Hi Batoodle,

First, I want to say I wrote you a novel yesterday but then I ended up deleting it only because I was in a hurry and it just didn't read right. And, no, you haven't said or done anything wrong and you are most definitely NOT a crybaby.

My C3/C4 was the REAL "bad" level and then also at the same time the C5/C6 was herniated. My journey began 8 years ago and it started off with SEVERE cervicogenic headaches which at first they termed occipital neuralgia. But to me it is all one in the same painwise. Anyway, no pain meds would touch it and I eventually had it fused. My C3/C4 nerve roots were so crushed or obliterated with osteoarthritis that they just couldn't be seen. So, it is no wonder meds wouldn't touch the pain. The ONLY thing that ever stopped the pain before I had any surgery was a shot of Toradol and a shot of Phenergan at the ER. However, when my current PM saw how bad that level was he did do some injections of which I had relief for 3 months each (he did those twice). But as he said, the pain would keep coming back and it did...so off it was to the NS.

So, what I would recommend is to have your Neurologist refer you to either a SPINAL pain management doctor OR a Neurosurgeon. You could also see an OSS. But I will say right now that the C3/C4 is a very serious level because of the phrenic nerve that controls your breathing. And please, this isn't meant to scare you at all. It is just that Neurologists are notorious for wanting to use meds when really you need what I mentioned above.

And don't get me wrong I have a Neurologist too but I do NOT use her or see her for the spinal disorders. My spinal PM and NS handles all of that.

So, if I were you, I would definitely ask for a referral. Evidently, and not to mean, your Neurologist just doesn't know what he or she is treating and SHOULD be sending you to a spine doc based on your MRI. What concerns me besides the facets and stenosis is that it is compressing your spinal cord. And I could lay down $100 that your headaches are really coming from your neck. Sometimes people think they are migraines and it could very well be. But I had two types of headaches going on...the spine docs called it Cervicogenic Headaches WITH Variant Migraines.

Hang in there and I hope you can get a referral to the right doc to help you.