Rough few days... Starting Thursday evening I had muscle pain from my neck to my butt - but only on the right side. I figured it was probably because it was a super busy day at work and I was on my feet a lot, but by Friday lunch time I just couldn't stand it. Left work and went back to the doctor. again Different Dr at the office- actually really like him. He listened really well and stopped to take time to think through things. He was puzzled about this being all one one side. Like I had a line down the middle of me... He realized that the other Dr had increased my Lyrica too much (went from 50mg once a day to 75 three times a day overnight per the other Drs instructions). So we decided to back off on the Lyrica some and ramp up to the larger dose if needed. He also gave me a muscle relaxer (with strong precaution to only take it right before bed), but only after checking most of the "tender spots" for Fibro. All of them made me whimper in pain. His thought is that this is Fibro, or a combo of both ON and Fibro (yea! one likes to get the other riled up... regular party.) So for now I'm still calling every day to see if I can get in to see the neurologist before Nov 12th, and attempting to find a balance in dosage in the mean time. I'm pretty bummed about all of this- I get super cranky and irritable when I'm hurting or need more meds. I find myself pushing the people who are supporting me away (especially my boyfriend who had been so wonderful through this so far). It just makes me really sad because I don't want to be that way. I'm realizing that my whole life right now revolves around when to take what meds, questioning can I make it to work or not today, will I run out of sick leave and not be able to pay my bills... the physical is exhausting enough, but goodness, the mental is messing with me How do you get past the initial mental crash of dealing with this???

I just joined NeuroTalk and saw your post. How are you doing now? My friend has Occipital Neuralgia (ON) and is about to go see Dr. Hae-Dong Jho in Pittsburgh for a consult and see if he is a candidate for his nerve decompression surgery for ON. Have you looked into this procedure? Or do you know of anyone who has gone to see Dr. Jho?

This condition, as is any nerve pain condition, is both physically and mentally taxing. If you are looking for a more active support group. There are at least 4 good ones on Facebook. If you are interested, I can send you the links.

I look forward to hearing from you.