I have had a styloidectomy on one side, the side with the worse IJV compression. I just came off Brilinta and the head pressure has returned, much much worse on the side I have not had work done on. Anyone else had this happen? I meet with my surgeon next month to discuss possible surgery on the second side.
That’s rough for you, maybe the first surgery has shifted the structures in the neck a bit and caused more compression? Or maybe the IJV has either not re-opened after surgery or closed up again which sometimes happens. I had more nerve pain flare up on the opposite side after surgery but the vascular symptoms weren’t worse… I hope that you’re able to get a second surgery done without too long a wait 
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@Nikkimm - Your situation is very common i.e. that symptoms on the second side get worse after the first side is taken care of. We’ve also noted that people w/ bilateral IJV compression usually get the best surgical benefit once both IJVs are decompressed. I had a similar experience w/ my ES surgeries though I didn’t have vascular ES. My second side symptoms ramped up horribly between surgeries & as @Jules noted even caused some crossover symptoms to the side that was already done.
Did your surgeon request you stop Brilinta or were you just doing a test run to see how your symptoms would behave? If your surgeon told you to stop it, request starting it again & only stop it as you need to prior to your next surgery if that step is recommended which I suspect it will be.
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Yes to everything Isaiah just said. This is well understood by the Drs who specialize in this and unfortunately a common outcome. I had my surgery on my worst side 8 weeks ago and am back to baseline symptoms. It’s too soon to tell. It takes 3 months for the blood to find and settle in its new route but if it continues like this it looks like I may be up for needing surgery on the other side too. I do hope for you that your symptoms improve, but if they don’t there is hope.
It might be helpful for you to listen to this webinar. It’s very helpful and full of information from the Drs who are leading IJVs . c\ Webinar on venous congestion, brain and neck disorders (youtube.com)
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