Lyrica for occipital neuralgia
Common Questions and Answers about Lyrica for occipital neuralgia
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It sounds, like your description, to be 'occipital neuralgia'-- a condition where the nerves to the scalp are irritated, causing pain in all parts of the head except the face. The nerves can be pinched at the spine, or by the muscles that attach to the base of the skull-- or sometimes the nerves are irritated for reasons that remain unknown. The condition is treated with medication like Lyrica or gabapentin, or sometimes with nerve blocks containing local anesthetic and steroids.
Differentials for your case will be a cervicogenic headache, a migraine headache without aura and occipital neuralgia. Occipital neuralgia presents with severe pain usually at the back of the head.This type of headache is usually associated with a previous history of trauma.You may discuss this with your physician. Nerve blocks were shown to have given a degree of relief for severe cases. Some nerve blocks may offer relief for months.
I was just diagnosed with Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia yesterday. I turn 40 on November 15th. The pain is unbelievable when it comes on, and unfortunately I have a very difficult time taking pain medications as they make me very ill & drowsy beyond belief. I have had 2 MRI's, a Fine Cut CT Scan, met with an Otolaryngologist and a Neurologist. We now know that I have this rare neuralgia condition.
My neurologist prescribed Trazadone 50 mg to take at night to help with sleep. I'm being treated for occipital neuralgia and the pain is very annoying and I can't concentrate on anything or feel relaxed because of this. I've been waking up with a headache for the last 3 weeks and getting really sick of it!
Can the Trazadone be taken during the day as well? or is it a sleeping medicine? Anybody on it?
I too suffer from facial numbness known as Trigeminal neuralgia( the R. side of my face tingles, mynose lip and teeth go numb,too. In addition, I have Cervicogenic Headaches and Occipital neuralgia, Debilitating Pain that radiates from the base of my skull, to my forehead and behind my R. eye. I need a surgery called Occipital Nerve Decompression, featured on "Good Morning America", but not covered by my Insurance.
steroid infusions have helped me with TN and occipital neuralgia. I take lyrica (300 mg) and gabapentin (900 mg) both, with percocet for breakthrough pain. I'm also exploring acupuncture as a treatment, though this is very new.
My biggest problem with the anti-seizure drugs is that I feel like my body acclimates to them pretty quickly, so I'm constantly upping the dosage.
Sorry to hear about your pain. I know how you feel.
Did they not prescribe some Neurontin or Lyrica for your nerve pain? The only thing I can think of would be Advil or Motrin, which would help with nerve inflammation.
If you are unable to take prescription meds, you might would want to look into reflexology or accupuncture.
Have you had an MRI yet?
I am very sorry that you are experiencing this pain.
I've had TN and severe headaches (occipital neuralgia, I think) for the past year. I've had it mostly under control with gabapentin, but to avoid side effects, I was taking it 6 x/day, which was a bit of an irritation. My dr. switched me to lyrica (50 mg 3x/day)and initially the pain mgmt was even better than with the gabapentin.
Since this weekend I've been having a huge worsening in the pain level.
it is good you have a proper diagnosis now and that now you know it is occipital neuralgia. Now that you know it is occipital neuralgia, you can treat it properly.
I'm not a doctor or a medical professional of any kind. So please make sure to check any information that I give you with your doctor. Also, I personally think it is best to see a neurologist or a headache specialist if you are suffering from unresolved headache pain.
The type of shot you received was a nerve block.
have you ever tried Carbamazepine (Tegratol)? Thats the only med I know of for Occipital Neuraglia because I was for awhile misdiagnosed with it and they tried to treat it with the Carbamazepine... and then my neuro tried to treat it with Lamictal... but of course neither worked for me because I don't have Occipital Neuralgia.
I know how painful and irritating the TN and occipital neuralgia can be. I think the occipital neuralgia (in my case) was more annoying and painful than my TN.
But , I do/did get the lightening bolt zaps to scalp and head that literally caused me to jump. Are you taking anything for it?
For the blurry vision...Have you tried lubricating eye drops? The neuro-opthamologist I saw said that insufficient tear film over the cornea of the eye can cause blurry vision.
In January, she was diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia and was given a cortisone injection, - the pain got 10X worse. In February, she was diagnosed by another Doctor (Neorosurgeon), with the same condition and had a neve block performed, the pain increased by another 10X. She is now oin the hospital, the Neurodurgeon syas he can't perform surgery, pain management says they have nothing to offer. What are the alternatives? I have read abour Occipital Nerve sectioniong. Is that an option?
hello. i really need an advice with my problem. i'm not english so forgive me for the miskaes. i'm suffering from constant occipital neuralgia on the right side of my head, also my neck hurts/burns and sometimes i feel pain in my shoulder and shoulder blade. when the pain just started it lasted for about a month, than it went away for about a month as well and now it's back again. it's almost a month that it's present.
There have been several posts lately concerning occipital neuralgia and occipital nerve blocking. If you scroll down, you should find some of the posts but if you don't try using the "search this community" box on the left hand corner of this screen. It would be really advantageous for you all to share your experiences and what works and what doesn't;
Good luck!
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There is a woman there with ON that recently had a trial stim implanted and had 70% pain relief. She said it was an occipital neuromodulator. (they are doing some trials to use this for severe migraine sufferers because the occipital nerve is the nerve affected with migraines.) She had her surgery done in Pittsburgh, PA.
Her blog is at URL: http://forum.fpa-support.org/forum.aspx?
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