Neurology Appointment

Hello All,  I deleted my last blog post about having Arnold Chiari Type 1 Malformation because my wonderful husband said he would prefer having all the facts before sharing it with everyone on the internet.

I had my Neurology appointment today.  I was slightly optimistic when he first read my file because he said Chiari Malformations are over diagnosed these days.  After looking at the MRI results, he did confirm I have it.  It is a condition, where part of the cerebellum (the tonsils) hang farther down than normal, going through the base of the skull.  The further down the hang, the increased chance of it restricting the flow of the cerebral spinal fluid.  He says that mine appears to be a mild case, and that the MRI shows that the cerebral spinal fluid is flowing freely everywhere it needs to be so it's not at all obstructed at this point.  I asked why this didn't show up years ago when I got an MRI.  In most cases of Chiari, you are born with it, but it doesn't manifest itself until later in life.  He says most likely it was just because MRI's have obviously gotten more advanced over the years and pick up more now.

He also said, it may never progress any further, or it might.  We just need to monitor it yearly, or sooner if I notice a worsening of symptoms.  In the mean time I just need to restrict high impact sports (not a problem), running (rarely a problem- unless I'm being chased), roller coasters (bummer), and heavy lifting.  All of those things can potentially cause symptoms to worsen.  The symptoms that I do have are fairly minor other than the ringing in the ears, which I will just need to learn to live with.  And since I've been dealing with migraines for the last 20 years,  we've got a pretty good plan in place for that. Most of my migraines, by the way, are not related to this, as they usually are in the front of my head and Chiari headaches are usually in the back.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them!  Thanks for the support!