Hi all - I am new here and have struggled with symptoms (e.g. daily head/neck pain, postural imbalance, gait difficulty, cognitive difficulties, vertigo, diplopia, sensitivity to light, numbness in face, etc) for years that abruptly became worse about three years ago. MRA/MRI/CT were “normal” and so I was sort of dismissed with “migraine” etc. and lots of different pills thrown my way, which I generally refused. So…been on my own for the last three years trying all sorts of alternative treatments with mild improvements. Long story short, I am waiting to hear from Dr. Du at Brigham and Women’s after referral via ENT there.
Also, my mom has dx of aortic aneurysm and me gf (her dad) died suddenly at 62 and had hx of “vascular problems” and high blood pressure. Things that make it much worse (recently): bending over and standing up, changes in altitude, over doing it, heat/humidity, not enough sleep, stress, etc.
My question for you all is…is it possible that the MRA/MRI/CT from three years ago missed something? Or are they full-proof?
So tired of feeling this way…
Thanks, Stephanie
Hi Stephanie. Sorry for the symptoms you are having. I am on this site because my husband’s aneurysm ruptured almost 3 years ago. It was misdiagnosed in our local hospital after it was missed on both a regular CT and a CT angiogram. Finally it was noticed on an MRI. Misdiagnosis is not uncommon, unfortunately. That is something that is noted frequently in the literature. So if you are concerned that you do have all the symptoms of an I ruptured aneurysm, by all means persevere with the medical people. Wishing you a good outcome,
Judy.
Its possible without contrast and if its 4mm or less but things could well have changed in 3 year definitley follow up BTW there is little to no relationship beween aortic and brain annies.
TJ
Hi Stephanie. Your symptoms are very similar to my husband’s who was recently diagnosed with “migraine variant” by a neurologist/MS specialist. My husband had CT and MRI. I’m on here for having had an aneurysm which was treated 2 months ago. my husband’s and my neck pain is almost exactly the same. So much so that I was wondering if there was something like carbon monoxide leak in our house that could be causing us to have the same symptoms. We both had chest pain as well (from stress I’m assuming). His symptoms were/are (depends on the day): mild vertigo, major neck/shoulder pain, numbness in face, headache, chest pain, the arm went numb and cold. He gets the headache/neck pain almost every day. He is taking a pill when the pain hits and it makes it go away. When I looked it up, it’s an arthritis drug, but it’s like a miracle drug to him. Your symptoms sound very similar to his if that makes you feel better. And I think our doctor was very good and wasn’t just dismissing us. He told us he has met many people diagnosed with MS who were actually having these “migraine variants”. I haven’t actually done any research on them so I can’t give you more information than that. Sincerely, Clare