GReater Occipital Nerve Injection Anyone???
 

Hello my name is Frank and I have MS. I never suffered from headaches till the last 6 or 7 yrs now.

My neuro keeps saying these migraines are not related to the MS, yet the spinal lesions he now says can cause severe headaches, any insight on this would be welcomed.

As it is he finally agrees the MS could be the cause, yet at same time wants to send me for this Occipital nerve injection to treat occipital neuralgia, is this the ON's I always hear about? or is this something diff? confused is an understatement,

Each time I get these nasty headaches I also have an MS relapse, so this is what bothers me why stick and poke me if its the MS, even in my cog fog thats a no brainer, or has anyone else gone through the same thing I am going through, and can relate or can shed some light on this for me

It seems to me he is covering both exits just incase, and I'll be honest the thought of this injection does not put a smile on my face, I have had 4 LP and thats pretty much what this amounts to, but in the back of the head, and the steroids have actually helped eased the headaches somewhat this relapse, so I am going to hold off unless it worsens but I would appreciate any info anyone has

again thank you

Hi Frank :)
I have occipital neuralgia & i have nerve blocks every 12 wks these do help the pain but don`t take mine away, although people have different reactions.
don`t know if these are what your Docs are thinking of.
mine is caused by 2 brain tumours pressing on these nerves i also have trigemenial nueralgia but the blocks don`t help this.
hope this is some help to you.
keep smiling sophia :):):)

Ah yes, Occipital Neuralgia, or O.N., I know all about that!:D
I have had the nerve blocks 3 times now, and they have worked well for me, and reduced the pain a lot.
I don't know much about MS, and the problems related to it, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to try the nerve block, to see if it will help with your headaches.
I don't think it's like a lumbar puncture (not that I've ever had one!), the needle used in a nerve block, is quite small, and not very painful at all. Well, it wasn't when my Neuro did it...and I hate needles too!
:o
~Jaime~

cool on the needle info that was a problem here that kind of worried me

but so far the steroids seem to have taken an edge off it which leaves me to lean towards this is ths spinal lesion causing it and should pass hopefully soon if not then a block may still be needed

thank you both of you didnt think of posting this down here, am always in the game or ms section

Hi Frank :)
No ! nerve block is not like having "lumber puncture"
not to bad at all
Doreen :):):)

sophia is the name, i`m a girl with many names "or should i say old girl

Need more info on nerve block for occipital neuralgia. What drug is it exactly that they put into you.? My daughter has had shots to the head and the only thing that works (and like Novacaine only temporarlily) is Lanacaine. She had the occ. nerve severed (surgeon said it was shredded) but 2 months later is still in pain. Now she is trying acupuncture but so far (3 visits) no relief. She never had headaches prior to this occipital neur. alices

I'm not sure of the names of the drugs used in my Occipital nerve blocks, but my neuro used Lidocaine as the anesthetic last time (he previously used something else), but not sure of the name of the steroid. But here's a bit of information on what some nerve blocks consist of...

...The injection consists of a local anesthetic (like lidocaine or bupivicaine ). When treating occipital neuralgia or other painful conditions, steroid medication ( triamcinolone-Aristocort, methylprednisolone-Depomedol, or Celestone-betamethasone) is added to the local anesthetic...

~Jaime~

Checking on your outcome!
 

I have had MS for over 20 years and never felt this kind of scalp pain. Did the shot work or did your doctors find another method? I am currently taking Lyrica and hoping it kicks in. Hope you're feeling great now!

Hi Frank - I've just been diagnosed with ON too and am booked in to have the injections next Monday (30th). Mine was caused by a car accident in February and it's taken this long for them to diagnose me :(

I'm not sure if we do things differently in the UK but I'm having a general anaesthetic to have the injections, so I'll be asleep. To be honest, I much prefer this idea :)

I was under the impression that the injections I'm getting are into the nerve, but from what I've read on here - they may be into the surrounding area rather than the nerves themselves. I'm confused too!!!

Hope you're okay now. Let us know how you got on with the injections and if they gave you any relief. :)

Hi Frank sorry to hear of your problems. I have O.N due to a car accident I was in 13 years ago, when I was 18, and have had many, many injections. Should the steroids stop working for you please don't be afraid to get the injections because they are not painful, just a tinly needle and a little picnh then it burns a few moments while the medicine goes in but that's it, certainly woth going through toget rid of the head aches. Best of luck with everything!!!!

Christy

MS and migraines - Occipital nerve block
 

I have been having problems with migraines related to my MS. I also have flare ups associated with the migraines. My neurologist wants me to have the nerve block. From what I've read, they only last short term. Can anyone give me some information on them?

greater occipital nerve pains
 

Can anyone please help.

