hi everyone, i have two vp shunts, one is set at 8 and the other is set at 10. i recently began having symptoms again after a year and a half of being symptom free. i had an lp done and my pressure was 17.5. i realize this is not high for the average person, but my body is used to my pressure being under 10. my question is this, there is no blockage or any other cause for the shunts to not be working correctly. i have been under a massive amount of stress for the last few months and realize there is a connection between steroids and ih. my dr told me when you are under stress your body makes cortisol, which if im thinking right is a body made form of a steroid right? so could this be the reason why my pressure is up despite my shunts working correctly? my nuerologist wants to put me on diamox and im just not sure i want to go the medication route again. if it will help i guess i will do it, but im just confused as to why my pressure is so much higher than it should be. has anyone experienced anything like this before with pressure being higher than shunts are set at and shunts working properly?

How do you know that your shunt is working properly?  Did you have a myelogram?  
I have a lp shunt.  It's a codman.  Mine is set at 90.  I will probably be going for a myelogram myself, because I think my shunt's valve is not keeping it's setting.  However, the last lp that I had my pressure was 12.5  Perhaps your valve is messed up.  With one, let alone TWO shunts, your pressure should be much lower.  Stress can make your symptoms worse but I doubt that it can cause your pressure to rise so high!

Stress can also cause headaches as can the weather, menstruation and exertion, have a look at our A-Z of Headaches Commonly experienced with IIH   I'm not saying it could definitely be those things that are causing these headaches, but many of us with shunts, have found that these headaches do affect our pressure. Which could explain why your settings are fine but you are experiencing what feels like a high pressure headache.

Keep a symptom log and see if you can find a pattern with your pressure rising, such as any of the things that can trigger the headaches we have listed. Drinking a lot of caffeine can also make your pressure rise, so if you're a coffee drinker, or a coca cola drinker, cut sown on the amount you have.