Thread:Dustydog202/@comment-35319541-20180507193648/@comment-33002749-20180507215118

Lola,

I have other issues, mainly back issues, that I found out about first. I woke up one day and could not move, just could not get out of bed. This was after living for 20 years in terrible pain. I had it checked when I was younger and was told I had arthritis in my hip and would eventually need a hip replacement but was way too young, I was in my 20s at the time. So I self medicated with Tylenol until it got to the point I was taking 4 extra strength every 2 hours just to be able to function.

Finally got moving that day and drug myself to the ER and of course they were no help. After a month I finally found a PA who was willing to send me for Xrays and then MRIs of my back and hips. This then got me sent to the Neuroscience and Spine Institute 2 miles from where I live. They scheduled me for surgery by the end of that month. It was then that I learned that I was born unique, a one of a kind, a mutant, without any powers or fancy costume, which is not fair, lol. Anyway, my lumbar spine was deformed so the simple L5 S1 fusion was completed and my neurosurgeon had to do a laminectomy on the rest of my lumbar spine - basically he removed all the tiny broken pieces that used to be my facet joints and used a bone graft in the front of my spine to fuse my lumbar spine together. Because of this I have a lot of pain in my lower back so I have a special position I sleep in, flat on my back with my legs propped up on a wedge pillow with the fat part of the wedge facing me and 2 regular pillows on top, so it looks like I'm in a sitting position only lying down. I use a contour neck pillow when I sleep and this helps me quite a bit.

Yes ice on my neck does help me quite a bit with the migraines. There is a surgery to correct Chiari, which I had done last year, but the doctor who did it did not pay attention to my allergies, I'm allergic to blue dyes, and used a blue patch to cover the dura, because that is the color of the patch and he never thought about it, and it has caused me many problems. I am seeing another surgeon now and once I have one more MRI he can schedule another surgery to hopefully fix the problem for me.

Chiari can be something you are born with or it can be something the occurs after a trauma, or the trauma can cause it to become worse and start to cause problems. So the accident you described could very well be the cause of the Chiari if you have it. Chiari can cause problems with your CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) flow. If it does that can easily account for a lot of your vertigo etc. So you really need to have an MRI without and with contrast so that they can check your CSF flow. You could even have problems with that and not have Chiari.

I do take a lot of medication, although not a lot of it is specific for my migraines, most is for my fibromyalgia and my back. The only pills I take that are specific for my migraines are the Topamax 100mg extended release tab twice a day and 50 mg Amitriptyline at night because it makes me very sleepy. Of course my Tramadol that I take for pain also helps but that is prescribed for my back. I could never handled my migraines without something. My pain level with what I take is at its best an 8 so I don't know how you do it, you must be a saint. Diane