How big does the average cyst in your brain usually have to be to get it removed? Anyone know anything along these lines?

It seems to me no matter how large it gets doctors will not help. My daughter had a 2.1 cm pineal cyst that was causing spinal fluid blockage and no doctor would still help her. She could not function!
We finally got help because my 2nd cousin got involved and he was in the medical field. He worked in neurology. Instantly she received help. Although for 4 1/2 years no one would help her.
She was vomiting, losing her vision, etc. It was a nightmare. She was unable to attend school.
Look up info on PubMed. Do a search in medical journal articles for the type of cyst in question. Print out the abstract (two copies) -one for you and one to take to the library. They will be able to contact medical libraries and get the articles for you. It costs me $11 per article. It was worth it to have lots of info. I purchased 14 articles to try to help my daughter.
An attorney may be able to help you get the medical help you need if you have medical journal articles for proof.
I hope this is helpful.
Love and prayers

I went to pubmed.com and tried to look up the type of cyst I have, which is a 1.5 centimeter Choroidal Fissure cyst, and i just don't understand this website, lol I went ot the main page, and where it says search PubMed, i changed it to search journals, but it didnt have any results for my cyst.. am i doing it right? lol thanks i really appreciate your help

Hello Cheryl!

Its me Traci. Ive talked to you about your daughter and myself. Well let me give an update on myself, we moved to Italy in February and its so beautiful! I go back to the Dr. on October 1st, you know the funny thing is, the Dr. I had in Maryland moved to the same place as us ( military! ) Weird huh? I have been having massive pressure in the bask of my head and my eye is acting up now too! I dont know what it is, but i hope something is found! Im tired of people giving me the run around! Well if they need to do any test, they have to send me to Germany cause we dont have a hospital here only a clinic, hmmm sounds like my last place! Other than that, Im just fine!

So, how is your daughter feeling? Great I hope, Is she making a ny progress? PLease let me know what went on! My new address is tracidear74@yahoo.com

Hope to hear from you soon!

God Bless!!!!

Ciao Traci

Originally posted by Dodger8:
It seems to me no matter how large it gets doctors will not help. My daughter had a 2.1 cm pineal cyst that was causing spinal fluid blockage and no doctor would still help her. She could not function!
We finally got help because my 2nd cousin got involved and he was in the medical field. He worked in neurology. Instantly she received help.


Dodger8,
Do you mind if I ask you what they did for her? Reason I ask is because I had an MRI of the brain and neck done in April 2003.

One of the findings was noted as: "Fluid collection, most likely a pineal cyst to the right."

I am a 45 year old female, the neurologist told me that is was unusal to see this type of cyst in a female much less one 45 years old. He said that they normally see this in Pre-Teen Boys. (i always knew I was a male trapped in the female body.)[smile]

His recommendation to me was NOTHING. Just leave it alone unless it gets bigger and starts putting pressure on surrounding tissue. He told me if the cyst burst that it would be "no big deal" and I would just have a severe headache and maybe sick??? Whatever that means! I have 4 doctors working together and I am worse now than when I started seeing all of them. My vision is always blurred, severe headaches all the time, fainting spells, stay dizzy and brain fog like you wouldn't believe. Arms are always getting numb sometimes for hours. I have chronic severe insomnia and if I don't take 20 to 25mg of Ambien every night then I won't sleep until I do which has been sometimes 3 days. That's the longest I can go before absolute insane MADNESS sets in, even though I can be up 2 to 3 days and horribly exhausted I will still have to take a sleeping pill to actually fall asleep.

What I find disturbing is I'm desperate to find an answer to my problems and was doing more research on the internet about sleep. Out of all my doctors who ALL KNOW my insomina has never mentioned to me that the Pineal Gland is the only area of the brain that produces Melatonin...HELLO Doc...Melatonin is what produces SLEEP. Maybe I'm completely ignorant here but it would seem to me that just possibly the cyst has caused the Pineal Gland to stop producing Melatonin and that just might be why I can't sleep for days.

4 doctors and $10,000 later and I still have no relief or answers. In fact my internist is the one who has kept giving me Ambien without question. Yes, I know I'm addicted to them which he had no problem enabling until recently. I'm so disgusted with all my doctors and really don't want to go back and see them but I also don't cherish the thought of starting all over again with someone new. I feel like I'm going to have to though.

Another finding on my MRI says: "Abnormal lesions within the white matter, one of which is periventricular. (it says a whole lot of other medical mumbo jumbo too)

My neuro tells me that it is "probably" scar tissue from either head trauma, miagraines or I had Viral Meningitis last summer and he said it could be scar tissue from that. He felt highly unlikely that it was cancer because my bloodwork was not "abnormal" enough. It was "slightly" abnormal but I guess not enough to worry anyone.

I'm sorry my post rambled but I'm at my wits end. Trying to read some of the medical sights are so confusing. I've looked all this up but haven't been able to find much on any of it and what I did find, I didn't understand.

Thanks so much!

I know how it feels.. I also have really bad migranes, head pressure, constant blurred vision, these falling lines in my vision (i think they might be called floaters? im not sure if there the same thing though), hard time concentrating, dizzy spells, etc. doctors are just not cutting it these days