Rush of bubbles? Anyone else???

[2001ri]

Hi there - I have Chiari 1, 10 mm with good anterior flow, but totally absent posterior CSF flow at the foramen magnum level (thanks to the cine mri results). I'm not scheduled to see a doctor again, so I apologize if I ask random questions on here in the meantime, since I don't have anywhere to bounce these questions off anymore!!

My question is this - a few times each day, I get a sudden rush of bubbles at the back of my head at the foramen magnum....you know how a water cooler will bubble suddenly? It's just like that, but in my head. I also get this in my spine a few times a day. Is this just a harmless side effect of the chiari? I'm pretty sure it's a rush of CSF somehow getting through the blockage in the back part of my head...I must move or something where it temporarily unblocks. Does anyone else experience this?

It's not painful - just super strange feeling :)

[AnnieDear]

I did ask my doctor on Wednesday. Unfortunately, he didn't really have an answer for me. Just told me to do new MRIs and we'll go from there. Sorry!

[2001ri]

Please let me know what they say if you remember to ask your doctor. I totally forgot to ask mine so I am very interested! And like Amy said, mine isn't a sound like blood rushing at all, it is the water rushing/gurgling sensation. Definitely sounds like we are having the same thing...my husband looks at me like I am crazy when I tell him my head is bubbly!

[AmyFS]

I get the same type of sensation, although it feels more like a rush of water all at one time. Like you said, I wondered if it was the CSF somehow breaking through a blockage, because I also feel a wave of relief when it happens. Very hard to describe but I think those of us who experience it know what I mean. It is a good feeling but very unusual.  It doesn't happen very frequently, but it is usually if I am laying down and change position.
Too bad the docs can't take it more seriously.  Mine is not a sound like blood rushing in or near my ears but a physical sensation in the back of my head/neck exactly at the surgery site where the part of my skull was removed.  For those of us who have given birth, you can liken it to the feeling of when your water breaks (not to be gross...but it feels like that sort of a rushing/draining sensation. Only on a much smaller scale!)
It is always so good to find when other people have the same weird things going on :)  

[AnnieDear]

I get this, too! I'm going for my 6 month post-op appointment next Wednesday and that is one of the questions on my list. If I get any answers, I'll be sure to share them!

AnnMarie

[Dicon]

Yes I get the same exact thing and you're right...it is a super strange feeling.  I find that it happens most when I've been upright for a while and then lay down.  I have also thought that it's due to CSF obstruction and just changing positions helps it to pass through and that is what causes the bubbling.  I also get it in my lower back area - sometimes with pressure or pulsating.  I still have not been dx'd with chiari but I am convinced of it. Still trying to find a Dr that has a clue about it.  I don't know if this is a harmless side effect or not.  When it first started happening it worried me.  It still makes me a bit uneasy when it happens due to the strange feeling it causes.

[selmaS]

  Hi we have had many members mention this same sensation.....there may be more older threads on this topic in the Neuro forum b4 the Chiari forum was started.And if I remember correctly, Drs do not admit it is the CSF, but say it could be blood flowing in the area of the ears and that is y we hear it....I know some say they also felt it as well...so no clear response from a DR saying it is  the CSF getting thru, but it is  odd that so many with a CSF obstruction would get these sensations.