Ok, maybe I am way off. but in my intial MRI report it said that I had a basilar invagination. At the time, I just assumed that it had something to do with the Chiari or it was just another name for it. I never researched it. Then months after surgery I was reading a post on here that talked about basilar invagination. I remembered reading that on my MRI report. So, I then looked it up. When seeing my NS before/after surgery never mentioned it, that I know/can remember of. So, recently my NL diagnosed me with Basilar Migraines. He said they are not actually in the same class as a migraine, they are not sure where these headaches stem from. Just now a lightbulb went off!!! I wonder if the two go hand in hand? It would def make sense! Any info or suggestions would be great!
Yes, that was a big, bright lightbulb wasn't it :) haha
Of course! I guess the basic idea is that the back of the skull is compressing the cerebellum which pushes forward into other parts of your brain into your odontoid (part of the C2 that points up). From what I understand, Invagination should be taken quite seriously because that actually means that the odontoid is entering your foramen magnum (the hole in the bottom of the skull) and there are some seriously critical parts of the brain that you do not want to mess with (I believe autonomic nervous system?) . The problem is usually that we have had CM for so long that our posture has distorted the odontoid, bending it backwards with the weight of our own head.
You can compare your MRI's to mine if you'd like, but I'm guessing yours is worse because nobody has ever mentioned basilar invagination to me (just basilar "impression"). I'm surgery this week on my CM and we aren't even going anywhere near the odontoid, so make sure to follow my posts if you think we are in similar condition :) and always get a second or even third opinion!
<3much love
This is an interesting gray area. I have read that if you have basilar impression or invagination a decompression surgery could make it worse. The doctor I hope to have surgery with thinks that if it's not very bad, it could resolve with the decompression as everything shifts into a more natural position. Obviously, an area of disagreement among doctors, but I know what i'm hoping for!