Chronic Pain Support Group
Physicians and professionalsdefine pain as chronic if it lasts longer than three to six months and is persistent. It's distinct from acute pain that is a direct result of injury or trauma. This support group is dedicated to those suffering from chronic pain. Discuss treatments that have worked for you, find advice for your specific experience, and find support. You're not...
I have cervical issues from a high speed rear end collision.
October 13, 2008.
I have been treated with RF nerve ablations, acupuncture, and have medication that I take as prescribed, along with a TENS unit I use daily.
From the back of my neck I can just about feel the pain creeping up into my head until it feels like somebody has their fingers pressing on my eyeballs.
This is my main problem and I want to know if anybody has these headaches and what do they do about it.
October 13, 2008.
I have been treated with RF nerve ablations, acupuncture, and have medication that I take as prescribed, along with a TENS unit I use daily.
From the back of my neck I can just about feel the pain creeping up into my head until it feels like somebody has their fingers pressing on my eyeballs.
This is my main problem and I want to know if anybody has these headaches and what do they do about it.
currently, my pain is under-treated. my gp only gives me 5mg pills of oxycocet, taken 2 at a time, every 4-6 hours. this barely takes the edge off my pain. so i requested something stronger at the pain clinic. they are telling my gp to prescribe 20 mg of oxycontin, taken 3 times a day, and then i can still use the other oxycocets for breakthrough pain.
i have been going to the pain clinic to get injections done in my neck, they freeze the area to test and see if i would be a good candidate for the rhizotomy procedure....which i think is the same thing as your nerve ablations.
i go for 2 more freezings, and then the rhizotomy (burning of the nerves in my neck) will be done in early feb) lol, and i finally got an appt with a neurosurgeon...and its for feb 15th!
did the ablations not help you?
what level in your neck did you have done?
mine is c5/c6, that is where they removed my bone, and put in a cadaver bone and fused it together. it was suppossed to take away my pain...but it didn't...it made the pan worse.
the head pain you are describing sounds exactly like mine. i also have extreme bad head pain in the back of my head, and on the top too. the pressure behind the eyes is so horrible! i am on disability, so at home i am always putting ice packs on my neck and head, and massaging every part of my neck and head! but i'm afraid i have not found anything to be helpful for the pain and pressure behind my eyes.....so most of the time, i try to rest, snd keep them closed, because they feel a bit better when they are closed. oh i just remembered something,,,,,,sometimes, a nice warm facecloth over the eyes feels nice.
i am so sorry you feel this horrible pain, and i'm sorry i don;t have any real advice or help for you. lol, i was hoping that pain would go away when i had the nerve burning done!
take care! (sorry for writing too long) Lee :)
I have C3/C4 issues from a T-bone collision back in 98. I now need a fusion, but that is not possible because it will not heal. So, in addition to what you have done, I also receive TP trigger point injections, and use a bag of peas that I set on top of my head....it somehow confuses the pain signals for me. The headaches are awful pressure headaches for me...and I also have right sided migraines with aura that cause me to lose vision, hearing, speech, and swallowing abilities for as long as the migraine lasts...which could be 2-3 days. Sucks big time.
Hugs,
Eva
My neck and shoulders are the source of my pain but like you, it creeps into different areas.
The issue most of you know about with me is that for some reason clicking a mouse and striking the keys causes which you are describing. Pain to go up into my head in the back of my eyeballs but it also travels downward.
The pain behind eyeballs could never be contained or helped until I started acupuncture and trigger point injections.
In order for the acupuncture to be affordable it has to be done by a Physician so he discovered that my insurance.
And my insurance will not cover acupuncture unless I get the trigger point injections along with it.
I remember you told me the acupuncture helps you.
The the I wish there was some way you could find a Dr. Who did acupuncture and you could go through them and your insurance will pay.
If the headaches are caused by trigger points getting tight the injections would probably help you too.
I'm really sorry you're going through this.
What's knocking me down right now is this feeling of just general
fatique, like a huge weight is being pressed down on me.
Thinking it was the neurontin making me foggy, I have tried to cut back on it.
