I am almost 4 months post op Chiari decompression surgery and felt that my recovery was going well until 2 weeks ago when I returned to work. I am a RN and I returned to work only doing 4 hr shifts twice a week. At the end of those shifts, I am completely exhausted. I have started to have weakness and pain in both legs, pain in other random areas of my body, red and swollen joints, daily fatigue, and just feel like i cant handle stress anymore. It has gotten so bad in the last 2 weeks, that sometimes I can barely walk. I also still have neck pain and stiffness, too. The good thing is that my severe Chiari symptoms are gone!
I’m just wondering what else is going on with me. I’m wondering if I have some kind of auto-immune disease. I have read that some experience muscle pain with Chiari, but it seems that my other symptoms may be something else.
Any thoughts?
I don’t have BP issues that I know of. I do get lightheaded occasionally. I do feel that my surgeon was supportive in how I was feeling about returning to work at shortened hours, but I feel like I wasn’t as ready as I thought and now my recovery has regressed a bit. I’m going to see my primary care doc tomorrow to get his opinion on some of my issues. Thanks for your responses! Sometimes it is just helpful to know that I’m not alone in all this. 
So I saw my PCP today and he was concerned by the issues I am having and he is running a bunch of bloodwork to see if there is some auto immune issue going on. He also took me back off work for 2 weeks and told me to rest and avoid stress. I am listening for sure!
Lyn727, I am 7months post-op and still trying to regain my stamina. I think that the NS community underestimates the cumulative trauma that the Chiari symptoms and then the surgery causes for our bodies and our psyches. All that I can say is listen to your body and adjust you activity accordingly. Also, you may want to try taking asprin, white willow bark, and quercetin/bromilian to pre-emptively address the inflammation. You may have pro-inflammatory cytokines that are up-regulated in the wake of the surgery and the chronic pain before hand. These little chemicals share the wealth when it comes to causing inflammation. Also, did the lights at the hospital bother you before the surgery? Oddly, that could cause the fatigue and bodily weakness because, I believe, that when you get decompressed, you have to re-calibrate your visual perception. IF you think that you have an auto-immune problem, have someone at work order an ANA titer to rule that out. Topical creams like arnica, bio-freeze, and Volteran (prescription) might help with the neck pain as well. Anyway, I hope that you find some more healing. Remember what everyone on this site does a good job of reminding me: The surgery is a treatment, not a cure. Stay strong, Fr. D
My labs came back normal except for a low vitamin d level. I am taking 10,000 units of liquid vitamin d per day for that. I am still having the bad fatigue, joint pain, neck pain, leg pain and weakness, all over body pain, “brain fog”, difficulty focusing. My surgeon says he doesn’t know what all my symptoms are related to, possibly Chiari or just stress from the surgery. He says I just need more time recovering. My primary care doc is questioning if I have fibromyalgia, but he wants to see if there is any improvement with replacing the vitamin d. He is great but not very familiar with Chiari aymptoms. I have done more research into Chiari and fibromyalgia but am confused about what my symptoms are really related to because there are a lot of similarities. I am so desperate to figure this out. I just feel so lost because no one can give me concrete answers or any time table for when i my feel better or even if i am stuck with this for good. I guess thats typical for us chiarians. I just hoped i was done with that part after the surgery. Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!