How old were you when your symptoms started?

[Michael15688]

How old were you when your symptoms started?

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

My answer will echo what the above posters have said...my whole life....I remember being in grade school and having symptoms....I loved swings but hated how they made me feel,, same with Merry Go Rounds....ugh...even jumping rope...so I was not a fan of gym class....lol...

In high school my symptoms worsened and I was sent to a shrink who was no help, but Drs were telling me it was anxiety and all in my head issues...it was but not how they meant....

I was not DX'd until I  was 48 yrs old...

At the time of my DX it took time for me to realize that how I felt my whole life was not normal, but symptoms of this condition....we live with symptoms so long since this is a congenital condition that we consider how we feel to be normal...it is our "normal" but it is not how everyone feels......Chiari symptoms also cycle....which can make connecting the condition to all our symptoms....and vice versa.....

Most articles online say symptoms do not arise until later in life...which is all old outdated info....the thing is when I was having symptoms they did not have MRI's to use to DX my symptoms....and not much was really known about it which is why it is still difficult to find Drs that not only know Chiari but are experienced  with it and ALL related conditions.....

[girlinxile]

Hindsight..... Looking back I have had symptoms my whole life. I was a very clumsy child, had my first migraine when I was pregnant at 19....and those bad boys never stopped. My mom has migraines though so it was written off as genetic. When my hands would go numb? Written off as carpal tunnel. Memory issues? They tested me for seizures when I was in my early 20s because I would get spacey. They said when I was pregnant my brain shrunk and when it went back to normal size postpartum it was using a damaged area for memory... I was miserable forever and started thinking I was a hypochondriac until I was getting migraines that were making me go blind.MRI AT 37....FINALLY! A diagnosis... And I wasn't crazy. But my symptoms progressed at warp speed at that point because my csf was so blocked and had the surgery a few months later. And now 2 years after that my symptoms are trickling back in. It never seems to end :(

[Lottida]

I think many people have symptoms for a long time but pass them of as something else.....especially since most of us are not aware that we even have Chiari until a MRI is done of the brain.   I am 41 yrs old & started with my symptoms 3 months ago.....but looking back realize now that I have had symptoms for years.  I woke up one day with hearing loss in my right ear 3 months ago & that is what started my journey with Chiari!!!  I don't think there is an age limit of when symptoms begin & can begin as a child all the way up to middle adulthood.  Do you have a Chiari or associated symptoms??