Hi, I am very new to this. I was just diagnosed with Chiari type 1 (11mm) last week after an MRI. Because of health problems, I have been out of work for eight months and don't have two dimes to rub together, as I haven't received any type of disability. Doctors have been trying to find out what has been going on with me for two years, which was about when the symptoms started. Just prior to that time I had been in a car accident, but nobody made that connection till now. I am very concerned and more than a little scared if I'm being honest. I just don't know what to do. Even after my MRI none of my physicians seem to believe things are as bad as I say. Even family has seemed to question at times.They are good people, but you just can't see Chiari, and without a diagnoses for so long it is hard to understand how every doctor could be missing something. I see that all of my symptoms are consistent with the info I've found, but I don't know if it is typical for a Chiari patient to have so many of these at one time. I have complex sleep apena, headaches, dizziness with occasional fainting and falling which is usually to my right side, tinnitus in my right ear, my hands and feet feel get cold and numb and tingle sometimes with stiffness running up legs an arms and to the point where it becomes hard to walk, I often have blurred vision which when it hits usually only lasts a minute or two and the eyes refocus, and I always feel fatigued, and have really bad issues with memory. Is this usual? I know everyone is different, but is this within the norm? I just don't know what to think. The headaches and sleep apnea I have had since around the time of the accident, but a lot of the rest has been fairly recent, which really worries me because things are getting much worse very quickly. I'm scheduled for another MRI this week. This one is on the spine which they didn't do last time. I don't know why they are doing that. I don't know why my doctors aren't more concerned. Is 11mm small for a Chiari herniation? Is that size usually considered a mild case? Sorry for the long post. Any advise please!

The medical books say each patient is different, don't know why most doctors choose to ignore that! Number One, find a doctor that will listen to you! It took me nine months to find a really great neurosurgeon who is NOT KNIFE HAPPY! He prefers patients to 'walk in' their MRI films because he knows not to go by what the radiologist writes down. He found I have syringomyelia and chiari malformation, wrote a script for a foam cervical collar, handed me a print out of isometric exercises that strengthen the neck muscles . . . now I can walk a little better, no longer see my 'brain' and can breathe easier when I lie down. Keep complaining, keep looking, and research, help yourself until you find a doctor who will partner in helping you too!

If you are still having trouble with the cold, numb, tingling in your hands and feet, you may want to have your doctor check you for Raynaud's disease. Just a suggestion, but it sounds familiar to symptoms a family member of mine was having and was just recently diagnosed with. I doing research, I have found several links to Chiari and Raynaud's.