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hi caroline

from what i know and i have asked my friend in queens sq a shunt normally functions ok sometimes they do get blocked and have to be either changed sometimes flushed rarely but that normally happens within a few days of being inserted if you have had it since june i would think you will not have any trouble try not to get fixated on it blocking enjoy each day as it comes and be happy best wishs xx

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Hi Caroline

I have a shunt have had for 9years today infact (had the SAH on the 1st Nov) and I hope to god its never going to have a fault.....like with me as time goes by you'll not think of it so much.....

if you have any questions PM me......

Take care

Louise.x

Ps got a drain too.

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I wasn't told anything in hospital (that I can remember) but I spoke to someone who has a shunt in and they were surprised I was still on caffeine. I have noticed an improvement in my symptoms since I came off it so there might be something in it.

Scott

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All I can say is that I have felt far less dizzy since I stopped caffeine intake. Medical advice can vary not only from Doctor to Doctor but from day to day, what I like about this site in particular is that we can give first person experience of many different issues.

Scott

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I don't have a shunt, but cut out caffeine about a year or so after the SAH ..... it seemed to help with the headaches (once I got over the initial caffeine withdrawal heads) and I haven't really touched it since. I did have one week where I thought I would try it again, but the headaches seemed to increase, so I cut it out again. I occasionally have the odd cup of tea, as it's only got half the amount of caffeine to coffee, but generally stick to de-caff coffee and tea when I'm at home.

Interesting to hear about the effects of caffeine on the CSF produced Scott. I also agree that advice from medics seems to vary greatly, makes you wonder doesn't it?

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I have been told by others that post lumbar puncture it's quite normal to have a severe headache, and also that a couple of cups of coffee are an equally common treatment!

Medical advice should always be sought, but as we all know that advice does seem to vary wildly. Only on the basics do Doctors seem to agree anything. Beyond the normal does seem to be very much a "matter of opinion". One of the main problems I had post SAH was the hugely different "facts" about it that I was given, my GP admitted he didn't know anything about post SAH treatment but that he would learn with me. That was the best thing he could of said, if he had gone the other way and tried to bluff it I wouldn't have one tenth of the amount of respect that I do for him.

On something as simple as post shunt living we shouldn't have to be asking about what we can and can't do, we should of been given chapter and verse about it before and after the operation. There are various places you can look for advice, but like everything else the information tends to focus on the extremes. There is a lot out there about shunt failures and how having a shunt needn't be a huge burden BUT there is very little about living day to day with one. It may be boring but I'd much rather read how to cope and what to do rather than having the shunt blockage symptoms rammed down my throat.

I'm rambling on again (not a lot to do with my shunt, something to do with the hydrocephalus!) so I'll leave it there.

Scott

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Scott, I agree with everything that you're saying .... just did an internet trawl on shunts ..... didn't really come up with much.

Would suggest that BTG members perhaps look up the effects of caffeine on the brain on the internet and then take it from there and draw their own conclusions.

I know that there's a lot people on here, that have excluded caffeine from their diet .... irrespective of having a shunt.

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