Tingling....Numb feelings

[daveman]

Im 29 years old..Male
Here are symptoms:

extreme pressure in ears (off and on).......tingling in left hand and left foot........sometimes preceived weakness ....ringing in ears at times.......also facial numbness.and body numbness.(feels like face is rubber..i can bite down on my lip and not feel pain)...feeling sometimes left side of mouth is cold.....head tingling.....sometimes skin pallor...And Urinary Sensation decreased Not INcontinence the actuall sensation of relief is gone..Nor moring erections....dizziness.unblanance..Wake up alot out of sleep with DEAD ARM..(where it just lays there and you have to swing it around for a few minutes to have any feeling at all)

Tests:
Had MRIs (with contrast) of........Brain..C-spine...and T-spine.....all were negative....Brain did note a Chiari Malformation.....said Clinical corelation indicated?

This is driving me nuts any Ideas would be great thanks....
do you think it is TIA or something with blood flow....
Have a great day

Dave

[justy]

If you read Chiari 1 Redefined (a study of 364 patients) which is available at the wacma site in the "on site info" the Dr. concludes that a patient with less than the criteria of a 3-5 mm herniation, should not be excluded from the diagnosis of Chiari 1 Malformation if the symptoms warrant it, and that cine MRI is helpful in diagnosing these patients. He believes that the tonsillar herniation is only the "result" of a too small posterior fossa, with a too steep tentorium, and an underdeveloped oxcipital bone, and is not the actual problem itself. 9% of the people in his study had less than a 3-5 mm herniation and did indeed have Chiari. When I went to see him I had a series of tests including a cine MRI,3D CT scan. The cine showed that I had no csf flow posteriorly and the 3D showed that the back bottom part of my head was flat instead of being a more rounded shape. A regular MRI of the brain showed that my cerrebellum is so compressed that it is actually wearing away the bone. I had been to 3 neurosurgeons previously who did not see what the problem was. I am now awaiting surgery to try to help alleviate the symptoms.

[justy]

Hi Dave,

I have Chiari and it can cause the symptoms you mentioned. Most neuro's correlate the degree of tonsillar herniation, in which the brain protrudes into the spinal canal, with the symptoms- however- this has been disputed by a well known neurosurgeon in Long Island in a 1999 clinical study called "Chiari 1 Redefined." Don't let anyone tell you that your Chiari Malformation is "too small" to be causing problems. You can get more information about this disorder at www.wacma.com

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

Please keep in mind I have never seen you nor have I reviewed your diagnostic studies, therefore an accurate medical opinion based on a brief post cannot be made. What I can say is that the normal MRIs are somewhat reassuring that you don't have a serious neurological illness such as brain tumor or stroke. It is very unlikely that the Chiari is responsible for any of your symptoms and is probably an incidental finding. You have numerous symptoms that do not localize to one region of the nervous system. However, a few things to consider depending on if your symptoms occur in episodes and how long they last include complex migraine (without the headache)and seizures. Another possiblity is an autonomic problem which can affect multiple organ systems such as your skin's temperature regulation or ability to sweat, urination/bowel changes, feelings of early satiety/GI disturbances, and cardiac complaints just to name a few. Special autonomic labs can test for small fiber neuropathies and other aspects of autonomic nervous system. Consider a second opinion at a major academic center. Good luck.

[TexasGrrl]

Also, most of the major neurosurgeons are finding a very strong correlation between Chiari and dysautonomia (the autonomic problems the neuro mentioned above).  I actually have dysautonomia, but it's secondary to something else, not Chiari -- ruled out by MRI.  However, the compression that the cerebellar tonsils can put on the upper c-spine can cause many of the dysautonomic symptoms.

As I was reading your post, I was not surprised to see you mention Chiari, but I was surprised to see that it was ignored.

Any idea how many mm's your tonsils protrude past the foramen magnum? If not, you should find them. And you can send your films to Dr. Dan Heffez in Chicago for review.. he is one of the top neuro surgeons for Chiari. He's treated several of my dysautonomia friends.

Another thing you can try is to go to the National Institute of Health's website (I think it's www.nih.gov) and see if they have any neuro studies you can participate in.  They have helped many of my dysautonomic friends get diagnosed and treated when dozens of doctors could not.

Hang in there.. neuro problems are a pain in the neck (pun intended) to deal with, mostly because for all our knowledge about the human body and the brain, we still don't know much at all.

[daveman]

left someting out.....sometimes when i have the face tingling and numbness i can make iot worse my moving my face around.i dont know if this means anything