Hi Bombshell, I wanted to mention that my thoughts on upright MRI’s have changed a bit over the years. I have found that most of us with these Chiari-type symptoms DO have crowded brain stem areas,
but it is generally secondary to a propensity for high intracranial pressure (both pushing the brain down a bit and putting some direct pressure on the brain stem. The position (upright or not) is less important than whether intracranial pressure is normalized. We can reverse most small Chiari’s with Diamox and find that this propensity for high pressure is reduced when we can locate and treat the underlying cause of illness. In other words, it’s not generally “just” an anatomical issue. This means that if upright MRI’s are expensive or difficult to obtain, it may not be worth it! I hope this helps!
🙂