Hi everyone, I'm writing from Ontario Canada. I've been experiencing many different neurological symptoms, some lifelong. Others, such as vertigo, poor memory and attention, poor word recall, photosensitivity, motor skills difficulties, balance issues, stiff and painful neck, difficulty speaking and swallowing are more recent, and some of these are episodic. I've had daily headaches throughout my 43 years, migraines, icepick and cluster headaches, and vision disturbances among other symptoms.

In Jan 2024 I went to ER for stroke-like symptoms and intense head pain, and my CT scan showed a 4.4 cm cyst, left posterior retrocerebellar. This has been dismissed by all the practitioners I've seen aside from my wonderful GP and mental health providers. Neurologist diagnosed me with functional neurologic syndrome with essential tremors and functional seizures, and refused followup aside from neuropsych referral. I've been in therapy since childhood and was a pretty happy mental health clinician before my symptoms prevented me from working, so I believe the cause may not be only psychological. I have previous diagnoses of ME/CFS and CPTSD, and neurodivergent traits.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience (especially around the comorbid diagnoses) or any recommendations for navigating a deteriorating health system. Although I am happy to meet the neuropsych I'll be asking for a second opinion for neurology/neurosurgery, but am told the wait time for initial intake/assessment is 2 years. I'm very interested to learn about others' experiences with surgery for this condition and reading all the contributions here has been so helpful. Courage to you all, and take care!