[alpha]

Hi i'm 8 days post op and am suffering real bad spinal headaches.

You see, heres my problem, I'm a athetoid quadra plegic and have no control or very little control over my arms and legs, I drive my wheelchair with my chin. During the day I am alone till early evening, my dilema is that during day I have to sit in my chair and sitting up gives me these really bad spinal headaches.

Is there anything else I can do apart from lying down and drinking loads of water to prevent or take away these terrible painful headaches?

Please help me....

Dean

[Apparelyzed]

Hi Dean,

Have you been checked to see if you have a CSF leak?

You can tell as fluid collects around the pump or your scar site in your back, making the skin ripple slightly when you tap it with a finger.

If you do have a CSF leak, you may need to go back into hospital for a "Blood Patch" to plug the leak.

Other than that, you could try an elasticated abdominal binder to reduce the swelling.

Either way, you need to get it checked out.

As for reducing the pain of the headache, the only combination of meds I found that worked was paracetamol and Ibuprofen. You should be checked by a doctor before you take this combination though.

Regards

Simon.

[Joed]

I've heard of people taking extra caffeine for spinal headaches after a myleogram, per their doctor's suggestion. I can't tell you how it works, but apparently it does help.

With a myleogram, which can also run the risk of a spinal leak, a headache eight days after would warrant a check with the doctor. I hope you get some relief soon.

[tom71]

I get those awful spinal headaches too, I was told by the Medtronic rep to drink a mountain dew, and eat some potato chips, sounds silly, but something about the combination of eating the salty chips and drinking the mountain dew, really helps.
God Bless,
Tom

[josiejose]

I've had this problem myself several times (apparently I make scars everywhere except where I want them - plugging CSF leaks!), and I've almost always found that lying flat has taken care of the problem - well, it takes care of the symptoms while the body clears up the leak on it's own.

Alternatively, the pain clinic here at St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, offers Imitrex, a migraine medication, to patients who have had pumps or pump tests that affected their CSF and caused leaks. It apparently works really well on CSF headaches. I know that this user must have resolved the problem by now but CSF leaks are not a small thing! If you get them persistantly, it's not normal! you need to have the blood patch done or have your doctor figure it out. Most docs find that the body will gradually reabsorb the extra CSF and plug the hole but 8 days is a long time.
Another tip is to gradually increase your time spent upright until you can tolerate it and not have headaches. It gives the body time to equalize the CSF pressure despite a leak - meanwhile drinking loads of water of course!