Lizzy:

You probably want to get an absolute diagnosis from a Neurologist that you have Occipital Neuralgia. I get terrible pain in the base of my skull too. It feels like some one stuck an ice pick in the base and is trying to scrape out my insides. It's like no other pain I've felt before. And then some days I'll have the zaps going on in my head on both sides of the head. Other times I will get this intense pain out of no where and it feels like I've been shot in the back of the head and it lasts a few seconds to a few minutes and then I'm fine. Totally weird. But I can feel which Occipital Nerve is aggravated. Sometime I will feel throbbing on the left or the right and I know to not lay down on that side of my head.

I would totally avoid wearing any kind of a hat or turtle neck, even a blazer is very heavy on your occipital region. Don't lay down on your back, always lay on your side. Avoid wearing sunglasses or glasses. I usually put ice on the base of my skull and I take muscle relaxers to loosen up my neck muscles, because when the neck muscles tighten, they aggravate the Occipital Nerves.

Hope you get some help soon. I will say a prayer for you