I am 39 yrs old. For the past 2 years I have been having strange symtoms. Dizziness, numbness in Rt foot and calf, legs and arms fall asleep easily, burning sensation in legs, tingling in legs arms upper back and face, pain in face and eyes, my vision is blurred, the fingers are stiff and tight and my knees feel weak as though they could give out.  I have had 2 MRIs of head and neck, and 1 of the spine 2 years ago. EP and spinal tap. All were normal except for Arnold Chiari 1, apparently mild and not causing my symtoms. Both my mother and my sister have MS. My question is could the ACM be causing my symtoms because Ive read that they are closely related to MS symtoms. Or is it possible that it could be MS but nothing shows after 2 years???  I am extremely frustrated with no answers. I would love a reply from anyone who has ACM 1 and their Dr feels its no problem to be concerned about.

Dear Phylis..
I posted a while ago about my g/f going numb on her left side (Could be MS ?) her doctor schedualed her for an MRI "months" later as her symptoms continued to get worse ...Could it be MS ? neither myself nor the wonderful folks at the clevland clinic thought it might be. "Tape measured" numbness down the left side no optical problems ,no history of it...nothing... just ever growing dibilitation on the left side...Well on my insistance she went into emerge and had an mri... results 4 lesions...evidence of demyelination...MS. her Neuro told her there wasnt much they could do...he did not suggest immediate drug intervention and
sent her home with a follow up apptmnt for three weeks (steroids were offered if it kept getting worse ...which thankfully it didnt. I am seriously thinking of bringing her to The folks at the Cleveland Clinic who offer this incredible service..Maybe we will see you soon. My point being Phylis if you arent happy with whats going on ...change Neuros... I changed my G/fs and the new guy is fantastic!! into new clinical trials and research, so on the ball . you need someone like that too...go get em !!!\
M

Dear Phyllis:

Sorry to hear about your headaches.  The surgery should have taken care of the Chiari I malformation and any impact on headaches that you might have had.  If your headaches went away after surgery, then this was the correct thing to due.  If they did not go away, either the surgery was non-essential to the headaches or the surgery did not decompress the malformation correctly.  Since your MRI did not show any problems that could lead to your symptoms, I am unsure what could be the problem.  It does not sound like the Chiari correction.  If the neurological exam was otherwise perfectly normal, I would search for other causes of headache and equilbrium problems.  The neurological examination is extrememely important, was there any abnormalities on the testing?  Were your lab results normal?  Do you have any other chronic illnesses?  Do you take medications and have these been ruled out?  What sort of previous headaches have you had, such as migraine etc?  These questions need to be answered.  Start with your neurologist and then if you are unsatisfied, seek a second opinion.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD