IHope for a Cure

I have suffered from headaches since I was 7 years old. They diagnosed me with migraines that year and started me on what would be a life-long journey of taking every known headache medicine known to man. In 2004 I was working in my dream job as a nurse & began having more severe and frequent headaches, that were unable to be relieved by any kind of medicine. After a spinal tap was performed it was discovered that I had a rare disease called Idiopathic intracranial Hypertension, it is a disease where your body doesn’t absorb your spinal fluid correctly thus causing increased pressure to the brain. Intracranial Hypertension (IH) is characterized by increased pressure inside the skull. Intracranial means inside the skull and hypertension means high fluid pressure. Intracranial hypertension means that the pressure of the fluid that surrounds the brain (cerebrospinal fluid or CSF) is too high. Elevated CSF pressure can cause two problems, severe headache and visual loss. If the elevated CSF pressure remains untreated, permanent visual loss or blindness may result. Pseudotumor cerebri and benign intracranial hypertension are both former names for IH, which are now considered inaccurate. These names do not adequately describe the disorder and downplay the seriousness of IH.

There are two categories of IH: primary intracranial hypertension and secondary intracranial hypertension. Primary intracranial hypertension, now known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), occurs without known cause.

The most common symptom is often an unbearably painful or frequent headache, sometimes associated with nausea and vomiting that is not relieved by medication. The headache often awakens the patient from sleep. Some patients are treated in the emergency room where a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) is done as a last resort, to temporarily ease the headache. Measurement of the opening pressure is encouraged during these procedures in order to assess for intracranial hypertension.

Other common symptoms include transient altered vision, particularly on movement or bending over, intracranial noise (pulse synchronous tinnitus), stiff neck, back and arm pain, pain behind the eye, exercise intolerance, and memory difficulties and loss.

After losing my nursing career, related to my diagnosis, I almost gave up on life because of the pain but with the help of my wife and family I was encouraged to find new avenues to express my pain, frustration, and joy. In Art. I went back to school and graduated with a BA degree in Art. This tattoo is the only one I have and it is one I designed to remind me everyday to not to give up hope to one day they will find a cure to this “invisible disease “ that most never know exists and alters your life so drastically.