arachnoid cyst in brain.

[Lifesforloving1]

I have an arachnoid cyst in my head , resulting from a stroke at a young age.
It has never caused me any problems. I have it scanned every 2 years , it’s 4x4cm . It says on my records a “ large cyst “
This is worrying to me ?
I guess you can have them and not even know as I don’t have any pain / symptoms at all.
Does anyone else have one ? And what size ?
🙂

I have one, it was only discovered iny 50's when I had a scan due to menopausal migraines
The doctor said many people are living with them undiagnosed, I would never have known. The cyst didn't cause my headaches, it was hormones.

I work in neuro - arachnoid cyst ops are common in my hospital. If it doesn’t cause you any problems and it’s not growing, it’s fine, large or not. Depending on location as well the surgery to remove it may be more risk than just leaving it where it is.

@thankyou ! That’s recurring to me ! Is a 4x4 classed as very large ? I’m not sure as I don’t know anyone else with one ?
It hasn’t changed since I was 5 ! I never have any pains or nausea... the odd migraine but that’s hardly ever ( touch wood )
I drink loads of water though ! Maybe that helps ?

It’s pretty big - measure out 4cm between your fingers then imagine that inside your skull where pretty much every millimetre is occupied by brain tissue. It will be compressing something but since you’ve had it since you were a child your brain has adapted to it, hence it’s not noticeable in terms of weakness, cognitive impairment, seizures etc. It’s quite astonishing how big some masses in the brain get before people develop any symptoms. Conversely, get something tiny in the brain stem and it can be life-threatening in no time. It’s all location, location, location in the brain

@ElphabaTheGreen
Thanks very much ! You have reassured me about it !
I’m not going to worry over it - it’s been in there for years ! & it’s causing no problems.

@Caselgarcia
Oh wow , I didn’t know that. I got mine from trauma to the brain as a young child. Mines 4x4 cm which is quite big , but thank goodness it dosnt give me any problems. Which I’m so thankful for.
Do you have yours looked at every couple years ?
How big is yours ?