A Serious "the More You Know." Medical Post


RoboJoe32

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Mar 9, 2003
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Ever had lapses in your memory, unexplained daily headaches, blurring or staticed vision, ringing in one ear or both that never goes away, a feeling of pressure in your eyes, head, or ears, difficulty swallowing, difficulty sleeping, general "clumsiness" that throws off your balance to the point of being problematic, or have trouble perceiveing depth despite not having anything wrong with your vision?

Or hearing your own heartbeat in one ear day in and day out, or any odd sounds like water or rumbling?

I have a majority of these problems, If you have any you may have something called Chiari Malformation, A condition which you are born with or develop after a neck/head trauma incident. Sometimes it causes no problems (which is rare) but usually it brings in a host of non-lethal but still dangerous symptoms. (However it CAN damage nerves permanently if not treated...)

How to check for it? Get an MRI and ask them to check, however some doctors seem to think chiari malformation is not a legit problem and just say "That growth is nothing" <_< Pack of lying money grubbing jackals in doctor's coats so to speak. Also if you DO get an MRI, ask for a full spinal one too since usually chiari is paired up with spinal syrinix. A condition which is painful and could be dangerous since it affects the cord directly.

What causes Chiari Malformation? The "Tonsils"(sorry, can't remember the full technical term) of the back of your brain herniate and hang down and crowd the space where your brain and spinal cord meet. Causing increased cranial pressure, and pressure on your nerves which can bring.

How to treat it? Keep it easy, don't do anything that strains your neck, no heavy lifting, get around 9-10 hours of sleep, don't stress yourself out, don't use alcohol, caffiene, or nicotine (which increases pressure in your blood vessels and nerves) don't over exert yourself, and get a pillow that provides good neck support, and a chair with a high backing.

How to "cure" it?(it's technically not a cure, just more treatment, so you will still have to follow the treatment list on the site i'm about to post)

Surgery, they remove a small part of skull to relieve pressure, recovery time for this prodcedure is very very long... Sometimes up to a year. But it's good to get this since it cuts the symptoms by alot and prevents any more nerve damage. Also you can ask them not to cut into the dura of your head because it's unnecessary (If they do you have to get a dura patch, which can leak or get infected, which is dangerous. Usually one made out of your own muscle is best, the "dead cow muscle" solution they provide just doesn't sound that safe...)

And the treatment list/resource sites I mentioned.

http://www.pressenter.com/~wacma/bhm-list.htm

http://www.pressenter.com/~wacma/

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chiari/chiari.htm

Why am I posting this? Tons of people have this and are misdiagnosed, or told by doctors that there's nothing wrong. Well there IS something wrong, and it's a damn shame that this isn't haveing any medical research at all put into it.

If I can help a few people who have the same problems as me, Then maybe enough people can become dedicated to raiseing chiari malformation awareness or increase funding for it's research.

Thanks for reading. Peace.
 
Hmmm, I have a majority of those problems as well. I just thought I was getting old, I suffered a fractured skull a few years ago and since then I have had alot of the problems you mentioned but never really thought much about it.

I may have to book an appointment with the quack and see what he thinks, thanks for the heads up though.

Speak to you later... hopefully :blink:
 
I have 8mm chiari, it's not crippling but I do feel "tired" and more drained than usual, I can't last up to my half day MMORPG fests anymore :p But mostly for me so far it's been a push in the right direction (doing things to improve health, getting more sleep) And I may get the surgery sometime this year.
 
Just as Reesy and you, I have a majority of these problems (lapses in my memory, blurring or staticed vision (only sometimes, very rare), ringing in one ear or both that never goes away (slightly, very low volume), a feeling of pressure in your eyes (had THAT very often in the last 2 weeks), difficulty swallowing(also ocasionaly, perhaps the sypmtom I sufer most from), general "clumsiness" that throws off your balance to the point of being problematic(usualy not problematic, but it has gotten stronger in the last 6 months).

I don't actually "suffer" from these symptoms, I have grown up with them and they don't distrub too much. Maybe the next time I see a doctor, i'll have myself checked up.
 
