Occipital Neuralgia Headache: Terrible pain lasting weeks, what helps?

@suszy39 I was diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia by a Neuro-Opthalmologist in Texas and the only thing she did was press on my neck and ask if I had any tender spots when she did it. I did feel a spot or two that was sore but nothing really bad. I went out of state because I could not find any Doctor where I live to give me a diagnosis. They blamed it on my blood pressure and that is not it. I have had pressure in one place at the back of my head. No sharp shooting pains. So they put me on gabapentin. I have been taking the gabapentin but I don't get side effects from it but I still get head pressure. When I get head pressure my blood pressure goes up. I am in control of my blood pressure. So then after I came home I decided to look closer to home and found a Neuro-Opthalmologist in Alabama and she thinks I don't have Occipital Neuralgia. I have read all about it and I don't have the sharp shooting pains in my head and the other things it says. I am not sure I have it either. So I talked with my Doctor and he is sending me to a group of Doctors who do pain management and more. I spoke with someone in the office today and she told me they also burn the nerves if needed. She told me what to look at on their website it explains a lot. So If I get numbing plus a steroid shot the steroid will make my blood pressure go up. I know this because I had an injection in my back and it did just that. I have been on B12 for some time now. It will be another 30 days before I get to see this Doctor. The appt isn't till January. Then they talk about what they can do for you. So January makes it 11 months that I am still waiting for more help. Gabapentin is one of the medications they give for Occipital Neuralgia and as I said before it hasn't caused me any side effects. I am grateful for that Yet I still get head pressure. I am surprised you are only getting injections. So the shots only last for about three weeks? Since it will be 30 days till I see this Dr. I will have to come back with some responses on what they can do for me and let you know. It is like the goal post keeps moving away from me. I also am aware you can only get so many steroid shots in a time frame. What kind of Doctor did you see to get diagnosed? Did he offer you any type of oral medication? I look up all meds so I am aware of any side effects. I research everything because that helps me to think about what questions to ask. @rnlorena

@sherminator The last "Flair Up days" lasted almost a month. But I do believe the help of a book I ordered :Treat Your Own Neck, by Robin McKenzie has helped when I ordered the Cervical Roll. You put it inside pillow case therefore you can sleep on your side and the pillow
is giving your neck great support. I would wake up stiff neck, I no long so. Then I take a very Hot
Shower, and do my neck erexceries that the book lists plus a few Dr. Saunders on Net does.
I believe my poor posture is to blame for some but who knows about the remainder.I will continue to have trigger shots, and nerve blocks and for get about the meds... thats where I am plus resting a little more........Time will tall if all this is helping???

Thank you for the info, very kind of you. Something to discuss with the doc. I no longer live in IL. I am in a rural area and my doc is 90 mins away. I am happy for your results.

Me too. We have commonality...

See a dentist and a specialist who can x-ray your teeth and make sure you have no cracks. My neuralgia was immediately controlled when my tooth broke. Evidently hairline cracks in your teeth apply pressure to the nerves which result in the pressure and headaches. It was the most horrible pain in the world. I don’t know what I would’ve done if my wisdom tooth didn’t break after four months. I took the opioid. I had on hand for my degenerative disc condition for the ON pain. The dentist told me that hairline cracks in your teeth can go unnoticed on the x-rays.Good luck.

@suszy39 Thank you Suzy, I appreciate your input very much. I am afraid of Botox and side effects from some of the other medications indicated for this condition as I usually get them from most of the medications I take. I have been studying ON as per your suggestion and I think the blocks and massage sound like they would be acceptable. I have a cervical fusion and arthritis in the area as well. Hell getting older.. Anyway thank you!