Hello all,

My story is quite lengthy so I will try and keep it brief. When I was 15, I blew a pupil and of course, doctors panicked. I had a CT scan which "showed something" and was sent for an MRI. The MRI came back as saying I had low-lying cerebellum and my family doctor waved it off, so I forgot about it. After many more tests and doctors, the pupil was later diagnosed as Adie's tonic pupil, even though my reflexes are still intact.

Now nearly 6 years later, I've been fighting through multiple health problems that are slowly ruining my life. The doctors aren't sure what's going on - I have constant extreme fatigue, dizziness/vertigo, memory loss (I can barely remember my childhood) and ear and neck pain. I also have intermittent hand tremors, headaches (specifically in the back of my head), tingling in my legs, muscle twitches, and blurred vision. Plus, of course, I have a dilated pupil. The hand tremors and tingling has only popped up in the last two weeks.

I was googling my symptoms out of desperation and Arnold-Chiari popped up, and that's when I remembered about my low-lying cerebellum that was never addressed. I actually cried when I was reading the symptom list because it was like reading a description of my life. Could this be a Chiari malformation that got worse? I'm still learning about what all it means.

I was worried that I might have MS and brought it up to my physician - she said, even if I did, it's not a diagnosis I'd want at age 20 and so she didn't do anything. I see an endocrinologist next week but I doubt he can help me. Do any of you think I should ask my doctor for another MRI? To check for Chiari? My problem is that I live in a small town in Canada (population 100,000) with the next biggest hospital 10 hours away - weird problems are either shipped away or missed altogether. I'm the only diagnosed person with Adie's tonic pupil in the city and surrounding area; they pretty much had my family convinced I was dying before realizing it was a benign condition.

Should I be worried about Chiari? Or is having low-lying cerebellum normal? Should I purse getting a neurologist and another MRI? If it is Chiari, would surgery resolve some of the symptoms? (mostly the fatigue is ruining my life - I've all but dropped out of school and my social life has completely disappeared)

I'm sorry for the long post, but I'm desperate. Any advice or thoughts is greatly appreciated. Best wishes and health to everyone.