Does anyone have problems with their neck. For the third time in a year I am battling insane pain in my neck and up the back of my head.
I have had facial pain for a few years and was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia.
I have had countless MRI/MRAs of the neck, head and spine with no problems showing.
My physiotherapist says the pain is largely muscular because of the tightness and tenderness in my sub-occipitals. But this pain will migrate up the back of my head and even up over to my eye.
I will get headaches, migraines, dizziness, nausea and vertigo with this when it REALLY gets out of hand. It is very, very painful.
I am wondering if I now have symptoms of occipital neuralgia? But I guess that will be a question for my neuro.
Other pain I have is nerve and muscular in my arms but especially in my legs. RLS for sure but tingling, numbness, allodynia. It is especially bad at night.
Hi Jane! I also get severe pain in my neck. The pain also goes down my right arm and into my ring and pinky fingers sometimes. I have gone to a physical therapist who also believes it is primarily muscular. I do have mild osteoarthritis in my neck though. For me, it feels like I have a pebble stuck in the right side of my cervical vertebrae. I went to a chiropractor for years and it offered some help, especially when I was getting occipital headaches. However, the muscle manipulation I received at the physical therapist helped much more than the chiropractor which leads me to believe it is in the muscles. I think somehow the muscles get so tense they compress (or pull the vertebrae around) nerves and blood vessels which sometimes results in thoracic outlet syndrome. It takes some work to get those muscles calmed down. I didn't think the neck stabilization exercises helped though, as they just seemed to create more tension. When my neck gets really bad, I feel like nerves get pinched and what helps the most is Lyrica. I had tried hydrocodone, flexeril and ibuprofen prior to that with little success. I also get jaw pain (not TMJ) with headaches and I believe it is all connected. If Lyrica is too expensive, consider gabapentin, it is essentially the same thing. It will make you tired and a bit more fuzzy brained than usual for 2 weeks but that went away for me.
Just to provide background I work full-time, have kids, workout 3 times per week and am at a healthy weight. I take Lexapro 10mg twice daily, Ultram 50mg three times daily as needed for pain, Lyrica 150mg twice daily and Ambien 5mg at bedtime for sleep. I use a TENS unit on my lower back when it spasms badly to "reset" those muscles. I have also gotten in the habit of using ice (as opposed to heat) when I aggravate my neck/back by doing yard work, etc. which seems to help prevent pain from inflammation. When I get a "full body" RLS, taking Ambien and going to sleep is all that helps. I know many people find success using pramipexole for RLS.
Good luck and hang in there. We are all muddling our way through but it is nice to have each other!
Hey there. I also battle with head and neck pain. A few months after I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia I had this burning/tingling pain going from the base of my head, down my neck and across my shoulders. It just got worse and worse until my husband took me to the ER. I figured something MUST be wrong because the pain was so severe. So the CT scan came back negative with the exception of mild degenerative disc disease. I still have bouts with that severe pain and just have to deal with it until it subsides. Unfortunately for me nothing really helps except for an Epsom salt bath. Of course that's not an option at work, (a hot tub out back would be nice!) so I do have those ThermaCare neck pain heat wraps in my drawer just in case. I also use Aspercreme lotion that I basically just slather all over my neck and arms. Helps a bit, but not for very long. Good luck to you and I hope that the pain will subside for you. Just know there are others who know what you're going through. :-)