In February of 2011 I was a few hours away from leaving on vacation and passed out in a parking lot. I was 34 years old and had experienced headaches, earaches, dizziness and faintness for years. Sinuses and hormones were to blame. I even had a hysterectomy at age 30. In a matter of 4 days the doctors found that my heart was only operating at 18 percent and I had a defribulator/pace maker implanted and then had the surgery for the chiari. For the past year I have been experiencing headaches. After reading Rosanne's story and others, I realize that the surgery may not be the "quick" fix my surgeon said it would be. I will try to be more patient with my recovery.
The fact the chiro did not make u worse dose not mean u do not have chiari, not all with chiari that go to a chiro will get worse it is possible and suggested we do not....
So please do not use that as a gauge......
Thanks for the info. I haven't been to a chiropractor in a while, but it never made things worse. Makes me think it is not Chiari. I will be seeing my doctor at the end of the month.
For those dx'd with Chiari we r told NO chiro as they can do more harm then good...the cerebral tonsils r herniated down into the spinal cord and with the manipulation can cause it to pinch or kink....avoid this until u know from a chiari specialist that it is ok....
Keep in mind symptoms will come and go.
If you don't know for sure if you have CM I suggest stopping the chiro. it will definitely make matters worse. Best of luck in finding out. I had the Chairi run around for 3 yrs before being dx's I think it is because there are so many different symptoms. Mine was in the ear, neck. so they never really looked at the brain until matters got worse. Best of luck. We are here to help in any way we can.
Linda :)
As a last resort, I started seeing an acupuncturist. This was before I found info about CM. I've had headaches at the base of my skull when I sleep on my back for over 13 years. If I didn't sleep on my back, I was fine. Then over 5 years ago,I started having earaches when I woke up. It progressively has gotten worse so I now have headaches, and not just at waking. But I might go several days w/o any pain. Chiro & massage have helped, but not cured. The acupuncturist says he doesn't think it is CM since it's not every day.
Hi...as geebug said Chiari symptoms do cycle making dx difficult and we never know which symptoms to attribute to it...or we do not connect them together b4 we get the dx and it may take a while to see just how many symptoms we really have......
U can go a month feeling great, and then bam u r down the next 2...we never know, but keep a journal u may be able to find some triggers : )
My symptoms fluctuate, and from what I've read, that's typical if Chiari. The symptoms tend to cycle. I used to have about one bad week every month. Now I usually have a couple of bad days every week. Some of my symptoms - dizziness, nausea, fatigue - are more constant, but they still fluctuate throughout the day.
Some symptoms were constant, like various kinds of headaches. Others came & went, like ear aches, sore throat, & the dysautonomia ones. When they all became chronic, & I started accumulating more, I knew I was in trouble.