I have the RF ablation which is pretty much the same as rhizotomy, every 4 to 6 months. I have had at least four and they pretty much went from C1 or 2 to C7 on both sides in stages. My worst side is the right, I guess from having the seat belt on, thank goodness. My PM doctor referred me to a neurosurgeon but W/C wants to send me to a scoliosis specialist. I know if I get the RF it will help but if I go to a neurosurgeon I want them to d/x the problem.
Anyway it's a longer story and I've gone on enough, but I appreciate your response and you know what I'm talking about with these headaches.
David.
When I was having the acupuncture and cupping, an ancient Chinese procedure, Dr. Wang did stick about 4 needles in my head. I didn't know about trigger point. I'll have to check that out.
Best wishes,
David.
Has your Dr. ever suggested Botox?
I have had it before and was thinking about trying it again, if but don't know how safe it really is.
On a more serious note, have you tried Botox, which has finally been approved for migraines and possibly for headaches like yours as you can trace the nerve pain up your head (which is what some migraineurs can do, at least I can)? The injection series (about 20 or so tiny injections include ones in the occipital area, the nerve region in the back of the neck where most of these headache originate from, and also trigger points in the neck and across the shoulders that can trigger headaches (at least mine did). I got the Botox injections on a semi-regular basis (was supposed to be 90 days apart; ended up being 90-180 days apart) for about 3 years and they worked wonders, dramatically reducing the frequency and intensity of my migraines as well as my chronic daily headache.
My headaches/migraines start the way you described, from the base of the neck following the nerve, but mine branch and go up to the right side of my head, leaving they eyes alone in most cases (I've only had sinus headaches cause the serious eye pain and for those I use a neti pot/nasal rinse, very, very gently, to help clear out the sinuses..and yes, that can hurt if you don't go slow and stop if when there's pain and just wait for it to subside and then continue). I got the injections as part of a study at first and later because the military recognized that Botox was very effective for treating migraines and was willing to continue to use it off label for their patients as long as they had enough medication and doctors who were trained in the procedure (it was primarily used for patients with movement disorders and spasticity). It was never a cosmetic procedure; the only thing it did in that realm was to prevent me from wrinkling my forehead (and I don't have wrinkles on my forehead anyhow; no injections were done near the area between the brows, so I could furrow my brows and make perfectly normal facial expressions with exception of raising my eyebrows very high--and only my husband noticed that). The the pattern of injections is non-cosmetic; it's a V-shape on the forehead and into the hairline, then at the base of the skull, some down the neck (after a period of time I stopped getting those as I found they did affect the strength of my neck muscles and I didn't like that) and the triggers in my shoulders (which made a huge difference). And as time went by, I found the injections lasted longer than 90 days. My first series wore off completely, both in the ability to move the muscles as well as any pain relief in about 60 days (but you can only get them in 90 day intervals to avoid toxicity), but by the third series, while the muscle movement was still wearing off in about 60-70 days, the pain relieving effect was lasting 90-120 days and towards the end I was getting the better part of 6 months of relief at a time.
The injections feel like little bee stings, but pain goes away quickly. I found the forehead to be the most sensitive (and to bleed a bit, just dab with gauze), along with an area around the temporomandibular joint (a nice bonus is that it helped tremendously with a TMJ problem that had been plaguing me for decades by relaxing the surround muscles just enough to ease the pain). Sometimes I think the doctor just managed to hit a nerve, although not intentionally. And since this was a teaching hospital, I was the subject of a few post residency fellows learning the technique and was able to advise in how to better their technique (e.g. do not switch hands and accidentally move the syringe; their injections were always done under the supervision of the staff neurologist who had a great technique). The fellow became very skilled and actually thanked me for the feedback; he was happy to learn a new technique to avoid causing any additional pain to his patient (alas, he was posted to Portsmouth, not Bethesda!).
I am now on Topamax instead of getting the Botox injections; it's working great as a is great as a migraine preventive for me. I made the switch in large part because while Botox was working, I couldn't consistently get into the clinic on a regular basis (frequent deployments of the doctors, and there were too few who were trained in the technique) and as a result I was getting breakthrough multi-day migraines and the pattern was reverting back to my old migraines of yore (10-12 migraines per month, each lasting from 1 to 4 days). I find the Topamax entirely prevented migraines for the better part of the first year and although I get some now, I have not had a multi-day migraine since starting it. And I was very good about ensuring I was utterly Botox free before starting it (it had been well over 6 months when I started it and I never went back, so it's been an honest trial of the medication. I'm a firm believer of trying one thing at a time and not a shotgun approach with medication unless it's absolutely critical.
