To share with you, any opinion, experience and advice are welcome.
Greetings from Bosnia and Herzegovina! I am 45 years old, male, my problems have been going on for 5 years.
I’ve been following the forum for a long time, but I didn’t want to introduce myself until I did the diagnostics.
To begin with, I will post my CTA/V that I did a few days ago, and this is how the radiologist read it (I’m only listing what’s wrong):
Right side:
ASE — adequate width of the lumen in the initial part, in the further course discretely more graceful without significant stenoses.
Artery vertebralis hypoplastic, diameter up to 2mm without significant stenoses.
Evaluation of the venous system of the neck reveals moderately compressed jugular veins on both sides at the level of the larynx, most likely as a result of a spasm of the sternocleidomastoid muscles, which are clearly traced to the area of the venous angulus.
Punctiform calcifications are detected in the area of the tonsils, which indicates chronic procedural changes, and in the area of the front wall of the oropharynx, slightly more pronounced, moderately expressed adenoid vegetation.
As an incidental finding, I note the prominent styloid processes on both sides.
Analyzing the scans, I see bilateral compression of the IJV by the transverse processes of C1, and the radiologist’s report does not mention this, but compression caused by SCM spasm.
CT scan:
https://www.dicomlibrary.com?study=1.3.6.1.4.1.44316.6.102.3.202406299542966.4587529021416331131263
Images:
My problems started 5 years ago and the trigger was shaving my head in a cold bathroom. After that I was woken up by tinnitus, crackling, dizziness, nausea, painful and limited head movements…
In the diagnosis, among other things, I also performed a CT scan of the cervical spine, where spondylosis and bulging C5/C6 were noted, but at the end of last year, during research, I discovered elongated styloid processes on both sides of about 5 cm, and I presented this to the doctors, where I was diagnosed with “Atypical styloideus processus”:
The doctors have no idea what to do about further treatment. Some claim that this is the cause of my problems, and some that it is not, but they look at the 3D images with amazement.
Let me go back to the beginning of my problems.
In the first year, there was nausea and severe attacks of stomach pain with vomiting and diarrhea. GERD and biliary reflux due to loss of pyloric sphincter closure function were diagnosed. After that I lost 25 kg and now I eat food in smaller quantities that is not fatty and very spicy, so I adapted my lifestyle to that and it does not cause me any problems.
I think there is compression on the vagus nerve.
After that, the headaches started getting more frequent and stronger, so I was put on therapy for neuropathic pain, currently Lyrica.
After hypoplasia of the vertebral artery and reduced flow through the basilar artery were established, I was started therapy with the drugs piracetam and vinpocetine and the dizziness disappeared, vision and cognitive abilities of the brain improved.
My symptoms since the beginning:
• Pain and stiffness in the neck, quite limited head movements in all directions. When turning the head beyond the limits, the symptoms of tinnitus, pain and stiffness intensify in a few minutes, and if the head remains in the turned position, vision blurs and the feeling of fainting soon occurs.
• Occipital headaches that wake me up at night (almost every night), so I have to take Diazepam and Tramadol.
• Tinnitus: constant beeping on both sides, occasional buzzing and pulsating noise during exertion or after standing up, more pronounced on the left.
• Occasional headaches in the front, more pronounced on the left.
• If I bring my head to a position lower than the body for a short time, headaches and pressure in the ears occur, and the symptoms worsen in the following hours.
• Frequent sore throats, bilateral or on one side, more often on the left.
• Hypothermia of the oral cavity when exposed to cold and eating cold food, after which inflammation often occurs.
• Toothaches.
• Limited jaw movements with cracking.
• Problems with swallowing, food remaining in the throat, difficult swallowing of probes (gastroscopy), problematic intubation during general anesthesia.
• Tip of tongue numb.
• Occasional speech problems, difficulty choosing and pronouncing words.
• Frequent runny nose, activates spontaneously and is short-lived, and sometimes several days in large quantities of liquid.
• Visual disturbance, blurring, gaps in the field of vision and diplopia when looking to the right, blacking out when standing up suddenly.
• Balance disorder.
• Digestive disorders.
• Hypersensitivity to colder air in the head and neck area, so it almost always has to be covered, otherwise the symptoms get worse.
The first CT scan of the cervical spine from 4 years ago showed these styloids:
I inquired about surgery in Turkey with doctors who perform styloidectomy and thought to do it immediately bilaterally and thus get rid of the problem.
I thought that IJV compression was caused by the styloid, but now this new CT finding has disappointed me to the point that I am giving up on surgery for now.
I somehow believe that styloidectomy alone will not bring good results without decompressing the IJV by grinding C1.
It is an additional operation for which it is necessary to secure financial resources, and I am not sure that the doctors with whom I was thinking of performing the operation do this work.
Now I will try to commit to relaxing the SCM with physical therapy to see what the results will be. I must mention that I have recently been using an infrared lamp at home and I have greatly reduced the intake of the drugs Diazepam and Tramadol.
I am gradually introducing CBD oil.
I have suffered from back pain for many years, I also had a failed lower back surgery, so I fixed it by exercising and swimming for years. I also have two herniated discs in the thoracic spine, and as for the cervical spine, the doctors say it is not that bad.
I don’t know if I have CCI, EDS, intracranial pressure and cerebrospinal fluid leakage, because I haven’t done diagnostics, although in my country I’m not sure I can do that.
I am constantly visiting doctors, doing research and keeping myself mentally stable.
Since I have been suffering for many years, I somehow learned to deal with the pain, but I am fighting for my future, because as I get older, this situation will not go well, and even now I feel it getting worse year after year.