STOP QUOTING HUGE POSTS FOR NO REASON
I hae most of these especially ringing in the ears and the swallowing thing. I have had a miriad of cranial injurys starting several years ago. I also always feel heavy headed
 
mattmagoo posted on Apr 7 2005 at 08:50 PM said:
my nipples are always sore during the cold because half of the are missing

WARNING: Coarse brick walls can shredd human skin
Ouch!
 
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Note, that it's not always chiari if your head hurts and your ears ring :p

Doesn't hurt to get a MRI and check, i'd say a MRI at least once in your life should be mandatory.

And ow at the brick wall comment.
 
sam fisher posted on Apr 7 2005 at 07:51 PM said:
I hae most of these especially ringing in the ears and the swallowing thing. I have had a miriad of cranial injurys starting several years ago. I also always feel heavy headed

I wondered how long it would take for Sam to pipe up about this!

Seriously man - if you're worried, go to the doc...
 
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Axeman posted on Apr 7 2005 at 11:31 PM said:
I wondered how long it would take for Sam to pipe up about this!

Seriously man - if you're worried, go to the doc...

Don't tell him that!! No wonder the NHS are in such a state!!!
Spam Fisher's sing all their money on ridiculous tests!!!!
Speaking of which, who's rea Adrian Mole? Practically Spam Fisher is a book, the damn worrymonger.
 
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Ah crap, I was writing a huge post explaining away all these symptoms one by one (kind of reassurance to the hypochondiacs), then i got to the depth perception bit. Now I'm worried I have the goddamned condition! Hypochondria wins again >_<
 
I'd hoped if people grew up with ringing in their ears and blurry vision and headaches they'd have their brain checked out pretty fast, but sometimes people just don't take action. Hopefully your post has motivated some members to have their head examined, literally.
 
Rico posted on Apr 7 2005 at 11:08 PM said:
I'd hoped if people grew up with ringing in their ears and blurry vision and headaches they'd have their brain checked out pretty fast, but sometimes people just don't take action. Hopefully your post has motivated some members to have their head examined, literally.
Are sleep hallucinations and all that definatly normal?
 
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I feel partially bad about causing a bit of paranoia and discomfort but a little bit better knowing people will at least get a checkup.
 
I've been having trouble sleeping, but I'm pretty sure it's completely unrelated. It's hard to sleep when you have a weird dream about dying in a car crash. It's even harder when the car you were in was actually just you holding a car door and running at breakneck speeds.
 
I had the most fucked up ones last night, classical music playing in the backround and like a never ending killing spree. One person killing another and it didn't stop. And my greatest fear happened when I "woke up". I actually saw something with my eyes open (it normally all starts when my head hits the pillow and I close my eyes). Some freaky little boy walked into my room and into my bookcase, and that was it. I really hope that was the last of that.
 
RoboJoe32 posted on Apr 8 2005 at 01:44 AM said:
I feel partially bad about causing a bit of paranoia and discomfort but a little bit better knowing people will at least get a checkup.
nope i am not getting one. My mum says it is a made up condition which noone hasand is just to scare people. And it is some other thingey. My mum has no qualifications except in art. My dad who knows this sort of thing just says i dont have it. Gonna put info on it as his screen saver.

kknd_cf posted on Apr 8 2005 at 11:38 AM said:
I had the most fucked up ones last night, classical music playing in the backround and like a never ending killing spree. One person killing another and it didn't stop. And my greatest fear happened when I "woke up". I actually saw something with my eyes open (it normally all starts when my head hits the pillow and I close my eyes). Some freaky little boy walked into my room and into my bookcase, and that was it. I really hope that was the last of that.
I had that with a nightmare on elmstreet thing. Ijust fired my air rifle at it. and sruprisingly it died, and sank through the floor. Then i heard strange music and a f'ed up siren. Then i hear 'if theres something strange.........' and the ghostbusters drove through my wall tried to hit me with a brick and crashed their car and ran away.
 
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