Chiari, Migraine, Stress, TIA?! More than just a headache...

Looking for opinions, similar stories, advice.... really anything is appreciated!! 

In 2013 I had an MRI after a motor vehicle accident (I was the passenger) because I hit my face on the dashboard and broke my nose, they were checking for any additional injury. I had a minor concussion, and nothing extremely abnormal came up, however they did state I have low lying cerabellar tonsils (approx 3mm). My PCP went over the results with me and stated that it was a mild chiari but nothing to worry about as it's typically an asymptomatic condition. I thought nothing of it and went about my life....

Summer of 2014 I started getting terrible headaches. My vision would blur, my head would throb for hours on end, I got this strange pain in the back of my neck and the only thing that helped was laying down in a dark room. My PCP again said it was nothing major, I was just experiencing migraines & tension headaches most likely brought on by stress or hormones. He prescribed me fioricet to take when the migraines came on, and xanax to take as needed for anxiety. I'm not big on medication because I don't like the zombie effect so I took them few and far between. All they did was knock me out anyway so I didn't really see a point.

Over the course of the last 2 years I've went back to my primary numerous times as I start to develop more and more strange symptoms.... extreme fatigue, inability to pay attention, constant "brain fog" feeling... just to name a few. Doc continues with the tension headache/migraine theory, no change at all. Suggests a preventative medication and puts me on amitriptyline (sp?). That was a huge NO. Made me feel all sorts of dissoriented. I tell him I want to discontinue the medication and stick with what I've been doing. 

Fast forward to April 2016....... I was in yet another car accident (driver ran a stop light at night time on my way home). I was taken to ER via ambulance because upon impact I instantly felt as though my neck was on fire. Like someone was literally stabbing me in the back of the neck with a hot poker. MRI again, results came back fine, they said I just had whiplash pretty bad and that my back and shoulders would be stiff for a couple of weeks. They did notice that my MRI has slightly changed from the one I had in 2013. There were 2 "spots" on my frontal lobe that weren't there before, and my cerabellar tonsils had herniated 2mm past what they were before. According to the Dr the "spots" were just residual abnormalities left over from migraines and the herniation was most likely from the accident, "nothing to worry about at all" - exact quote. 2 days after the intial visit and whiplash diagnosis I went back to the Dr because my head was pouding and my neck, again, felt as though it were on fire and PAINFUL like no other. They said it was whiplash, gave me a muscle relaxer to take at night before bed, and sent me on my way. 

Almost daily, since that last visit, I've gotten the same neck pain. It starts out as a dull ache, then turns into this hideous burning sensation, slowly starts radiating into my shoulder on the right side, I can feel it inside my ear at times, and NOTHING HELPS!!! I literally mean nothing... heat, ice, sleep, stretching, anti-inflammatorys, pain meds.... nothing..... It becomes unbareable to the point that I can eat or drink because when I swallow I can feel it in my neck. I've talked to the Dr and his is not one bit concerened. Keeps saying its just a migraine and left over muscle trauma from the accident. In the MRI there was no evidence of a disk herniation so he states the pain isn't starting in my neck, that it's starting in the back of my head and the pain is just radiating down.... No. No it's not. I'm quite positive I know where the pain is coming from, I just sometimes can't find the right way to describe it. Trust me, I'm not wanting there to be anything seriously wrong with me, I just want the pain to stop.......

NOW FOR THE SUPER FUN PART!!!!!!! ----

Wednesday of this week (2 days ago) I'm sitting at my desk like normal, and I feel the pain in my neck start. Instant dread takes over because I know how my night is going to go..... Only then, about 35-40 minutes after the burning pain starts, I notice the right side of my face is tingling as well as my right arm, and then it goes completely numb. My right eye starts to blur and I noticed an extreme loss of hearing in my right ear. I figured it was just the way I was sitting, so i get up, walk around, do some neckrolls to "try and work out the kink" as I've been told to do 400 times by the physical therapist. Nope. Nothing. I'm completely useless on he right side. I went to go back to my desk, but suddenly felt extremely out of it. Confused, "brain fog", like I knew what I was supposed to be doing but couldn't figure out how to do it..... I went home, mumbled to my husband I didn't feel well and layed down in bed the rest of the night. I thought it was just an anxiety attack or something, but highly doubted it. Eventually the feeling came back in my face so I stopped worrying and went to sleep. 

The next morning I could not get out of bed for the life of me. I am an early riser, usually around 5-5:30, but I slept in until 7:45 and was utterly wiped out. I dropped my kids off at daycare, got to work, and around 9:30-9:45 the pain was back along with instant numbness & confusion. I found myself wondering around my office and couldn't even recall how I got to where I was. I called my dr, tried to explain what was going on even though I could barely get the words out, they seemed to be completely unphased and said "come in at 2:30"..... By 1pm I felt like my right arm was 200 lbs, the right side of my face was completely numb and drooping, I was slurring my words... I made it to 2pm and by that time a co-worker came up to me and said if I didn't go to the dr she was going to call 911..... went to the dr, NP actually because the Dr was unavailable, she told me there was nothing she could do and told me to go the the ER for testing.... I drove myself there (yes, i know, bad choice)... I walked 4 steps into the ER, a man asked me my name, and before I could answer I blacked out. Woke up in the room hooked up to machine after machine with no recolection of what happened. They did an MRI, hooked me up to an EKG, did bloodwork, everything........ At the end they sent me home with a shot of toradol, a diagnosis of "unspecified headache", and a pat on the back..... WTF?!?!?!

They cannot tell me that was just a headache..... 

That was the worst & hands down the scariest thing that has ever happened to me! I woke up today and my whole body was weak, my face was still heavy but no longer numb.... 

I'm at my wits end and any advice is appreciated....

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