I got diagnosed nearly 3 years ago with GON, i have had no trauma to the head since i was 14 and am now 29 (got hit by a vehicle) my specialist told me i have had this all these years but for some reason pain only started to come out around 4 years ago.
I first started to realise something was wrong when i had a lump come up on the lower part of my neck towards my left ear, it came up the size of a golf ball then would go after and few hours and was very painfull.
I informed my gp but as he never saw it and my neck was not painfull unless the lump was there, there was nothing he could do, i continued to complain about this and even told my ent specialist, eventually they sent me for head scans and all came back clear.
I was reffered to a pain specialist and was diagnosed GON. since my diagnosis i have been on every medication possible, i have GON blocks twice a year (the most the government will allow so i have been told) even though my specialist has said that due to my pains i need at least 3-4 a year to cope, my daily medication is AM carbamazapine 200mg, co-codamol 500's x2(every 4 hours) meptazinol 200mg,ibuprofen 400mg. AFT co codamol again, meptazinol 200mg ibuprofen. PM carbamazapine 400mg co-codamol again, meptazinol 200mg ibuprofen. As well as this i have diazipan 30mg in 10mg doses if and when needed.
This is all just in my daily routine yet nothing can get rid of the pain. i have had 5 GON blocks now the first one did make my pain worse as i was told there was a good chance it would but from injection 2 it has been great and after the injections i have been pain free for a while but then all of a sudden it's back and worse.
all of my pains are on the left side of my head face and neck, the lump still comes up a lot but seem to be fobbed off with swelling.
I have a full time job a a carer in a psychiatric hospital and i can't cope. i have so much time off work due to my pains i don't know what to do.
i am getting to the point where i just can't cope and most certainly can't look after my self when the pains get really bad.
please has any one got any sugestions that may help
thanks sufferer

:sorry::sorry:they last different amounts of time i have had 5 and each one seems to last that little bit longer. to start with you will be allowed 3-4 within a 12 month period but then it will go to two a year. be mindfull the first one is the worst and does increase your pain as it is tackling all your nerves but it is only for a short period concidering living with the pain on a daily basis. the second you should be pain free for a while and after each injection it will last longer. the procedure is not nice as you will have a local anasthetic so you will be awake throughout, the first few seconds really hurt but then you don't feel the rest of the procedure being done.If your first injection does make the pain worse please continue to injection 2 before making up your mind whether to continue, your specialist should tell you themselves the first one is the worst but then it should start to get better.i really hope i haven't scared you or put you off, i just wish i had some-one to tell me all this at the start and really hope this helps. give it a go.

GON Block
 

Am now awaiting my 10th Gon Block. my pain management specialist has finally arranged them for every 6 months, it's only took 4 years to get there but now with these i am able to live my life and enjoy myself. i still have really bad days where the whole left side of my head, face and neck are so excruciatingly painful but most day's the pain is at a level i can live with.
I would suggest to anyone who suffers with occipital nerve pain to try the GON Block's the first does aggravate the pain but from injection 2 you will start to be able to live. Hope this helps anyone who is suffering too.

:grouphug:

I've had 5 so far, and I feel they're all painful to me. Maybe it's a psychological thing, I don't know.

It does feel absolutely horrible when it wears out, I can't describe that horrible sensation there are no words for it :s

Greater occipital nerve blocks
 

After 2 nerve blocks, I had my GON ablated approximately two years ago - so far so good. I plan on doing the same for my ON. However, I do not have MS, so I do not know if a nerve can be ablated with MS.

Hiya emma
i understand how you feel, i am beyond counting how many i have had now.
I think i have had another 4-5 since i last replyed to someone on here.
Each time the injections really hurt.
I have found that it really helps if you arrange work shifts around your procedure.
i now leave work after a night shift and go straighht to the hospital.
by this time i am that tired that the pain levels are a lot lower than they would have been.
keep talking to your Pain management speciallist, tell them exactly how your feeling when the injections wear off. eventually they will listen but you have got to be constantly on at them.
there are medications you can take along with the injections that may help out.
hope this helps.

I go every three months for injections. I have two different PM docs and one told me the only way to control ON was to get the injections every 3 months. I told the second PM doc what the first one said and he finally started doing it and I'm in better shape than I was previously. Right now I'm not doing too good, but I'm less than a month out from my next round of injections. Get your PM doc to schedule them every 3 months and see how you fare then. I still have the headaches and the pain, it just doesn't seem to get as bad as they previously were. Best of luck to all of us that deal with it.

ON
 

This may be of merit to ON sufferers.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_6803179_ma...neuralgia.html

hiya EE03 you must have a pain management team very much unlike mine and you must be very lucky as, Mine told me i am now only allowed 2 per year as they are so expensive. over the last 3 sets of injections they have done a procedure, not sure what its called but they send pulses through the nerves as well and to be fair between the GON and the pulses they are lasting nearly 6 months now. have you spoken to your team about medication as well. my gp gives me diazapam if the pain get really bad where i cant cope, other medications i am on which do help are carbamazapine, co-codamol and omperazol, (the last one is just to help with stomache asid which is comon when on lots of medication) but try medication as well. hope this helps