I am newly diagnosed with a 10mm herniation and am wondering why I have some great days and then bad days. I am so confused as to how I can have symptoms one day and not the next or why I don't have all of my symptoms at the same time. My neurologist has given me Amitryptilene (probably spelled wrong) and that is helping me sleep better, but nothing helps with the dizziness/light headed feeling. Does anyone else's symptoms come and go or do you have them all of the time?
My symptoms definitely come and go. I have decompression surgery a week from today and am hoping and praying for no symptoms after but now it's a gamble on what the day is going to be like. I really can't plan anything, because I may wake up and be at my "best" (and my "best" is crappy) or I may wake up and barely be able to get out of bed. For me, the symptoms are always "there", it's just what level of severity they're at. Sometimes, they're low enough I can still get a little bit done, sometimes I spend all day watching TV laying in bed because that's all I can physically do.
I have good days and bad days. Some days I can go on a 4 mile run without losing breath. Some days I can’t leave the couch and spend half the day on the floor b/c of drop spells. However, i always have the numb back of the head feeling and i’m always a little light headed. I’m new to this too so I can’t offer any rhyme or reason. But you’re not alone 
I have the same problem, one day I can't get off the couch, my head hurts, I'm dizzy and weak, I can barley swallow. The next I am out at the store walking around. I always have the numbness in the back of my head and always a slight headache. This leave me so confused about surgery, dont know whether I want to risk those ok days incase my surgery doesnt go good.
thanks to all that have responded. It does help me to know others are going through the same thing.
Jules,
We all have 'good days' and 'bad days' with Chiari. Mine depend alot on weather. When it's going to rain I can feel the pressure building up in my body. That's usually when I have headaches too. The other things that increase my symptoms are stress and activity. If I do too much my neck hurts and my face hurts and I gag more often and sometimes I throw up. You are not alone we know what you are going through. .................Wendy
Mine go by weeks. I’ll have a few really bad weeks where it seems like all of my symptoms show up. Then I’ll have sometimes up to a month or two of really great weeks where I’m just a tad foggy and I get a headache here and there.
Hi everyone,
I am relatively new here. I was diagnosed a few months ago after the doctor sent me for an MRI because of numbness, tingling, dizziness,neck pain and headaches. I always have headaches and neck pain but the numbness was new and frightening. I went through about 3 months with these severe symptoms. Then they suddenly disappeared (except for the headaches and neck pain). My neurologist was great. He said that Chirai can be episodic so it’s normal for symptoms to come and go. Looking back I have had many weird symptoms over the years (ringing in ears, forgetfulness) and have always attributed it to stress. I have always lived with headaches which I attributed to allergies (even though allergy shots didn’t help). I am seeing a neurosurgeon next week but am very confused as to whether surgery is right for me. When I’m feeling good I don’t think it’s necessary but when I have symptoms they are so bad that surgery seems like a good option ( the only option)
Thanks for listening,
Meaghan