Re: Natural Medicine & pseudo-tumor

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I am shocked at the misery caused by this problem. My 17-yr-old daughter was diagnosed with this about 2 1/2 yrs ago. The first signs were caught by her ophthamologist during a routine exam. She had swelling around the optic nerve. We were supposed to have an MRI done but since she has an anxiety/phobia problem with medical settings, we procrastinated. Eventually we had an open MRI done which found nothing. When her ophthamologist finally got back to us and told us she needed a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) she was already having bad headaches and missing school. We were referred to a pediatric neurologist who fit us in right away and a few days later she had the procedure. The spinal tap relieved the pressure but it took a week for her to heal to the point where she could stand up without her head hurting. She was also put on a diuretic and is still taking one. She was quite overweight and for part of the time took Topamax which does the same job and also suppresses one’s appetite. We’ve had good results and she lost some weight although she still has some to lose. Part of the problem was that she had taken Prozac since third grade for anxiety disorder and I don’t think this drug’s affect on weight gain is fully recognized. The neurologist had her psychiatrist prescribe something else. I am all for using the simplist and least invasive remedy but I think a spinal tap sounds simpler than shunts for long periods. I am not an expert on this subject but I would urge anyone going through this much misery to get a second opinion from a well-recognized neurologist.