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Chiari decompression post surgery experiences

On January 22nd, 2019 I had decompression surgery. The neurosurgeon specialized in Chiari Type 1 procedures and I completely trust him. I woke up from surgery feeling pretty good, minus the pain I felt from surgery itself. I noticed that my right eye didn’t twitch when I woke up from surgery but my vision was still a bit fuzzy. Prior to surgery my symptoms came and went, it I exerted myself or used my upper body too much I’d give myself a headache for a few days. The main symptoms I experienced prior to surgery were vertigo, leg weakness, lower back pain, right arm weakness, right sided skull base/occipital headache, blurred vision, nearsightedness, muscle tightness in the neck shoulder region, problems swallowing, etc. Since surgery ( 18 days) I was feeling pretty out of it, mind and body wise. I feel like my senses are dulled, like my brain isn’t receiving  the signals of touch or pain effectively. Has anyone else experienced this after surgery? Just an overall feeling of dullness if sense? Obviously the cerebellum is the epi-center of communication for your sense so it’s probably just recovering but I just want to be sure it’s not something I should be more concerned with. I also have developed tinnitus in my left ear, which is odd bc all of my symptoms were specific to my right side prior to surgery. I hope it’s just temporary bc I am going insane with the ringing. I still have back pain and muscle weakness in my legs, I’ve been pretty active since the surgery though, which I’m scolding myself for now bc I hope I didn’t impede my recovery. Active in the sense of taking walks and moving around, I’ve done laundry and cooked since I’ve been out of the hospital so hopefully I didn’t add any damage. Anywho, anyone who’s had the surgery and can correlate to the experience would make me feel better, I just feel so like bland, it’s annoying.
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620923 tn?1452915648
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and congratulations on becoming a Zipperhead!

However, you may be rushing into doing too much too soon.....and how you feel will directly be impacted on what you do during this recovery period.

Slow and steady  is the way to go....walking is ok..but LAUNDRY.....NO not yet. No cooking either since depending on the size pot you ue may be too large/heavy to lift....plus, it's hot and full of hot stuff....you don't want to drop on yourself.

Post op it is typical to feel sooooo  much better but much of it can be the meds....as they wear off you will notice other things like you mentioned, (we're all different ) and as you heal those things will or should change and be short lived. The nerves are coming back to life so they can be overactive as a result of surgery which is a trauma to your entire body, which is why we say go slow.Tinnitus can be the result of healing or pain meds....I always had it and it did go away for a time, but I get it back every now and then, not nearly as intense as it was prior to surgery.

I had surgery 10 years ago this May, and I saw benefits over a period of at minimum 7 years....you will not see all the benefits right away as it took years for all of them to build up.

Are you still on pain meds? This may explain your dullness sensation.
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2 Comments
Thank you for your response! And no I stopped the pain meds 7 days after surgery, I really wasn’t in any pain, the headache I had after surgery was nothing compared to the headaches I experienced before so I could manage fine. I was taking Tylenol still up till two days ago, I’m really not in much pain. Obviously my neck is stiff and sore but I’m not a medication type of person, so I do the isometric exercises or apply an ice pack or heat as I need.
It’s so scary to read that people got worse after surgery, I keep trying to read the positive stories but I’m terrified.
Doing too much too soon can cause setbacks.....so just take things slowly.
Sending prayers for a continued smooth recovery.
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