Chiari and megacephaly

[Jpooh]

I have a couple of questions.
1. Do any of you with chiari also have megacephaly? Do people with chiari tend to have megacephaly?
2. My daughter has chiari and she seems to be more tires and grumpy than not. Is it normal for somebody that has chiari to be tired and so grumpy all the time?

Thanks,
Juanell

[selmaS]

  Hi...as Stacey has mentioned above ur DD has a diff condition that has caused her cerebral tonsils to be displaced...it is not a true chiari as chiari is a mis shaped skull where the area for the cerebral tonsils is smaller than normal anf that is what displaces the tonsils...not the excess CSF like in ur DD's case.

Any one with pain and discomfort will be grumpier than someone without the pain...so that is just a normal side effect of pain and discomfort.The same with being fatigued...pain drains the body of energy....so that is not unusual.

   "selma"

[Spaceystac]

Sorry to hear your daughter has these conditions, I do think in her case they are linked due to the enlargement, which I assume is due to hydrocephalus. This is too much cerebral spinal fluid being produced in the brain, usually treated with a shunt procedure. When this large amount of fluid has no where to go it enlarges the head, and the ventricles in the brain causing the downward displacement of the cerebral tonsils (Chiari malformation) These are birth defects that are sometimes hard for a child to deal with, I am sure she is tired and grumpy from discomfort of her condition. I hope she is able to get some treatment from a specialist to confirm if the megacephaly is due to  hydrocephalus or something else, you might already know this.  
If there is anything else about her medical condition you would like to share, I would gladly answer any question you might have that I might be able to help with. Thanks for posting, hope you and your daughter have a good day.     Stacey