Occipital Neurogia, a complication of neuropathy?

Posted by Nemo1 @nemo1, Mar 21 3:47am

That is what my neurologist called it. Then it happened repeatedly. Lightening pain type sensation radiating up right neck into ear

Then it happened two days following that for a couple more days is the same quality of pain running up the back of the head also several times. Back right.

I just tried to fall asleep @ 3:30 am (new med keeping me awake) and within a minute or so I had the same pain into the back right of head only this time with my eyes closed I saw a flash of light. Almost like a round rainbow.

I told my guy who thought it might be med related (but this pain preceded medication/new)…

Btw, I put a note in to my neurologist about this.
I don’t want to wake him up, but I’m afraid to go back to sleep

Thoughts?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Brain & Nervous System Support Group.

Sorry tried to delete btw note

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I have both occipital and trigeminal neuralgia, but also cervical (neck) spine stenosis. It is hard to tell which is causing what. I use baclofen (an MS drug) occasionally and both Ben Gay and BioFreeze help. You could apply on your neck, under the ear, where the sensation is. (I am unable to take most meds. Klonopin helps occasionally with sleep but I use it as infrequently as possible.)

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Hi @nemo1, You might want to take a look at these two discussions:
--- Occipital Neuralgia: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/occipital-neuralgia/
--- Occipital Neuralgia Relief: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/occipital-neuralgia-relief/

Here is a search results link that shows the different discussions and comments made by members on occipital neuralgia - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/?search=Occipital%20Neuralgia

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I had occipital neuralgia about 25 years ago. Lightning bolt pains across the top of my head on one side several times a day for two years. Scary. The neurologist told me it starts in the neck. Gave me neck exercises or stretching to do (can’t remember what exactly) and it went away. I just found a note in my file on that. It said I was complaining of pain a fullness in left ear too. I still have issues with that and often into jaw on that side. Not TMJ, but unknown cause.

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@nemo1 I also have Occipital Neuralgia. What you need to do is very gentle neck stretching exercises.
YouTube has several videos that are helpful. Please check them out and see if you feel better. The exercises really helped me.

By the way, when I first started having the symptoms of ON, I temporarily lost vision in one eye 3 times in two days

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Do your feet and legs burn with Neuropathy? I take 2500 mg of gabepetin a day and still .y legs will burn so bad I can't sleep. Seems like I'm living on biofreeze. Any comments that would be helpful are appreciated. Thank you

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@ammaw52

Do your feet and legs burn with Neuropathy? I take 2500 mg of gabepetin a day and still .y legs will burn so bad I can't sleep. Seems like I'm living on biofreeze. Any comments that would be helpful are appreciated. Thank you

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Hello @ammaw52, You will notice that we removed your email address from your post to protect your privacy since Connect comments are visible to anyone on the Internet. Members can share personal contact information using the private message function. For more information on how to use the private message function see the Help Center - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/help-center/#how-to-use-mayo-clinic-connect.

There are a few discussions that might be helpful if you haven't already seen them:
-- Burning feet and legs: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/burning-feet-and-legs/
-- neuropathy and burning feet: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/neuropathy-4/
-- Burning Feet syndrome: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/burning-feet-syndrome/

You may have seen some of the home remedies but they may be helpful if you haven't already tried them.
-- 9 home remedies for burning feet: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/home-remedies-for-burning-feet

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@ammaw52

Do your feet and legs burn with Neuropathy? I take 2500 mg of gabepetin a day and still .y legs will burn so bad I can't sleep. Seems like I'm living on biofreeze. Any comments that would be helpful are appreciated. Thank you

Jump to this post

@ammaw52
I have taken Alpha Lipoic Acid for burning feet and it helps a lot. I take about 600 mg per night and you may want to try 300 mg at first and increase as needed. Look it up to learn more about it for treatment of neuropathy. I was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy. Good luck!

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@dlydailyhope

@ammaw52
I have taken Alpha Lipoic Acid for burning feet and it helps a lot. I take about 600 mg per night and you may want to try 300 mg at first and increase as needed. Look it up to learn more about it for treatment of neuropathy. I was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy. Good luck!

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@ammaw52
Another option is neuropathy topical creams like those containing capsaicin. I have used Salonpas lidocaine patches for spinal nerve pain which helps, too. Not sure if you could find some for feet/ankle or cut larger patches to size needed.

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Thank you for information. Worth a try. Very helpful. I appreciate the information.

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