Gaining weight? Does it help?

[wkk]

This is probably an absurd approach for prevention or treatment of postpuncture headache or even sih, but why not give it a thought?
I really have been thinking about gaining weight based on the rationale that a higher number of fat cells may play a role in sealing the leak. If you look at the anatomy the peridural space consists of connective tissue, venous plexus and: fat cells. The statistics of people suffering postpuncture headache would speak for this theory since one of the risk factors is low body weight. One of my colleagues underwent 14 spinal taps and she never had any problems after...and she is obese. ;)
Never mind, It´s just a thought, nothing more...maybe some neurologist should start a randomised controlled study on the effect of gaining weight on the longterm outcome for the leaking folks...:D
I hope nobody starts eating high calorie diet.

[punctured]

The statistics of people suffering postpuncture headache would speak for this theory since one of the risk factors is low body weight.
And conversely, a risk factor for Idiopathic Intracranial hypertension (IIH) is to be overweight (and female).

Guten Appetit!

P.

[fuzzy101]

WKK, Are you a confirmed leaker?

[LauraL840]

I would imagine that the peridural space is one of the 'last' places to gain fat cells, but that's only my imagination! LOL

I mean, when I gain fat, I gain it in certain obvious places first, and then eventually all over (thinking of my three pregnancies) and conversely, when I lost weight I lost it quickly in some places and slower in others. There's really no way to 'know' if I gained and lost 'weight' or peridural space by percentage of fat during each pregnancy and postpartum weight loss, but I believe that the least 'active' places on our bodies are the places that gain and lose last.

Interesting thought process though!

[wkk]

Hi fuzzy,

what do you mean with confirmed leaker? If it means a positive imaging study: no.
Probably my leak is so small it cannot be detected with any imaging study (in my case MR Myelography w/out contrast dye/lp). And I´d never again let anybody puncture my spine for anything except for another blood patch, maybe!!! My brain MRI didn´t show any sign of intracranial hypotension, but was performed in a quite early stage.


But the typical orthostatic symptoms after lumbar puncture in a person w/out history of headaches in my opinion speaks for a leak. Together with the fact that the blood patches gave at least transient relief.
What else should it be?:confused:
Actually, my headache has improved a little bit...It was so bad during the first week, the second week the orthostatic character partly diminished, but was still quite bad. The last 2 weeks were a steady state. I can be upright for maybe 2 or 3 hours without headache (but with some dizzyness), but depending on how much bedrest I had the day before and on what I do, sitting, eating is good, standing, walking or driving is bad. Remarkably, I noticed that I almost feel normal (even w/out numbness/dizzyness) for a few hours after taking tilidin (a low potency opioid used in germany), which I mainly attribute to the rise of intracranial pressure.
I CANNOT PROVE IT; BUT AT LEAST I FEEL LIKE I´M LEAKING!!!