DTMT Network
Mrs Fariyal Yusuf, 35, who had headaches since her childhood, is now leading a quality life after doctors at Mumbai’s Wockhardt hospital treated her. In October 2018, she had visited the hospital with complaint of throbbing headaches associated with nausea, occasional vomiting and intolerance to light and sound.

After tests, it was confirmed that she was suffering from Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) that occurs in 1 to 2 per 100,000 population. Mrs Yusuf had been troubled by the headaches since childhood but wasn’t properly evaluated or treated.

As she grew up, the episodes of headache increased, and this made her life miserable. As she was a teacher by occupation, the troublesome headaches made it difficult for her to conduct teaching sessions, sometimes stopping the classes in between.

Also, she became irritable and short-tempered, which affected her personal life. Lately, she had been consuming 3-4 analgesics daily to get rid of those nagging headaches resulting in medication overuse headache.

After evaluation, it was confirmed that she was suffering from IIH disorder of unknown etiology that predominantly affects obese women of childbearing age. Though a relatively uncommon form of a headache if undiagnosed, the disabling headaches accompanying the disorder not only affect the daily routine but untreated IIH can result in permanent visual impairment.

Dr. Prashant Makhija, Consultant Neurologist, Wockhardt Hospital, says, “Timely intervention helped this woman to get back on track or else there could have been permanent vision loss due to the pressure on the optic nerve. After the excess CSF was removed, the woman felt better.”

Dr Makhija added that the lady is still on follow-up for the last 8 months, and hasn’t required analgesics after she was treated. There is no headache or visual obscuration, tinnitus (the ringing of the ears) is reduced to 80%, and she is able to sleep peacefully now. She has also lost 6 kgs which further helped in reducing CSF pressure.”