baclofen any one on this?

[dbldees2003]

I went back to the NS today and he said since my MRI showed no Syrinz and flow at the foramen magnum that the chiair was not causing me a problem.
Do you have to have obstruction of csf flow to sufffer from chiari?

He has ordered 3 sets of cortizone injections in my neck and wants an mri of my back to look for the cause of my hip and leg pain.

\He also perscribed:
Darvocet 1-2 every 6 hours as needed
Baclofen - muscle relaxer 4  a day
Ibuprophen 600 mg

Is any one else taking any of these things?

[syddog]

Hysterical!  I love the term sleeper :)  Okay, i will try your suggestion and PM.  Thanks!

[selmaS]

  Hi Deedee has not actively posted since 2009....not sure if she will be responding to this, u may want to try and PM her as that will generate a e-mail to her and she will know someone is trying to contact her.

  Looking at the dates on a post is helpful in finding who is active on the forum, but u can sometimes get a sleeper to rejoin the group : )

   Good luck

   "selma"

[syddog]

Your situation sounds much like my daughters though I have no good advice.  Ugh.  My daughter was briefly on baclofen and Im not sure it helped much.  Dorvocet helped her but i thought it was taken off the market?  she also had a flow study done which they said is ok.  But, she sufferes form severe daily headache with bouts of such pain we are in the ER- far too often.   The doctors ( after numberous hospitalizations to control pain) are thinkgin decompression curgery is "worth  a try".  FREAKING OUt.  i get nervous with THAT statement.  my current NS ( though we are seeing two thers) said "chairis are strange.  you can have one that is sigfnificant and have no symptoms then one that causes big, life altering issues that doest appear to be that severe.  I would see another NS, a specialist.  Oh, my daugher did have injections and they didnt help her at all.  BUT, others have had luck.  Im sorry to hear you are going through all of this.  I will floow up withposts as our situations sound similar.  

[Shane99]

My surgeon is Dr. Carl Hampf. I recommend him highly. He is with the Howell/Allen Clinic associated with Baptist Hospital: [phone]

Nashville's not far from Louisville. :D

[marileew]

I don't think you can know 100% if the Chiari is a factor until you get an MRI of your whole spine...

although, i have read that there are a lot of doctors in the states that are of the opinion that you don't need to have obstruction of csf flow to sufffer from chiari... you just need to have chiari to suffer from chiari!! In Canada, doctors rarely agree with that... and I live in Canada... so, no one thinks that my chiari is a factor in my chronic migraines, and it is totally possible that it isn't... but, then, there are two major hospitals (one of them in Washinton state) that would argue otherwise... so... I think there is quite a bit of disagreement on what does and doesn't cause symptoms when it comes to chiari...

I agree with selma, get a second opinion for sure. Especially if your symptoms fit that of Chiari and you have it, and your doctor can't figure out what else could be wrong.

[selmaS]

DeeDee...ne NS can do chiari surgery,....unless that make it their main focus of their practice they r not a specialist...in my book!!

I have been to too many drs and not getting answers or getting dismissed.

U could be right, Shane's dr may be a better fit.
Below is a link to ur drs bio and he focus of his practice.
https://louisville.edu/research/cleanroom/research-kscirc/bios/dr-christopher-shields.html

Christopher B. Shields, M.D., FRCS(C)
Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurological Surgery
Norton Hospital Chair in Neurological Surgery
Clinical Director, Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center

"selma"



Biography

Recent Publications

Recent Book Chapters

Contact

Research Description

My area of research has focused on several aspects of spinal cord injury over the past 15 years. My interest in spinal cord injuries was kindled by the personal tragedy that I saw on a daily basis in clinical practice. All too often, individuals who are living normal productive and carefree lives one moment are changed instantaneously to living in a wheelchair. Although many of these people live active productive lives, it seemed that much good could be brought about by early, effective treatment of this condition. I embarked on this worthy quest in the mid 1980s when the spinal cord injury laboratory was developed through a generous financial donation from Norton Healthcare.

In 1988, we began our work toward finding a cure for spinal cord injury. Early research was focused on creating better methods of monitoring spinal cord motor function in humans and animals, utilizing rapidly alternating magnetic stimulation during surgery, following spinal cord injury, or in patients with intrinsic disease of their spinal cord. This work led to the development of transcranial magnetic motor-evoked potentials that has been utilized clinically and which continues to be used daily in our research laboratory.

Later research was focused on transplantation of cells into areas of spinal cord injury to study the effect of such injury on nuclei in brain stem nuclei, with and without transplanted cells. Currently, this work has taken on a further refinement in the use of stem cells (with Dr. Whittemore) and olfactory cells (With Dr. Roisen) as potential cell types that may be used in patients someday.

Currently, my laboratory is investigating certain solutions that have potential benefit for patients and animals with spinal cord injury. Such solutions have been shown to be effective in neuroprotection of the central nervous system following stroke. If this can be shown to be effective in the laboratory, soon these solutions may be investigated in patients with spinal cord injury.

Recent work includes characterization of various degrees of spinal cord injury with a precise sub-millimeter injury to the spinal cord using the vibra-knife, which has been developed in our laboratory

[dbldees2003]

My ns is Dr Christopher Shields
He is with the Neuroligical Institute of KY
I was told he did a lot of chiair surgeries

I dont know if he is a chiari specialist but a lot of people recommended him when they heard I had chiari.

I think I need to get a second opinion also, I am going to check & see if Shane99 dr is on my insurance.

It took 10 years and 6 NS to finally get the diagnosis, I cant imagine how hard it could be to get a second opinion.
I think it is time to look into a chiari specialist and go there.
I just havn't found any in Louisville, Ky

Dee Dee

[selmaS]

DeeDee may I ask who is ur NS..and do u know if he/she is a chiari specialist?

I feel u should get a second opinion...with a specialist.

I am not aware of the injections...there may b others that r.

I will try to find a link to a image that will better show u overcrowding of the cerebellum.

Hang in there....it is difficult until u find the right dr.

"selma"

[dbldees2003]

Selma,

My ns said that since I had flow the chiari was not a concern.
I thought this was odd, because I didn't think it was all dependent on the csf flow.

He has ordered an mri of the whole spine ( not scheduled yet). but also ordered cortisone injections on my neck.
These injections scare me, do you know of others with cervical disk rupture that have undergone this procedure.

He seems to think that all my symptoms are being caused by the c6=c7 disk rupture.

How do you define overcrowding of the cerebellum?
I have the arachnied cyst almost 2" in the left posterior fossa and the herniation of 11mm
I would think that would qualify, but dont know

Any Info would help

Thanks
Dee Dee

[selmaS]

Hi DeeDee,

If u have an overcrowding of the cerebellum u can have symptoms also.

Did u have MRI's of ur complete spine...did they look for tethered cord?

I did the muscle relaxers yrs ago...they did not work for me.I do take iburophen.....no Darvocet...again I did have that also yrs ago.

"selma"