Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[LilFeather]

So....last Monday I woke in the middle of the night with a headache like nothing I've ever experienced.  Nothing I did would make it ease, and as bad as it was it only got worse through the day.  Ended up in the emergency room (never been in one, other than to clean it) with a panic attack and blood pressure sky-high.  Soooo...they did tests thinking the headache was from the blood pressure, and ended up with a diagnosis of vertigo from a very harried Dr.  Was injected with a painkiller that did nothing to alleviate pain.  Was given two prescriptions, which didn't help.
Two days later - with headache still intact - went to walk-in and they sent me to a different emergency room since things weren't "adding up".  Was told by a heart dr. that was not blood pressure caused, but the blood pressure was due to the pain level.  He suggested it could be hormonal - related and that my reg. dr. needed to take the bulls by the horn and do a complete workup.
Finally got into my GP on Friday afternoon, after a visit to chiropractor to see if she could help (she thought it was occipital neuralgia and said if it is she might be able to help but it would take a while). Blah, blah, blah.
Blood work pretty good.  Nothing glaring.  After putting me on different meds to rule which worked, she decided occipital neuralgia.  Haven't been back to see her yet, and she didn't say anything whether could be hormonal-caused.  Not finding much via internet research to see what may have caused this since there's been no trauma to my head, and really do not want to be on medication long-term.
Anyone ever hear of this being related to this wonderful time of life?
Sorry such a long post.   

[Joyce]

I've had neuralgia, so can sympathise with the pain. Sorry never heard of this version though.

[LilFeather]

Alright.  Kinda creeped out by this, but it was actually the Monday two weeks ago when this started.  Dang headache actually made me lose a week.  My word.....don't even know what to think about that.

[Rowan]

Maybe a cluster headache Lilfeather

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cluster-headaches/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[Taz2]

It could be just down to wear and tear of the vertabrae in the neck lilfeather. Does this explanation help at all http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/specialty_areas/headache/conditions/occipital_neuralgia.html

Taz x

[LilFeather]

Silverlady - Don't believe it's cluster headaches.  Symptoms don't quite match, and the medication that works is not one used for cluster headaches.

Taz2 - That link is very interesting.  A lot to take in there, and want to continue to study that link.

Thank you ladies for taking the time to send those.  All help is very much appreciated!

[lubylou]

LilFeather,
You have my sympathy, I have neuropathic pain its no fun. It might be worth checking to see if it is structural (compression in cervical spine or damage to spinal cord like degenerative disc disease - like Taz2 says) or idiopathic (of no know cause). The treatments can be different depending on the cause  - i.e.if it a neck problem causing the headaches then treating the compression injury/damage in the neck may help ease the pain.

Are you getting the headaches at particular times or related to any particular activities?

If it is "nerve pain" meds like Gabapentin, Pregabalin and low dose of Amitriptyline  can help.

all the best
Lubylou

[CLKD]

Neuralgia is sharp, stabbing, from the nerve which runs behind the eye - it can get squashed by the blood vessel and can be relieved by surgery ……..  :big hug:  it would hit me so suddenly it would drop me to the ground ……. it was never continuous.

[LilFeather]

lubylou - It is Gabapentin that has worked to manage the pain, which is what made her think it was neuralgia.  Have not been able to connect anything dietary or activity-wise to the outbreak. 

CLKD - The come-and-go pain was part of what made it hard to figure which pain med. worked, though the frequency was about 15 min. pain with about a 10 min. rest between at first.  With the Gabapentin, the pain is very minimal but very localized with a "tight" feeling, like someone pulled a rope tight in the back of my head going up to the top of my skull, pain up the right side of my head to my ear, and a very odd icy/hot feeling behind my right eye.  My vision gets whacky in my right eye, too.

I did stop the medication for 3 doses this past Saturday through Sunday because I was feeling so much better, but paid for it yesterday (Sunday) afternoon with the pain coming back with a vengeance.  Dosed last night, this morning, and again this noon, and it seems like it's really starting to make a big difference with this last dose.

[CLKD]

It's horrid, I remember it well ……… there are good surgeons across the UK but not many do the Surgical intervention, my Aunt had it - twice …….. had to travel to London for consultations, treatment and surgery ……..

[LilFeather]

    Have been told anything will be tried before the surgery, and even if it ends up being necessary will be advised against it.  I'm in the states, and was told no surgeons near here will do it, if I end up needing that route.

Your aunt had the surgery twice?  Same side?  And, how did you end up finding relief?

[Joyce]

Surgeons not keen on carrying out operation. GP told me this is because you can end up losing all feeling & control on the effected side. Hence the use of drugs like Gabapentin & Amitryptiline.

[LilFeather]

I'm feeling every bit of my meno-worrywartness here....

So, does the Gabapentin eventually stop being effective?  Am I going to have to be on this forever?  Are the nerve-blocking shots the only other option?  Will this go away on its own if no relief is given by the chiropractor?

[CLKD]

A chiropractor is unlikely to have any effect on this.  I had it for a few months, intermittently - it went on it's own as quickly as it arrived.  That was in the 1990s and I haven't had it since, apart from last year when I had intense dental work which irritated the nerve.

My Aunt had the same blood vessel and nerve treated surgical twice, with a gap of 15 years in between.  Initially the Surgeon did a lot of tests and treated her with injections on a regular basis, to be certain that the conservative treatment would work as the surgery is tricky. 

She had complete relief both times.  The surgery is from the back of the head so she was face down-wards under GA.  There is a risk of damaging the nerve in the face which controls smiling, she was warned that she might dribble if the nerve was affected but the Surgeon was obviously good with his hands.

[CLKD]

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/trigeminal-neuralgia

http://www.tna.org.uk - I had a lot of help from this organisation and was told never to accept that Surgery was rarely done world wide, in fact there are several UK surgeons who will do it.  The tna has a lot of info about medication as well as surgical intervention.

My paternal Uncle also had the condition intermittently.