Occipital Neuralgia Online Support Group

Hi,

I saw my Headache Specialist last week and explained that most of my pain is coming from my neck which is then triggering very painful migraine like pain on my right side only. He did a nerve block and I think it helped for a few hrs but that was it. My pain goes all the way into my eye/temple area. He wanted me to try Neurontin as I have been on everything else under the sun with no success, but I really don't want to deal with the side effects and weight gain with the summer just beginning! He did prescribe Zanaflex to try. Has anyone on here had any experiences with this drug? He gave me 4MG and said to take before bed for a week and then increase to 2.

Meredith, glada you saw a neuro who was able to explain to you about the head pain is connected to the neck pain. The upper neck is a very painful area for me and it also shows up as pain on the head and right forehead/eye area. My nerve block also temporarily helped, as others will tell you, they are only temporary fixes. I think my NB helped a little more than others have and I'm happy for that.

I was on Lyrica (same drug family as neurontin) for my fibromyalgia and I decided to get off of it because I didn't think it was helping and I could only get up to 150-200 mgs. without acting like a drunken sailor. I'm down to 100 mgs. and am feeling more pain, so I'm thinking about increasing it back up and seeing if the nerves pain in my neck (upper & lower) ease up a little.

I was on Zanaflex a few years ago after my initial injury at work and it did help somewhat. I don't remember why I got off of it, I have alot of allergic/adverse reactions to most meds and we changed meds like crazy. I know most people have said most meds don't help this type of nerve pain, but some people have found help with certain drugs. You have to try many and find what works for you.

I found that Fiorcet helps a little ease the pain and I use Valium 15 mgs. at night to help me sleep through the pain.

Good luck and let us know how this works for you.

Hi- I tried Zanaflex but with no success. However, everyone responds differently. i have same symptoms as you you. except mine covers my entire head- it really is stressful whe it gets to my forehead above my eyes.

I'm learning to deal with a lot of the pain but want to be pain free. My treatments with Chiropractor are helpful - able to stop pain most of the time. however, when pain stops i get pressure in top of my head and then i can't sleep at night! this is simply awful.

my body seems to be asleep but not my head!!!??? recently prescribed Ambien 5mg but haven't tried it yet.

do you have problems sleeping?

Thanks for responding!

I actually have had sleep issues since I was a child and do on occasion take Lunesta and Melatonin. I tried the Zanaflex 4 mg last night and "I think".....it may have taken a little of the edge off...more made the nerve pain not as intense. It also made me very sleepy, but after about 2.5-3 hrours, I was wide awake and the pain started coming back. Oh well, a few hrs is something I guess! I wonder why it doesn't last longer

I find that with 15 mgs. diazapam (Valium) I only sleep 4ish hours and then the pains there waking me up also. I find that on nights when the pain isn't at a 10+++ I can sleep a little longer. I find that now that the pain is intensifing in my upper neck, when anything's pressing on that area it sets it off more and laying down on my little 3" high pillow to sleep seems to make it angry. This condition robs us of so much of our life and even our sleep.

Take care all

Thanks for your response. my doctor prescribed 5 mg of Ambien for my sleeplessness. it put me in a pattern of being half asleep and half awake. i didn't fully wake up for about 11 hours - felt very tired.

as you know it is hard to function without proper rest. Doctors must do more research to find a cure for this. i'm finding there are a lot of people with this but each person has a different name.

God bless you.

i tried 5 mg of Ambien last night but took it at 2 am and was half awake and half asleep for about 10 hours - not a good feeling. it was very hard to come out of this kind of sleep very tired now so hope i can sleep tonight.

I too tried Ambien CR and at first it was good for me, also have had sleep issues for decades. After months on it I noticed that my fibromyalgia pain was getting worse and that was the only new med I had been on so I talked to my doc and told him and we decided I would get off of it and see what happens. What happened was that the pain I was having decreased to it's usual pain. That was so weird that something like Ambien could trigger fibro pain. Just goes to show you never know how you'll respond to a med until you try it.

And our battle continues...........

Thanks for your response. One day we will have a med that will get rid of our pain. stay prayerful and keep the faith

Does anyone have pain that goes through one eye and triggers the migraine like pain? I have this and also a little bit of a pressure sensation in that eye as well...kind of like the sensation if you were blowing up a balloon except with pain too.