Dear Shunt, I hate you, Part II

Waking up this morning was a good thing. My shunt besides reacting to the weather outside, also adjusts to whenever my head moves.  When moving up and down whether its from the floor to standing up or walking up and down a flight of stairs, I can feel the shunt adjusting pressure inside my head. This is not fun and results in me feeling more grumpy and irritable. I almost collapsed yesterday when brought groceries up the stairs. Upon entering my kitchen, I felt dizzy and pressure inside my head.  I held onto a wall to keep myself steady. This was around 7pm last night. I went to bed after and at 1am, as usual, there was pain on the shunt valve.  I do find putting my head down to be helpful even if momentarily.

There have been days when I've felt nausea in my stomach, most likely from the programmable shunt. These artificial devices although helpful, sometimes aren't compatible with our bodies. Not saying my shunt is not working, it is, which I am grateful. I'm convinced because it is a magnet and temperamental, that my body still (four years later) is adjusting to the device. Surgeons don't know how your body is going to react to an artificial device until it's been implanted.  Some people respond well, others don't.

I've found music and exercise like Pilate's has helped with some of my pain management. Listening to music helps me focus on something other than the pain with a combination of exercise to focus my attention on something else.