arachnoid cysts

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has anyone else here been diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst? i went to my neurologist today after getting my recent sleep study, eeg, and neurological exams. i asked my neurologist if the arachnoid cyst could cause any symptoms. They said I seem to have something organic because my sleep study showed that I go into REM within minutes of falling asleep, however I did not seem to have a usual case of narcolepsy because i take too long too fall asleep and I woke up 41 times for no reason with no signs of sleep apena. I also have excessive sleepiness and parkinsonian like symptoms such as consistant tremors, occasional twitches, and mussle stiffness. They diagnosed atypical narcloptic and parkinsonian features of unknown orgin. They were convinced that the cyst does not cause autistic or psychotic symptoms but parkinsons and narcolespy are both caused by a lack of hypocretin in the cerberal spinal fluid which is near my cyst so it may likely be causing these symptoms. Im considering having it removed because being tired all the time sucks. Has anyone else had one removed? If so what happened afterwards? Did the symptoms go away? Could it be related to aspergers? If so and i had it removed would I lose the symptoms about aspergers that I enjoy such as my musical talent and creativity and maybe even become brain damaged? If so Id rather live with all my symptoms instead of getting rid of the ones i dont like along with my good symptoms, and also maybe Id go through the sugery and nothing would happen at all. Ive been thinking about the risks and benifits all day today. The main thing I wanted from this post is to know if anyone else here has an arachnoid cyst and what they think about it and what kind of symptoms they think it might cause. I would imagine that differant cysts in differant parts of the brain would cause differant symptoms. The most common one ive seen people on the internet talk about is headaches but I havent had them regularly since childhood. I have also noticed it is unknown wether they cause symtoms at all.

Some autistic people including me develop parkinsonlike features. Also if you have been or are given antipsychotics they very very often cause them. If you're on them right now and have parkinsonian features that's the most likely reason.

i do take 10mg abilify and it does make it worse, however I developed tremors around 15 and never took meds until I was 22 because my parents thought is was a bad idea to put someone underage on meds, which I am thankful for because i have friends who took meds as kids and got worse. Its no suprise I didnt graduate high school until 22 as well, but its better than being brain damaged from pills.

Can't arachnoid cysts also be associated with memory problems?

The symptoms presented with an arachnoid cyst vary considerably depending upon the situs. A cyst lying in the membrane over the frontal lobe will have vastly different impacts than a cyst in the membrane over a temporal lobe.

You will need to consult with a neurologist and a neurosurgeon to determine the best therapeutic approach. A cyst that is causing impacts is certainly a candidate for resection, but a neurosurgeon would need to evaluate the risks of surgical intervention, and discuss those with you.

There is some literature suggesting a causal link between certain cysts and dementia, hallucination, ataxia, and a variety of other conditions (including developmental delay). I am not a neurologist and I don't know where your cyst(s) are located, so I am not in a position to offer much greater insight.

The vast majority of arachnoid cysts are not causally associated with any problems. The neurosurgeons don't do anything about them unless they're growing, causing pressure, or causing some other problem, but those are in a small minority. Most of the time they're just watched. But, only your neurologist or neurosurgeon can comment on your particular case.

~Kate