HI Huggy, This is sooooo tough. I don’t know anything about your history, of course, nor what type of shunts you have needed. Sometimes Diamox is not enough, or you have a form of hydrocephalus (non-communicating, for example) that requires surgery or a shunt. Some of us need cerebromedullary shunts because that is where CSF is pushing on our brain stems, but those shunts are really high risk, I’m afraid. My son and I were lucky in that Diamox was enough for us — and the radiologist even called my compressed spinal cord “atrophy”. I was VERY symptomatic. It was so tough to walk away from the suggested shunt. But with my son and I, we were triggered by viruses, so I was hoping we wouldn’t need something permanent. Praise God above, my instincts proved to be right for us. Have you chatted with IIH folks on the forums to see if they have any advice for you? Hang in, my friend. Big hug…