a side effect of the surgery (done by going through the sinuses to the pit. gland in the back of the brain) is severe sinusitis..... a real catch 22... so no thanx for now... .........hth from Shelagh Shelagh, I have a tumor (Schwannoma) in the Right Cavernous Sinus. Now I did have a biopsy on it, which was Brain surgery, but they did not try to remove it.It was benign and they found out it was a schwannoma and They did GAMMA KNIFE. Very Sci-fi type thing where they shoot it with tiny beams of radiation. approximately 201.No side affects, no losing my hair or any of that. It is suppose to keep it from growing any more. I am bad and have not had it checked in the last 4 yrs, but had I not found it by accident, then it would have eventually led to my face falling and loosing more of my eyesight or make me see double... Gamma Knife is something you might ask your doctor about. http://www.irsa.org/gamma_knife.html Cindy Thanks Cindy, I am seeing the opthamologist on Tuesday cause my vision is being affected again... the optic nerve is being pressured they figure... so I am going to be checked first for chloroquin related probs with retinas, pit. adenoma re CT, even potentially iritis and cataracts..... I am very worried cause the glare problem is affecting my reading and general vision... eg: a recent car accident and my fault, and because of a 'blind spot' in my left quadrant in my left eye.... I see 'white globes' when I get up from sitting or lying down even at night when I have been sleeping, they cross my vision from both sides and in both eyes, (reminds me of a 'bubble' on a carpenter's level the way they move when I move- I know *weird*!) which makes me think it is more likely the 'tumor' than anything else... I almost lost all my vision last time it reared it's ugly head.... really scared me and I really don't want for that to happen again, even temporarily. So we will see what happens on Tuesday with the specialist's opinion and then onto testing I guess.... thanks for your input, I read up on the gamma knife and it looks to be the most popular methods since 1997.... that sounds like a good thing.... if need be I won't mind so much having that procedure done! hugs from Shelagh "Cindy" wrote in message | Shelagh, | I have a tumor (Schwannoma) in the Right Cavernous Sinus. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] | http://www.irsa.org/gamma_knife.html | Cindy > Thanks Cindy, > I am seeing the opthamologist on Tuesday cause my vision is being > affected again... the optic nerve is being pressured they > figure... so I am going to be checked first for chloroquin > related probs with retinas, pit. adenoma re CT, even potentially > iritis and cataracts..... <snip> ((((Shelagh)))) How scary indeed! I'll be sending prayers for a full recovery from whatever is flaring up. Good luck to you! -Sharon > Sharon, > I had a friend at work that was dx with drug induced lupus. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > guess that is why it stands out in my mind. Most things don't anymore.... > Hugs Cindy Thanks Cindy, hopefully nothing to worry about too much. It just never ends does it! -Sharon > I'm going in for an MRI on the 28th to see if there is a brain tumor > causing my optic nerve to be crowded and the high eye pressure. My [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > intra-cranial pressure. If high, he said I will have to take pills to > relieve it. The brain has no sense of pain - which is why brain surgery can be carried out in a state of full consciousness to check for personality changes. The headaches will be the glaucoma (eye-pressure). Unless you have the ORIGINAL Addison's disease (see his book at http://wehner.org/addison ), rather than some invented version, getting OFF prednisone is a VERY good idea. BUT WAIT! Before you throw those pills away - bear in mind that you may have lost the ability to make your own steroids. If you have been on the pred for years, it might take two years of slow TAPERING OFF. Technically, the hypothalamus in the brain has to RELEARN how to make corticotropin-releasing hormone CRH. When this "TERNARY" stage is achieved, CHR rebuilds the DNA for basophile cells in the adenohypophysis. Only after this "SECONDARY" achievement can the pituitary send out ACTH to the adrenal glands, where - as stated by Mac E Hadley, in his book "Endocrinology" (Prentice-Hall) - it rebuilds the DNA in the fasciculata cells of the adrenals. Finally, two years later, the "PRIMARY" insufficiency is over, and those adrenals are back to normal. Steroids do not only cause all these "weaning" problems. They also raise the blood and eye pressure. TAPERING OFF - not just stopping, which could kill - is a VERY good idea if you have eye-pressure problems. You did not say WHY steroids were prescribed. If it was arthritis or rheumatism or whatever, you will need an alternative non-steroid treatment for the original condition. Make sure your doctor is a good one. Good luck. Charles Douglas Wehner "Charles Douglas Wehner" wrote in message | The brain has no sense of pain - which is why brain surgery can be | carried out in a state of full consciousness to check for personality | changes. The headaches will be the glaucoma (eye-pressure). | Charles Douglas Wehner Actually my doctors told me that the upward growth of the tumor on the pit. gland, causes pressure against the covering of the brain (and stretches the dura), and is likely what causes the headaches, in my case. Although if it is a glaucoma dx I would imagine the ocular pressure in that case would cause the pain. FWIW...... Shelagh > "Charles Douglas Wehner" wrote in message > | The brain has no sense of pain - which is why brain surgery can [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > pressure in that case would cause the pain. > FWIW...... Shelagh NOT being a brain surgeon myself, I can only report the experiences of others. I have met people who had brain surgery in full consciousness, and read books which state that this is done. Equally, the condition of ACROMEGALY (which has NOTHING to do with your condition, as far as I can tell) is a tumour of the pituitary. The tumour CANNOT press against the covering of the brain - the pituitary is in the MIDDLE. Instead, it presses against the diaphragm of the Sella, which separates the pituitary from the optic nerves. This pressure seems to be an exception - perhaps it is nerves in the diaphragm, not in the brain, that cause the pain. That is in "Clinical Endocrinology", 3rd Edition, Hoeber books (Harper & Row). Years ago, I deciphered the Biblical story of Sampson. He has acromegaly, and the pain forced him to bundle his hair into seven plaits which he wrapped together like a hat - to keep his head warm, and ease the pain. Delilah cut them off, and the cold air gave him such headaches that he was helpless. In captivity, his tumour grew until it broke through the Sella and cut the optic nerve. I exonerate the Phillistines of blinding him - it was the illness. If you have developed big hands and big feet, with enlargement of the jaw and separation of the teeth, then your trouble could be acromegaly. IT WON'T. The condition is rare - so don't be afraid. MUCH, MUCH more likely is an increase in pressure in the eyeball (Glaucoma). Have the pressure tested, and if it is high, reduce (under medical supervision) the steroids in order to bring the pressure down. Because you are on steroids, this seems to be the simple answer. And YES - the pressure in the eye DOES cause severe eyeache and headache in glaucoma. So reducing the pressure gets rid of the pain. Charles Douglas Wehner |
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