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February 16, 2017 at 1:09 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6115BarbaraParticipant
I see what you are saying but that’s relying on the integrity of the ligaments. Considering the type of injury, there’s a high possibility that some of your ligaments were torn in the accident. Have you checked for Occipital Condyle fractures on your scans? Did you have x-rays taken at the time of the accident ?
February 15, 2017 at 6:26 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6112BarbaraParticipantAh, I think it’s actually the skull itself that has crushed the VA’s against the upper surface of C1. It’s a very narrow area between 2 bones that are normally held rigidly apart. Looking at your 3D CT scans, there is something of a ‘cock-robin’ type appearance to your C1, it appears further above C2 than it should be at the back.
Can you show me 3D CT views of the left side and the right side, as if the view was taken from 3 inch above your shoulder?
February 15, 2017 at 6:07 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6111BarbaraParticipantSo the VA’s are occluded just inside the skull, after they have gone up and over C1, yes?
February 14, 2017 at 2:47 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6108BarbaraParticipantI rotated the 3D scan 90 degrees, to see it in better perspective. There also seems to be an irregularity here, on the spinous process of C4, where I have marked in purple. These spinous processes should all be relatively equidistant, held so by ligaments. I wonder, is that why you need a BiPAP machine to help you breathe ?
February 14, 2017 at 1:52 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6107BarbaraParticipantNo, I could actually see the occlusions, I just couldn’t work out whereabouts in your head, neck or chest they were, as there were no surrounding tissues to use as a bench mark.
I have a profiling bed which I keep in the head upright position and my feet have to be 6″ lower than my bottom, to avoid cramping and aid circulation, so I have a raised ‘wedge’ of foam underneath me.
BarbaraParticipantAlso check your vestibular mechanism.
If this is found to be involved, Cawthorne Cooksey exercises can help re-calibrate your brain
BarbaraParticipantJust read your first post too, in it you said you study all you can about, EDS, ME, POTS, CCSVI, scoliosis, migraine, spine health, spina bifida okkulta – do you suffer from all of these ? If so, I notice 3 things:-
1. You have indications of Magnesium Deficiency:-
Migraines
Connective Tissue Disorder (EDS)
Poor Energy Regulation (ME)
Bone Health IssuesMagnesium also helps to lower the raised intracranial pressure, which could help if you can’t get Diamox.
http://prettyill.com/videos/watch/the_magic_of_magnesiumor you can read about it at:-
http://prettyill.com/downloads/Magnesium_and_EDS_by_Heidi_Collins,_MD.pdfImproving your diet to include more magnesium helps, which can be found in Dr Mark Hymen’s video, that lists foods high in Magnesium:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUWL1o2hSrs&feature=player_embedded#t=328
2. You also have indications of B Vitamin deficiency, particularly Folate, shown by your:-
MS
Chiari 1
Spina bifida occulta
Scoliosis,3. You need Vitamin C regularly throughout the day, to help
Heal the body
Produce better quality collagen
Aid the immune system
. . . . and so on.Hope this helps
February 14, 2017 at 10:25 am in reply to: Severe, constant, chronic pain from EDS hypermobility #6102BarbaraParticipantUnfortunately many people end up taking a stack of painkillers which only deplete magnesium, which makes things worse. Checkout this info on Magnesium Deficiency as a starting point:-
Dr Diana’s video on Magnesium
http://prettyill.com/videos/watch/the_magic_of_magnesiumhttp://prettyill.com/forums/viewthread/1802/#5269
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
Hope this info will help you find effective pain management soon.
BarbaraParticipantWere you sweating when you woke up with your problems during the night and, did these continue for some time ?
Regarding your constipation (and some of your other symptoms) checkout the info on Magnesium Deficiency:-
http://prettyill.com/videos/watch/the_magic_of_magnesium
http://prettyill.com/forums/viewthread/1802/#5269
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
It really is an eye-opener. For some people there will be an initiating event such as a trauma, or a virus, or something similar that swells the brain but for other people, they cannot link any specific trigger to their symptoms, it just sort of crept up on them and this is where a progressive magnesium deficiency could be the initiating factor.
February 14, 2017 at 9:00 am in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6100BarbaraParticipantI think your suspicion is correct. I have had to manage my Cranio-Cervical Instability (CCI, otherwise called AOI Atlanto-Occipital Instability) the ‘conservative’ way, i.e. with a Philadelphia collar (fixed to a body brace for quite a long time) in fact I still use a Johnson CTO (big metal head and body brace) as well on a nightime – the latter mainly to stop the pillows from pushing my head forwards. In the abscence of fixation surgery, you need to seriously consider this option, it’s vital you support this area and help avoid any movements that will exacerbate the already injured area.
