Hi everyone,

I've been away for a while and had thought that i was getting better. Wishful thinking

I have had 2 nerve root blocks now - the first was in June and the second in August this year.

After the last one I had relief for about 10 weeks and then the pain started to return. It's now back so much that it feels like I'm back at square one.

I'm feeling so disheartened and emotional that it hasn't worked long term. I just don't know where to go from here.

My orthopaedic specialist is fantastic and he said in August that he would fit me in for the nerve block again as soon as I needed it (if I did) - just call his secretary. I haven't called her yet, but I guess I'll have to. I guess that's the next step.

I did go for physio today and the lady said that my occiput, neck and shoulders have all tensed up again and that the muscles are spasming. She did some work on me and to be honest I feel worse now!

My question is....................is this going to be it now for the rest of my life? What's the prognosis? I can't keep having physio and nerve root blocks forever. Are there any alternatives to try? I was wondering about acupuncture - would that help?

I'd be grateful for any responses and to share your experiences as this is getting me down now. I'm only in my early 30's and this has all been caused by a car accident which wasn't my fault. It's so frustrating

Charliebubs, I can't answer your question as I really don't know. I'm sorry that your not getting longer relief, but I know my pain management doctor has injected steroids and the relief I'm getting is longer because they have been repeated. There is always a rhyzotomy, but once you start those, you have to keep having them. I haven't made up my mind yet on that but I'm having the facet joints done to free up the muscles and see if that lessens the ON. I feel your frustration but I do hope that someone else with more experience with this can come along and give you some information. I do know there is a decompression surgery they can do to free up the nerve. That might be something worth checking up on. Take care and painfree wishes to you, Ellena

I wish I could answer your question as to how long it will last...
I've been asking myself the same question, and I asked my neuro that question yesterday! He said that my ON may go away eventually or reduce severity over time, but then mine has done that in the past anyway! Less pain for a while, then it just increases again...so I know it is frustrating!
My nerve blocks last anywhere from just under 2 months to 3 months, but the last one was barely 2 months. With me, it usually depends on the weather or what new meds my Dr. puts me on for other things.
I wish I didn't have this nerve pain either, (or the dizziness, the nausea, and all my other ailments! ) and my Neuro realised that yesterday, because I was getting pretty emotional while I was there!

~Jaime~

I seem to have got worse and worse over the last couple of weeks and have booked myself in to have the nerve roots blocked again. I'm going in on Monday 8 December 2008.

The orthopaedic surgeon has said that he will do it again (Monday) but if it wears off within a few weeks again and doesn't give me any long term relief then he is going to send me to a Pain Clinic elsewhere for further assessment.

I don't know what that further assessment will be or what further treatment they will offer me, but one step at a time.

At least I'm getting the blocks again and that should give me relief over the holidays and into the New Year.

I'll keep you posted and thanks for the support.

I haven't had a nerve block just the steriod shots on Tuesday.
My doctor informed me that it would be possible that I will have to get these all the time forever. He said sometimes it could be 3 weeks and sometimes 3 months and sometimes it just works for good.
I do have to say that all the pain medication I was using was actually giving me a rebound effect. That is that it makes the cycle of pain endless. I hope this does not happen to you. Once I got it all out of my system and was just on muscle relaxers and nerve blocking meds, my head felt so much better.

I'm glad you were able to get in so quickly. I hope you get some extended relief from these. Take care, Ellena

Thanks guys. All went well on Monday. I'm still a bit tender but hope that the steroids will take effect soon and give me the relief I've been waiting for.

The consultant said that if and when they wear off again and the pain returns he will refer me to another specialist to have cryotherapy on the nerves. He said that this should give me at least 8-10 months of relief and then the nerves regenerate.

I have read about this on the net and it's where they freeze the nerves. Has anyone here had it done?

I have had the freezing injections one a week for months now. Usually I only get about 5 days worth of relief. Basically they palpate the base of your skull to find where the pain is then inject freezing mixed with steroid into those areas. It's quite painful to have it done and it takes a couple days for the pain that causes to settle before you get some relief.

I am in line to get an occipital nerve stimulator. It's new technology and not covered here in Canada yet, but I got word yesterday I should be getting the trial lead for one soon. I have to pay for this out of my own pocket, but we're hoping it will help and in turn if it does, that we can convince the gov't to cover it for me. Otherwise, I cannot get it-it's about $26,000.

Hope this helps you!

Charliebubs, I had cryo surgery a long time ago for a different problem and it worked great. They use freezing to destroy the tissue is the only difference. I do hope that the steroids kick in soon for you. I had two injections and after the second one, they did calm the nerves for a while. Take care!