Hi, y’all, my (real) name is Mariah. I’m 36, married and have 3 crazy boys, ages 16,13,11. I have been having symptoms for probably about 10 years, but I kept coming up with plausible excuses for them. “I’m tired, well I didn’t sleep good.” “I have a headache, must be allergies or stress.” “My neck/back is killing me, I must’ve slept wrong or picked something heavy up.” and the list could go on and on… My mother passed away Jan of 2012 from complications due to Multiple Sclerosis. That occurrence made me look at my health much closer. My husband encouraged me to get checked out, since many of my symptoms looked like MS. After a couple months, a NS in San Antonio, TX, diagnosed me with Chiari, Type 1. Right now, I’m trying to managed my 10mm Chiari with meds. I really am scared of having the surgery, so I’m praying the meds will keep me going! Any advice or encouragements are welcome, as well as any questions y’all may have!
Thanks for your reply!! I had a Brain MRI and then a Cervical & Upper Spinal MRI a few weeks later. I definitely have learned to sleep it off! LoL! I’m glad I’m not the only one. Luckily for me, I work from home, so I am able to pretty much set my own work hours. If its a “bad day” when I wake up, then I stay in bed until noon-ish. Sometimes I have an okay day, but around 2 or 3 o’clock, I have to go take a nap. It really sucks. The fatigue, foggyness, headaches and neck/back pain are unbearable sometimes. Today is one of those days…my head really hurts and my neck is killing me!
Welcome to the group, Mariah! I am 35 years old and was diagnosed in 11/12. My symptoms came on that month and have been adding more and getting worse ever since. I'm seeing an Neurosurgeon, a Neurologist, a pain specialist, and a bunch of others. We are trying to do everything we can to try and get the symptoms under control so that I don't have to have surgery. (I have a 7 mm herniation with no syrinx that I am aware of) I keep hearing from my That's interesting. Just know that you are not alone. I have learned so much from these wonderful people on this site! Educating yourself and keeping track of EVERYTHING will help you tremendously. My doctors love that I come in with my notebooks full of questions and that I have lists of my symptoms and other info of what I've been going through. Without those notebooks, I'd be lost. My memory is not what it used to be! Good luck to you and if you want to chat more, you can reach me here!
Hi TexasMom1977! I can so relate to what you are saying. Looking back 11 years ago, before I was diagnosed with CM ,I too was always telling my kids and family that I had headaches or my back hurt, etc. They all got tired of that quick, but they just didn't understand.
I too manage my CM with meds. You will learn so much from the members here and their journeys are amazing! Sorry you are having a bad day today, I hope it gets better. We all look forward to getting to know you better.
SparkyID7
Thanks to all of you for your replies and suggestions!! It's so nice to be able to talk to others who understand what I'm feeling. My husband is very supportive, but I know even he gets tired of me always being tired or having a headache or backache.......It's just weird that I can feel okay and then it's like BAM! time to go take a nap....especially if I get too hot! Does the heat affect any of you? It gives me a headache and just flat-out exhausts me!
~Mariah