Need support and to vent

[bananas12]

Hello,

I am a 26 year old female. I have had a lot of Chiari symptoms since I was a young child, but all of them seem to have gotten even worse after my car accident several months back. Someone hit my car from the side, which threw my head sideways into the driver window.

I have not had an official diagnosis but I suspect that I have Chiari. My mom was diagnosed and had surgery for hers, and I know that it tends to run in families.

I have always had neck, head and shoulder pain & weakness for as long as I can remember. The severity usually came and went...sometimes just dull pain, and other times nearly crippling. Now it is pretty much constant and severe. I have had exercise intolerance for just as long. I really enjoy jogging but it gives me awful head pressure and pain, and I find that I can't do it at all anymore. I feel sick after any type of exercise - not just your normal sore/weak muscle kind of feeling, but seriously sick. I usually spend the rest of the evening on the couch or in bed.

Simple tasks are tiresome and make me feel incredibly overwhelmed, such as cooking dinner, washing dishes, taking a shower. I'm dizzy all the time, and sometimes just standing up or walking from point A to point B, I get so dizzy that I seriously think I am going to fall down. Especially for about the first hour after I wake up, you can forget about any type of coordination or stability. My ears never stop ringing. (more like roaring). And one of the newer things I'm experiencing is that some days I have bladder control issues.


I've been battling some pretty intense depression, and I'm not sure if it has a physical cause or if it's just because I'm 26 and my body is falling apart. Every day I feel like I can't do as much as the day before, and looking back even just a few months ago, I feel like I am going downhill fast. It's hard even going to work, but I do because I can't afford not to.


I want to get an MRI and see if I do have Chiari, but I don't have insurance at the moment. The insurance offered through my job is awful. Annual benefits are capped at $1,000 so even if I started forking over the money for insurance, I don't think the full price of an MRI would be covered, much less any type of treatment.

Anyway, this isn't a full list of symptoms, just the ones that are the worst. I feel like I'm drowning in pain and it's scary to think about how much worse I will continue to keep feeling. OTC pain relievers don't seem to help my headaches and neck pain at all.


Sorry for the rambling. I'm at a loss as to what I can do. Any advice, suggestions, ideas, or kind words would be appreciated. Hello,

I have not had a diagnosis but I suspect that I have Chiari. My mom was diagnosed and had surgery for hers, and I know that it tends to run in families.

I am a 26 year old female. I have had a lot of Chiari symptoms since I was a young child, but all of them seem to have gotten even worse after my car accident several months back. Someone hit my car from the side, which threw my head sideways into the driver window.

I have always had neck, head and shoulder pain & weakness for as long as I can remember. The severity usually came and went...sometimes just dull pain, and other times nearly crippling. Now it is pretty much constant and severe. I have had exercise intolerance for just as long. I really enjoy jogging but it gives me awful head pressure and pain, and I find that I can't do it at all anymore. I feel sick after any type of exercise - not just your normal sore/weak muscle kind of feeling, but seriously sick. I usually spend the rest of the evening on the couch or in bed.

Simple tasks are tiresome and make me feel incredibly overwhelmed, such as cooking dinner, washing dishes, taking a shower. I'm dizzy all the time, and sometimes just standing up or walking from point A to point B, I get so dizzy that I seriously think I am going to fall down. Especially for about the first hour after I wake up, you can forget about any type of coordination or stability. My ears never stop ringing. (more like roaring). And one of the newer things I'm experiencing is that some days I have bladder control issues.


I've been battling some pretty intense depression, and I'm not sure if it has a physical cause or if it's just because I'm 26 and my body is falling apart. Every day I feel like I can't do as much as the day before, and looking back even just a few months ago, I feel like I am going downhill fast. It's hard even going to work, but I do because I can't afford not to.

The only thing stopping me from getting an MRI is that I don't have insurance at the moment. The insurance offered through my job is awful. Annual benefits are capped at $1,000 so even if I started forking over the money for insurance, I don't think the full price of an MRI would be covered, much less any type of treatment.

Anyway, this isn't a full list of symptoms, just the ones that are the worst. I feel like I'm drowning in pain and it's scary to think about how much worse I will continue to keep feeling. OTC pain relievers don't seem to help my headaches and neck pain at all.


Sorry for the rambling. I'm at a loss as to what I can do. Any advice, suggestions, ideas, or kind words would be appreciated.

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

Since u do not have INS but need answers u may want to look into ne clinical  trials/studies being done...many times u will get the MRI's and testing for free and many times treatment too...the fact that ur mom was DX'd and treated may give u a leg up in being accepted to a study that may require a family member to participate too....

I do understand ur frustration and that u feel depressed as Chiari can affect how our emotions are....

Since u were in a MVA did they at least do a xray to see if u had whip lash? It is possible that u do from the way ur head was thrown around.....Do look into getting a xray to rule out loss of cervical lordosis....PT can help relax those muscles that will continue to twist and turn in the opposite direction they should be in and  cause u pain....

Make sure the PT knows u have Chiari ....ur minimal INS may cover this and at least u may feel better for a while....

[bananas12]

Well shoot I don't know how that ended up on there twice...