Does anyone know if Selma is still here? Wonder what she would think about everything I know she’s heard a lot of chiari stories.
They are keeping me overnight for observation. They did a mri of my brain and Cspine and I’ll go over it with the neurosurgeon tomorrow.. The nurse told me the mri said borderline chiari but guess we will see what the neurosurgeon says.. Insaw the neurosurgeon before I had the mris and she didn’t think I needed to get a spinal tap until I had the mris done. God I hope this isn’t high pressure in my head I’ve read it can kill you quick..
Hydro and high ICP are similar but different things. Hydro is fluid inside the brain itself and high ICP is fluid buildup on top of the brain. I have high ICP and although miserable I’ve not heard of it causing death. It can lead to permanent blindness if not treated due to pressure increase on the optic nerve. There is a mad that is used to treat it called diamox. It has nasty side effects but it reduces the amount of fluid. I was on it for well over a year.
Hoping you get some answers soon
Without the proper testing it’s haed to say what it is or isn’t. I can only go by symptoms that I’ve had. I had throbbing pressure headaches that pulsed loudly and painfully inside my head. Couldn’t move my head even slightly without it. I literally heard my heartbeat every time I moved and the ringing in the ears was deafening. Also I had visual disturbances including bright flashes of light and black spots that caused loss of vision. I had many visual field tests and had significant abnormalities show.
If you proceed with an LP, be sure they are aware of your chiari because drawing too quickly can cause the brain tonsils to be pulled down further causing worsening symptoms. Also be aware of the chance of spinal fluid leak from this procedure. It happened to me and had to have a blood patch to seal it
I did have burning pain in my neck and back of head. And the shoulder blades. And the ringing in the ears (which I always have but gets intense with the pressure) is very high pitched and it’s literally all I can hear along with a helicopter sound thumping nonstop. Very frustrating.
I wouldn’t let anyone jump to inserting a shunt as those can cause more issues than they help sometimes. It was proposed for me but was a last resort. Most times the decompression surgery can help and sometimes the surgery can cause high ICP. Which is what happened to me after surgery no 1.
Well I saw a neurosurgeon about they scans I had yesterday and he said it’s a small malformation at around 5mm. He said he knows quite about chiari and he didn’t see any kind of blockage or anything and he said he didn’t think chiari was causing my symptoms... Which I don’t really believe that but guess I’m gonna have to investigate other causes. I did get a eye exam here at the hospital awhile ago and their was ok swelling of my optic nerves which is good but doesn’t rule out ICP..