newly diagnosed chiari 1

[elanal]

Hi,

My first symptom appeared when I was 35 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child.  I woke up with horrible ringing in my ears that has not gone away.  Shortly after giving birth, I started getting awful pain at the base of of my neck which has gotten progressively worse.  I had an mri and was diagnosed with chiari.  However, the neurosurgeon and neurologist that I have been seeing me both say that my chiari is very minor with no fluid involvement.  Recently, I have been getting dizzy spells. They believe that the pain could be resulting from the chiari but not the dizziness and tinnitus.

I am at a loss. I have two beautiful children that are watching their mommy not feel well almost every single day.  My questions:

1. The neurosurgeon said he would perform surgery because of the pain but does not think it will alleviate the tinnitus.  Is surgery a good idea? or do the risks outweigh the benefits?

2. Has anyone heard of chiari symptoms being induced from pregnancy?

Any advice, opinions???  Anyone know of good specialists in the ny/nj area?

Thanks sooooo much!

[zygy2]

I agree :)  Wouldn't want this surgery for ear ringing but it did take care of mine along with other more buggy things!  I was amazed when all the ringing went away, it was quite loud and annoying at times and I wondered if it would go away or not, for me it did :)  I also had an increase in things after two natural childbirths but not bad enough to cause me concern, it took a head hit to finally make things really bad but now when I look back I can see that this was progressing when I had my kids, headaches increased greatly after having kids.  Post op my headaches were so much better.  Good luck on this journey, it can be long and frustrating but wonderful when you have the answers and help that you need!! -zygy

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

First...the ringing in the ears is very annoying, but not a reason to get surgery, and it may not alive the symptoms....surgery is to restore flow and slow progression....and hopefully help some symptoms....

Make sure u go to a true chiari specialist not just a NS that will do chiari surgeries...there is a big diff and u will want the better of the 2.

We do have a list of Drs for u to research, the list is not meant as a referral, just a means to help u get started on ur research-http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Neurological%20Disorders/DOCTORS-LIST-FOR-CHIARI-SYRINGOMYELIA/show/1062?cid=186

Pregnancy can trigger symptoms to flare....u may have had symptoms b4 but not as bad and may have attributed them to something else...but the strain of natural birth can and will cause this as will a MVA, coughing, sneezing.....or a roller coaster ride : (

  There is the Chiari Institute in Great Neck , NY.....and a few others in NY as well....check out the list and the Drs to see which one is right for u : )

   "selma"