Regarding the VA (Vertebral Artery) I had a suspected partial dissection of my left vertebral artery following my flexion/rotation injury and, as this artery threads up through each vertebrae, looping over the top neck bone C1 (Atlas), then into the skull, I can understand why this vessel is particularly vulnerable. You say your VA was occluded as well as your ICA (Internal Carotid Artery) and I can see them in the scans but I’m not used to reading these type of scans so, can you identify anatomically whereabouts in your neck/head these occlusions occur?
I also think you should consider how else you can mitigate these circumstances as much as possible, i.e. by regularly taking Omega 3, or other supplements that help to maintain blood vessels and circulation (if you’re not doing so already).
February 13, 2017 at 6:05 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6099BarbaraParticipantThe 3D CT scan shows a subtle misalignment (annotated in green here) and I’m wondering if this is the result of a rotational injury, or indeed an instability of C1 and C2 (AAI).
February 13, 2017 at 5:39 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6098BarbaraParticipantNo problem, happy to help when I can.
I’d like to address the issue of your ‘heart racing during sleep’. There are probably lots of possible causes but here’s a couple that spring to mind:-
1. Could it be a dysfunction ? – Autonomic dysfunction.
I too had this problem of seemingly inappropriate nocturnal tachycardia and I wondered if it was related to head position. I would wake up with my chin right down on my chest – a position I don’t ever recall being able to achieve before my accident and my heart racing. I’d also be cold, yet clammy. So, if you do wake with your head in flexion, could it be the retroflexed odontoid putting subtle pressure on your brainstem and causing autonomic nervous system problem ? A Philadelphia collar should help alleviate this. If you don’t wake up with your head in flexion, could it be a full bladder or something causing an autonomic dysreflexia type problem? or2. Could it be a reaction ? –
I know venous drainage (from the head) takes a different path when you are laid down, imagine that this is not working properly and drainage is poor, it would raise intracranial pressure, thus making it more difficult to deliver oxygenated blood to the brain, the body’s other mechanisms for addressing this problem are, increasing blood pressure, or increasing heart rate.I have to sleep sitting up
February 12, 2017 at 3:23 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6096BarbaraParticipantThe second thing I would like to address is your symptoms like MND (Motor Neurone Disease). I suffered a progressive decline in physical ability, that at one point I wondered if it was ALS/MND, so I did study this in some detail but it’s a long time since I looked into these (10yrs), so forgive me if I’m wrong and please feel free to correct me. I believe it’s the back of the spinal cord that’s linked to these symptoms, yes ?
Well in Cranio-cervical instability, the spinal cord gets stretched and squashed when you move your head in various positions (the worse usually being flexion – so avoid this at all costs). Either of these two mechanisms can injure the spinal cord, sometimes temporarily (where you notice intermittent symptoms). I cannot stress strongly enough that you wear a fully supporting collar – the best I have found for cranio-cervical support and alignment, is the Philadelphia collar – trust me, no others come near it. I have been wearing mine nearly 10 years and it’s brought great improvement!
February 12, 2017 at 3:04 pm in reply to: Pls help read my MRI, AAI from head trauma from a bike accident #6095BarbaraParticipantI would like to help you improve your symptoms management, if I can. I will address each issue I find separately, as I don’t have much time. The first thing I notice is a possible torn Apical ligament. This ligament which joins the front of the skull opening (Clivus) to the top of the odontoid bone, is one of a group of ligaments that hold your head firmly to your neck, so it is quite important. The fact that you broke your odontoid shows that there were very strong forces acting upon that area, when you had your fall. It is quite possible that other ligaments within this group were torn too, so you might want to familiarise yourself with the anatomy of these and check through your other scan views. The way a torn ligament heals is by growing from each end, meeting in the middle, then tightening up (taking up the slack, so to speak) so it is very important to keep that area immobilised and in a good position, to give it chance to heal properly.
BarbaraParticipantI too have raising blood pressure, the longer I stand – although I didn’t in the beginning, I had tachycardia instead (that’s when I was diagnosed with features of POTS). For now, this raising of blood pressure seems to be the way my body is coping with getting sufficient blood/oxygen to my brain, it seems to have replaced the tachycardia (fast heart beat).
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