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6346533 tn?1441299047

Pregnant with chiari - Birth?

Hi Everyone,
I have Chiari Malformation type 1 and was decompressed in 2013.
I am currently 34 weeks and 3 days pregnant and have had a pretty awful pregnancy due to my chiari and the fact i also get migrains :( i have had pretty bad headaches every day and obv cant take my usual meds which wont help and the more pregnant i have got the more pain i have been in. Ive also had a lot of dizzyness/ lightheadedness, sickness fron the pain rather than been pregnant and when the headaches are real bad i can see like spots of light in my eyes. Im worried about giving birth!
I am having my baby at a different hospital than the one i had my surgery at and at my 20 week appointment i spoke with someone who said i may need to have a c section. Which i already had thought they might say. But he said he would speak to my neurosurgeon in the other hospital and then make a decision. Well to be honest i have barley seen the guy since i had my operation and everytime i did see him and id tell him i was still in pain he would just palm me off on someone else saying it was something different causing my pain. So im not entirely sure he still belives im still having problems! He says 'your all better now youve had the surgery' when if im still in pain im clearly not! also havent had any mri scans since the same year i had the op! Well he just wrote back and said yeah shes fine pretty much and normal birth is fine no need for anything different!
So now thats what the new hospital is saying because hes the professional they do as he says.. And i really dont agree! i dont see how his opinion is the one to go by when he hasnt been there to help me the last 2 years nearly! well i told them that i dont agree as just going for a number 2 hurts my head and makes me lightheaded. So im off to see one of there neurologists next week to see his opinion. what are your experiances of natural birth like? did you get told you would need a section? just after some advice and stories please as i dont know what to do!
Not exactly happy about having a c section either really lol as the anaethetist dealing with me said an epidural or spinal is a no no im not allowed needles in my back and id have to be put to sleep. So babys daddy cant be there :( but thats somthing id have to deal with if it was the safest way to deliver.
Scared there going to make me have a natural delivery and with my symptoms still bothering me before that there only going to get worse and then ill have my new baby to look after while feeling so bad :(
Sorry for the life story! and tia for your help :). x
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620923 tn?1452915648
COMMUNITY LEADER

  I am still navigating the seasonal changes....but I am ok....nothing I haven't done b4.....

Sorry the Dr was of no help.....but so happy that your delivery date is fast approaching.....pain will diminish when you hold your little girl....do you have a name picked out ?

You will do just fine.,,,,try to relax....and enjoy your little one when she arrives <3
Helpful - 0
6346533 tn?1441299047
Yeah I know exactly what you mean the change in weather is the worst!  Causes me a lot of pain too :(

I didn't get any help from the neurologist he was a horrible man who basically compared me to an old broken computer and blamed me for my head hurting more saying I am taking too much paraceramol and that's why it's hurting more! When I hardly ever take it especially been pregnant I'm trying not to take anything at all..  
he was quite rude and his opinions was the only ones that mattered he wasn't listening to me and I came out crying so not good.. he's also sending me to see the same person I saw last year who chucked some pills at me then passed me on to someone different!
And then he said he didn't think there was any point in giving me any more mri scans! When I haven't had one since after my op so how do they know how everything is doing in there..  so not a happy girl! He has also said I can't have any pain killers at all for 2 months until I go to see the other person because I need to get them out of my system but I was taking paracetamol only and once or twice a week only when I really couldn't cope with the pain :( ..

But on a different note the consultants decided on a section for me on the 7th of October so not long until I have my little girl in my arms now! Even thou it under ga and that part is upsetting :( aahhhh mixed emotions about everything atm!
Hope your okay <3
Helpful - 0
620923 tn?1452915648
COMMUNITY LEADER

  With this change to seasons I am in the house too.....this tends to be my kryptonite....major changes in temp.....I hurt all over and my IBS flares one way or the other....so last week it was like fall outside and now we have the dog days of summer returning....ugh....I like when it is constant one or the other...lol...

Praying all goes well for you <3
Helpful - 0
6346533 tn?1441299047
Thankyou I will do, and yeah I have really struggled with my head this pregnancy had more time off work than I've worked and spent most of the summer hiding away inside the house.
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620923 tn?1452915648
COMMUNITY LEADER

  Contact the facility you had your MRI studies done and request ALL copies along with the reports.....as this will help another Dr figure out what is going on...so you want the pre and post op MRI's.

If you can get a hold of the OR report too that will be very helpful.

Just know the added pressure will be an issue through your pregnancy as your body is adjusting to all those changes....then you have environmental issues as well.
Helpful - 0
6346533 tn?1441299047
Thankyou :)
Im super excited for her arrival especially after suffering a mmc last year :(.
That it what i have been thinking aswell but every time i had been to see him he would say maybe you have this or that or other! he sent me for sinus checking and that was fine, eyes testing, also fine, and to a headache doctor who was the one who said i also had migrains but still wouldnt cause the constant pain i have everyday.
So i dont know its like he wouldnt want to belive that his surgery had not worked!
I do not have coppies of any of my mris i was never given any i just know i had the surgery in october 2013 and my last mri was in december 2013 and he said all looked okay then but i havent been checked since and have been suffering still the whole time. i had to change jobs where i work as i could not phisically do my old job anymore even after recovering from the op and him giving me the all clear :S .. i now sit at a desk all day :(.
I think you are right about him not been a true chiari specialist and i will definatly look into seeing someone different!
Hopefully the neurologist im seeing next week at the new hospital is more understanding, i know hes not a specialist but i just want somone to listen to me for a change.
I thought the same about a c section but it was the guy who did my op thats saying i dont need it :( ..
ouch that sounds painful :( i am glad it healed on its own though!
It was a headace specialist that my gp dr had sent me too when i kept complaining i was still in pain who had me on the meds she said i had headache from the chiari and migrains and i was on quite a few meds before getting pregnant. But she said she didnt really know  anything about chiari so i only saw her a couple of times. she also sent me to a phisio guy who was trying to help me and had picked up on the pain i have in my neck too and the putting my head certian ways made me feel sick and dizzy :( .. he was trying excercises and accupuncture with me aswell (with no change in symptoms as of yet) but he said we had to stop when i told him i was pregnant.
Helpful - 0
620923 tn?1452915648
COMMUNITY LEADER

  CONGRATULATIONS on your pending birth !!!

Pregnancy can cause symptoms to flare...but since you have had issues since surgery and on pain meds I would consider that surgery was not a success or you have a related issue/condition.
It also sounds like your Dr was not a true Chiari specialist...Do you have copies of your pre and post op MRI's? If not, request them and send to a true Chiari specialist with current symptoms for review and tell them your are pregnant...a C section sounds like the way to go, as you do not need that added strain of delivery when you are having issues.

I had my daughter b4 I knew I had Chiari and it was a natural birth with an epidural....a student nurse pulled me into a sitting position b4 I should have been up and I had a CSF leak as a result...was in the hospital for 5 days...but it did heal on it's own.

Do follow up with a Chiari specialist....

BTCW- who has you on pain meds? What Dr? that one may be able to help with this too.
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