Does anyone else suffer from these? Are they connected, I get a blind spot followed by a wavy flickering arc in my vision, can’t see properly, lasts about 30 minutes and will later get a blinding headache
True migraine headaches are almost never caused by Chiari Malformations. Most patients with severe headaches,\ will eventually will have an MRI. If it happens that a patient also has a Chiari I, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that the malformation itself is causing the headaches when it may simply be a coincidence. It is more common to see patients who have chronic or transformed migraines plus an unrelated Chiari than it is to see patients with chronic headaches actually caused by the malformation.
Determining if the headache is an actual migraine can be a challenge however. The headaches most typical of Chiari are usually located at the back of the head, and are often made worse by exertion. There is often neck pain and stiffness. The cause of these headaches are usually adhesion formed over time. Decompression will often not relieve these headaches as the adhesions remain. In fact in the case of very small syrinx not easily found on MRI the relieving of pressure with decompression may actually make headaches worse.
Some people get migraine headaches without the visual symptoms. Some people get the visual symptoms without the headache. These aretrue Ophthalmic Migraine and are very common. The cause is due to a temporary spasm in the blood vessels behind the eye called "vasospasm" similar to a spasm or cramp that you may have once experienced in one of your leg muscles (Charlie-Horse). They are not related to Chiari although occipital pressure can cause a similar headache. If the symptoms occur in only one eye, it is a different situation and needs to be seen IMMEDIATLY.
Thank you, chiari has so many symptoms it’s sometimes difficult to separate them from other things, symptoms in both eyes
It is difficult to separate. Frustrating at best. Easily taken advantage of at the worst. One needs to understand what their medical team is talking about and have more than one opinion at the very least. The temptation to self diagnose based on others experiences along the way is overwhelming and all too easy.