Alas, nothing I've tried is doing anything to prevent or treat the methadone-induced headaches I've been getting since I tapered off the OxyContin after a horrible reaction to the new "OP" version. All my labs are normal (no deficiencies in any vitamin or mineral levels, someone had mentioned B-12), so I'm just sitting here and suffering from blinding headaches every day. It sucks, pure and simple. I've considered amputation, but that is somewhat incompatible with life in general and I'm not quite ready to go down that path quite yet!
A final thought on YOUR headaches...has anyone tried 100% oxygen, at a flow rate of about 5-6 liters per minute? Cluster headaches usually affect one eye (sometimes both) and often respond to 100% oxygen. Pure oxygen is a medical treatment (your can't get the proper flow rate in an oxygen bar in some LA setting, not that I would want to even try!), so it would have to be tried in a medical setting (ER or maybe doctor's office if it's equipped with a good, full and well-flowing oxygen tank, not many are). But it may well be worth the try. The flow rate needed is high and you don't want to stay at that rate for more than about 15 minutes without additional humidity added to the oxygen as it has no humidity at all and will make you feel like you've been in the desert for weeks without any water (thus a hospital setting or specialized unit would recommended for more than 15 minutes of use). The key is to try the oxygen at the higher than normal flow rate (the usual rate they put you on in the ER is about 2-3 liters with a nasal cannula) BEFORE trying anything else and having it flow at the appropriate rate for the full 15 minutes (a mask would be more appropriate for that flow rate than a nasal cannuala as you'd get more of a benefit that way and the cannula wouldn't keep trying to blow out of your nose!). It's something to consider; it's quick and easy and if it works, your insurance should pay for a portable unit and when you feel the headache starting you just put on the mask, turn up the oxygen and breathe. Sure beats the pain and waiting for medications to kick in, especially if they are sedating and prevent you from doing things.
I wish you well and hope my mini-novel helps! :)
Thanks Ihavepkd
I am so sorry that you are going through these evil headaches, I had them when my C5-6 was messed up with stenosis and nerve impigement and the ACDF that I had in March of 2010 helped with that, so I feel for you! ihavepkd gave you some awesome advice, so I think that you should copy her post and talk to your PM Doc, that would be great for you! Take care and I hope that you get some relief soon. Big Hugs,
Tipper
if they make me nausuas maxalt, and amgerge has helped. tho i don't know if yours are migraine like.
steriods have cleared these up for me for about 2-3 months but then they return
like others have suggested if they are really bad and persistent for a long period of time months to a year or more botox injectiions could me an option. they were offered to me and i refused. i'm afraid of the chemicals in them but thats just me.
also wichever feels better at the time head or cold packs at the back of the head when the headaches start has helped me
i hope you feel better
I had Botox injections approximately every three or four months for a little over a year. It's been about a year since I've had any. I am thinking about doing it again, but just not sure. Let me know if you find out any more about it.
Rayfoof, I understand your concern with the Botox, but in the hands of a skilled neurologist the medication doesn't spread and the amount injected is minute, much less than is used for cosmetic purposes and stay well away from any areas that may cause problems (this is by no means a cosmetic procedure) and in a specific pattern. It sure beats the personality changes and damage done internally with the repeated use of the steroid dose packs!
With migraines, ice is always considered best for the actual head, while heat is good for the shoulders and neck (but not the base of the skull where the irritated occipital nerve emerges; I can actually press on a spot at the base of my skull and cause the same pain as my migraines). On multiple occasions I've been carefully propped in bed, the icepack wrapped around my head, and especially on that occipital nerve and a heating pad nearly adjacent to it to relax the muscles in my neck and shoulders. Now if I could just figure out a way to lie on my right side and get the whole contraption to stay in place the same way so I'm not overstressing and putting excess strain on my lungs and liver by lying on my back...ah, perfection (alas I have a serious adverse reaction to the triptans and ergots)!
David, I wish you well!