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Cervical-occipital neuralgia / cervicogenic headache

Posted by gmarosie @gmarosie, Aug 1 6:57am

I was having debilitating muscular headaches on one side. Went to family doc, she did xrays and gave me a lidocaine shot in the side of my head. It immediately helped the pain but only temporarily. She prescribed gabapentin. Symptoms were somewhat alleviated but then I was referred to neurologist. MRI w/o contrast and all was good with the brain. Now I am supposed to go to pain management doc for a possible steroid shot. After reading about the arachnoiditis many are suffering I am wondering if gabapentin and tylenol arthritis might be the safer option. Would any of you just “deal with it” if you could go back in time? I am 72 in relatively good health otherwise.

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gmarosie | @gmarosie | Aug 29 4:59am
In reply to @laura1970 "I have Arachnoiditis following a treatment that had marginal benefit. A different diagnosis and treatment from..." + (show)
Profile picture for laura1970 @laura1970

I have Arachnoiditis following a treatment that had marginal benefit. A different diagnosis and treatment from yours. I think you are very right to be wary. It’s short term relief followed by a long term problem for which there is no real treatment.

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Yes, I am leaning towards NO shot. Tried an Excedrin Migrane tab yesterday and today and it takes the edge off as well.

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gmarosie | @gmarosie | Aug 29 5:02am
In reply to @rkoepke "I had similar issues, although I did the steroid shot. My situation is that the steroid..." + (show)
Profile picture for rkoepke @rkoepke

I had similar issues, although I did the steroid shot. My situation is that the steroid shot did not help. So I was left with Gabapenten and other pain relief. Not saying you shouldn’t have the shot, as it has helped a friend, it just didn’t help me. The other thing that did help slightly was upping the dose of Gabapenten. Didn’t take pain away, but slightly improved. Good luck!

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I am taking Gaba 300 mg 4 x day. Will try to back down to 3 x day once I get relief from PT.

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gmarosie | @gmarosie | Aug 29 5:08am
In reply to @nycmusic "Sorry for your pain and travails…as I wrote before, you might wish to check out amitriptyline,..." + (show)
Profile picture for nycmusic @nycmusic

Sorry for your pain and travails…as I wrote before, you might wish to check out amitriptyline, very low dose, 10mg….off-label, but docs are pretty much in agreement it can help .

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I just wrote that down for my next visit. Thank you so much. Right now just Gaba 300mg 4xd, tylenol or ibuprofen alternatively. A “deep tissue” massage has helped the most so far. Don’t know why I waited so long. Will do that again in one month as suggested by the massage therapist. Thanks again!

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pierwell | @pierwell | Aug 29 10:40am
In reply to @yacoi "Sorry, but what's a NALU nerve stimulator?" + (show)
Profile picture for yacoi @yacoi

Sorry, but what's a NALU nerve stimulator?

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Sort of like a TENS unit, it sends signals to the brain that distract from the pain. Mine consists of two implanted “wires” that run from my lower back to two locations in my head. There’s an external battery pack and two discs that I alternate every 24 hours.

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yacoi | @yacoi | Aug 29 11:18am

Good for you! The massage and PT are great!

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