Coping with Chiari

[ginnylouwho]

I have been recently diagnosed with a CM1 of 10mm, after bringing a list of symptoms to my gp.  I am a stay at home mom, mostly because I haven't been able to work since my symptoms started after a car wreck~thank god for awesome spouses!  I have another month to wait for my neurologist appointment~already been waiting for 3...

Anyway, I stay at home and cook, clean, pay bills, etc., you get the idea.  For the last 2 years things have been getting progressively worse, and I have been forgetting to do things, or outright stopping in the middle of tasks because I suddenly remember that something else needs done.  I'm having trouble coping with things~I stress out, am getting depressed, not remembering stuff for the kids~
I make lists, and lose them.  I have a dry erase board, and forget to look at it.  
if anyone has any suggestions for getting sleep, helping with insomnia (tried a prescription...major hallucinations and sleep walking), increasing attention span? Anything~I would be so grateful!

Thanks again everyone.

[desertstorm2009]

Hi Ginny....
Your story sound all too familiar. First of all, meds don't help with Chiari. NL's will dismiss your condition and prescribe all kinds of meds, this is what they do. Surgery is what is needed more often than not. My daughter and I have both been through this. Just being honest with you. Save yourself much heartache and time, find a good NS. This doesn't get better otherwise. Good luck to you. Lisa

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

Sleep is one of the major issues we all have and complain about as we need to sleep or we can be more our of sorts...I feel it affects our balance more when we do not sleep....so it is something to look at.

Sleep apnea affects many with Chiari so, u may want a sleep study done to rule this related condition out.

Find a true Chiari specialist and have more testing done to rule out other related and non related conditions that could be affecting u.

We do have a list of Drs in the Health Pages for u to use as a tool to start researching Drs as the list is NOT a referral nor an endorsement for those listed.
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/list?cid=186

Ask ur Dr about antihistamines....since my Dr started me on them I sleep much better....I also had decompression surgery for Chiari....but sleep was still an issue....going to bed at the same time every night helps too....

Keep us posted on ur Dr search and testing issues/results.