Do I have Chiari?

[Anime89]

Hello, I am 19 and I have been experiencing some strange symptoms. Recently, I have experienced headaches and a pressured feeling in the back of my head and at the base of my neck. As the pain progresses, my shoulders get stiff, and also I have experienced lower back pain. I have taken ibuprofen and aspirin for the head pain (which eventually escalates to include tension headaches), but the back of head pressure does not go away. I have also had problems concentrating, problems with my short term memory, and a sort of cognitive fog. I have problems getting my fingers to perform complex tasks, and I feel as though my ability to assess and work with other people has always been "off" or limited.  I also have experienced long periods of being tired and feeling weak w/o feeling sleepy and with adequate rest. Also, sometimes  I will suddenly have these weird sensations in my head where my brain will feel like someone is kneeding it giving it a slight shock, and then I will experience a moment of complete disorientation and confusion.

This spring I was also referred to a psychiatrist and a therapist regarding depressive episodes that started around spring 2007. I was told by the psychiatrist that she was not sure what was triggering this, and also was told by my mom that it seems like an a-typical case of depression, or not severe because I was able to snap out of it and also able to complete schoolwork, etc. I had some further problems where I would experience sudden heart palpitations or changes in my heart rate,  and a few instances of this feeling along with severe anxiety and the head sensations. I have also been experiencing tension headache since spring 2007.

I'm not sure what is causing this. I was able to overcome my depressive episodes / depression, but I still feel the head pains and everything else that I described earlier. I am really confused as to what this is; I was told on another forum that it may be Chiari Malformations since I have scoliosis as well, and have experienced this "cognitive fog" for a good period of my life, but this condition sounds very serious. I am also worried that it may be something to do with Abilify, which was prescribed by my psychiatrist (5 mg) about 2 1/2 weeks ago while she works on figuring out what is wrong w/me. She has recommended that I increase my dose to 10 mg, but I have not done so since the drug makes me drowsy and I have been able to improve myself w/o taking the medication for more than a couple of days (also it was making me dizzy and increasing my head sensations and giving me dizziness). It was also not changing my mood at all, other than the conscious effort that I was making to change things. I am really confused I feel like I am living in a box or something and the pressure / pain feeling is driving me nuts! Any suggestions or opinions is greatly appreciated. (Sorry for all the text :-D)

[Sherlock26]

You were right to not take the increased medication.  What you need to do is to see a neurologists and not a pyschiatrists!!!  This Psych is far from helpful and more like a part of the problem.  Based on the symptoms you described she should have been able to state that is more of a neuro problem than a psycho problem.  It could be fibromyalgia, or a series of other autoimmune diseases or something like MS.  Trying researching these diseases here and other websites and see if you have more sypmtoms in common with one or the other disease.   I hope this helps.

Ugogirl!

[dana_8142]

First let me tell you, I am not a doc.  But I do have Chiari Malformation, and your symptoms sound very similar to mine.  Let me tell you the things my doc did to evaluate me, this may help you so you know what to ask your doc to do - My original doc kept prescribing me paxil until I finally said enough is enough, I know my body and something is wrong!!  That is when I had my doc give me a referal to a neurologist, and he ran a few simple tests.  Here they are:

Tilt Table Test:  this will determine if you are having sudden drops in your blood pressure, which is what could be causing your strange "headache" episodes, and many other problems - like panic attack symptoms.

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Evaluation:  You may have poor circulation which could cause many of these episodes.

Lyme Titer:  Silly as it may seem, a tic could have caused an infection in your body which often mimics the symptoms of MS.

Ciphillus Screening:  Ciphillus and Lymes Disease are very similar, so where you rule out one you should rule out the other (by the way, both of these are treatable, so don't panic.)

Lupus Biopsi:  It can't hurt to rule out Lupus.  This desease causes your body to attack itself, which could explain pain and fatigue.

And finally, but most importantly - GET AN MRI

A CAT scan will not help you if you have Chiari, insist on an MRI, this is the only true way to diagnose Chiari and MS, so please, get one!!!!

Good luck to you, drop a line in the future to let me know how this pans out for you.  And remember, if you get a diagnosis - don't get a depressed, turn it into relief, because you can finally let the healing begin!!!  If you allow any diagnosis to completely consume you, you will NEVER feel better, find out what's wrong, then find out how to get better.

Don't ignore your symptoms, you know your body, if you are not happy with your doc. get a new one!!!

[Anime89]

I have been thinking about making an app't to see my primary care physician. I have also read that some symptoms, namely muscle stiffness,  fall under 'rare side effects' of Abilify. I am kind of nervous about speaking with my psychiatrist because I have not discussed physical symptoms with her, and she seems more interested in medication than talk therapy or treatment. I have another app't w/ her soon, though. My mom also recommended that I make a call to Shriner's.

[toolmaker]

Dana is correct in what they wrote ,however I would insist on an enhanced mri as well as an mra.

[dana_8142]

You know it's funny that you say your psychiatrist is more interested in medicine than therapy, because when I was seeing a psychiatrist he was the same way.  The medication was making me feel worse, and I told him I wasn't taking it anymore.  His response was - If you're not going to take your meds I can't help you.  So I said I guess I'm on my own.  That was the last time I saw him.  I don't recommend that you do that by any means, I was young and frustrated and what I did was very dangerous, but as it turns out - I didn't need those meds anyway, because I had a different reason for my problems.

It was just very frustrating that I'm speaking to a person who spent years studying psychiatry just to write perscriptions!!!!

My pharmasist could do that!

[nj22]

What the other members are saying about getting an MRI, is very important...I am 17 and also have a Chiari and tethered cord. because these problems have appeared in some of my relatives, i was able to skip some of the steps to finding my answer. Although it may be something other that Chiari Malformation, i suggest you call the Chiari Institute on Long Island, and request the questionare...fill this out and then send it back with your MRI's if the doctors in NY think you may have Chiari, they will let you know...this choice is up to you, I went through 5 years of doctors not knowing, and finally i have an anwser....my problem has not been solved but my questions have. dana_8142 was right in saying having a diagnosis, although scary, is better than the frustration of not knowing...try this and maybe eliminate one option, or find the road you need to be on and start toward feeling better...i am sure you want this as much as i want it for myself.
Good Luck in whatever happens...let me know if you have any questions about symptoms i am experiencing many...  
~nj22~