Intracranial hypertension (IH) – also known as pseudotumor cerebri – is a neurological disorder in which pressure around the brain causes debilitating headaches, vision loss (sometimes leading to blindness), nausea, vomiting, pulse-synchronous tinnitus and a host of other symptoms often unique to each person afflicted with the condition.

According to the Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation, IH occurs when the pressure of cerebrospinal fluid inside the skull is too high. Certain birth control pills and the Mirena IUD are risk factors for increased intracranial pressure.

While the condition is mostly known to affect overweight women between the ages of 20 and 40, anyone can develop chronic IH, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, race or body type. Weight loss doesn’t ensure that IH will go into remission but it has been found that it can help reduce papilledema, which is optic swelling caused by increased intracranial pressure.

Diagnosing IH is done via a brain scan and a lumbar puncture. Some sufferers have been known to get relief from using the drug acetazolamide while others require surgery to relieve the pressure.

Hallmark symptoms of intracranial hypertension are vision problems, specifically blurred vision, double vision, decreased contrast sensitivity, loss of peripheral vision and blindness. Momentary loss of vision in one or both eyes – known as dim-outs — are also common symptoms of intracranial hypertension. Dim-outs often occur when a person changes position.

Blindness can be temporary, caused by severe papilledema, but if optic nerve damage is extensive the blindness can be permanent. Surgery can relieve optic nerve swelling and restore vision.

Pulse-synchronous tinnitus is characterized by a “whooshing, whistling, humming or marching noise heard in one or both ears that is in sync with the pulse, according to the Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation. “It is also a subjective noise; it can only be heard by the person who experiences it.”

Intracranial hypertension symptoms mimic those of a brain tumor and are aggravated by exercise, particularly abdominal exercises.

People taking growth hormones, tetracycline and excess vitamin A may be at an increased risk of the disease as have people suffering from Addison’s disease, anemia, Behcet’s syndrome, blood-clotting disorders, lupus, polycystic ovary syndrome, sleep apnea, underactive parathyroid glands and uremia.

Ninety percent of those diagnosed with IH report severe headaches, often thinking it’s migraine related. The headaches are most often accompanied by pulse synchronous tinnitus, which occurs in sync with your pulse.

Treatment options for intracranial hypertension include weight loss, limiting fluids or salt in the diet, surgical placement of shunt– or special tube — to redirect fluid from the brain and ease pressure buildup, undergoing a spinal tap to remove fluid and alleviate pressure, taking diuretics to help the body get rid of extra fluid.

Other reported symptoms of intracranial hypertension include pain in the arms, legs and back and severe neck stiffness.

Birth Control Lawsuits

A growing number of birth control lawsuits accuse drug makers of failing to warn women about the risk of intracranial hypertension from using their products. Many of these cases involve the Mirena IUD.