Arachnoid Cyst

Posted by Kellyo @kellyo, Jul 22, 2011

Hi there, I am living in Ontario, Canada (although my profile lists an american state. There was no option for me to select a canadian province) and I am a 39 yr old woman. I have been diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst of the right posterior fossa which measures 2.1x1.6x1.6 cm.

The diagnosis came from an MRI after I started experiencing tingling and numbing sensations in my hands and feet. Well, later to follow was extreme fatigue, extreme burning pain in the base of my head and neck, behind my left ear, dizziness, light headedness, feeling like air is trapped inside my head, ears popping and buzzing, mood swings and i have had two episodes where I have almost fainted holding my baby.

I have seen one neurologist here in Ontario who tried to tell me i was pre-menopausal or depressed, neither of which is true. It seems like the medical profession here in canada do not recognize these tyes of cysts as being symptomatic, yet i have found thousands of people all over the world with the same cysts causing the same symptoms. It is so frustrating being told that my symptoms are "not likely" caused by this cyst, yet there has been no other medical reason found. The symptoms have progressivly gotten worse since I had my son, who is 20 mths old now. I am no longer working becuase the headaches and fatigue have become dibilitating. I want my life back!! I sleep endlessly during the day and night and feel as though my body just doesn't have enough energy to work for me. I am losing out on precious moments with my children and no one will help me.

If anyone out there has experienced teh same thing or help me in any way please contact me. i desperately need help.

I understand from my enormous research that I have done that these cysts are often triggered to be symptomatic after a c-section child birth (which is when this all happened for me) because of the epidural or spinal that has tapped into my spine because the cyst is near the top of my spinal cord and cerebellum. I also understand that neurosurgeons in other parts of the world are doing great things with these cysts.

thanks in advance to anyone that can help me.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Spine Health Support Group.

lvulcano | @lvulcano | Dec 9, 2023

I am on several tarlov cysts support groups through facebook. It is easy to join and it is great to hear from other people. Lots of good information is shared and you don’t feel so alone. I pray you can find answers. 🙏

huskytantrum | @huskytantrum | Sep 16 3:32pm

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!

huskytantrum | @huskytantrum | Sep 16 3:35pm

In reply to @myersmom13 "@myers713 is my daughter. We are desperate for help. Any advice or options would mean the..." + (show)

Reading your comments, I'm wondering how you and your daughter are doing now? Are you still looking for answers, and have you looked outside of Nova Scotia? (I used to live in Halifax and I love & miss it so much!) Hope you are both managing as well as can be.