Anti inflammatory home made cream?
 

My entire scalp is excruciating. I can't touch it at all and I don't need to to touch it for pain. It's excrucuating without being touched. I want to try and soak my entire scalp I something that will help. I was thinking maybe something anti inflammatory cream? Home made concoction or store bought, anybody know something? I can't think, move my head, I can't function. Any remedies?

No ideas? The pain is horrific. I will be seeing my neuro on Tuesday and requesting a pain management doc, but what do I do in the meantime? I can feel the physically damaged nerves in my back close to my spine. They run up and down my back and pulsate and are hot. I have immense heat and pressure starting at the nerves in my back and this feeling travels in lines down my arms and legs and up into my scalp. It's the scalp that I need to deal with right now because I can't function, think, move my head....
I took an extra strength Advil this morning, put voltaren on my scalp and soaked my head in Epsom salts last night. Along with my mj and gabapentin and nothing is working. Please any ideas?

An ice pack on the back of your neck may help. I use ice for my nerve pain and arthritis sometimes when I have a flare.

Ice can be very helpful in calming PN pain.

If it makes things worse?...then you will have to investigate RSD in detail. Those patients with this different type of neuropathy cannot tolerate cold.

I do hope you only use lukewarm showers, as heat is a trigger for irritated PN nerve pain.

Sounds so uncomfortable
 

Hi canagirl,

Sounds very uncomfortable!:eek:
I like the ice idea from mrsD, if it's tolerable for you.

Is it possible to reach your doctor? There are all types of topicals for the scalp.

Many people use topical steroid lotions for severe scalp itching and burning (skin reactions). I am not sure if these might work for your nerve pain. One used often for dermatological scalp burning is: betamethasone valerate lotion 0.1%. This is a prescribed product in the U.S.

Do you have, or have you tried, repeated daily applications of magnesium chloride or magnesium sulfate lotion ( Morton's Epsom lotion). I feel the key in trying either of these may be in using multiple applications throughout the day.

There is also topical lidocaine, which is sometimes use for nerve pain. This is a topical anesthetic.
OTC, Aspercreme (brand) offers a topical cream with 4% lidocaine as the only active ingredient.

(Higher concentrations of topical lidocaine are available by prescription.)

I do not know the potential adverse effects of using either magnesium chloride or magnesium sulfate lotion, or topical lidocaine (4% is max OTC) on your scalp.

Please consult with your doctor and/or pharmacist.
Your condition sounds extremely uncomfortable.

I hope you find relief pronto! :hug:

With Concern,
DejaVu

P.S. I know these options are not "home-made." They are available OTC, however, should you not find a home-made option. I find pharmacists glad to offer suggestions and some guidance, both on the phone and in person.

Do you suffer from Occipital Neuralgia?
 

Hi Canagirl,

Has this condition been diagnosed?
If so, is this "Occipital Neuralgia?"
There are descriptions of symptoms and some suggestions for relieving pain in "occipital neuralgia" in these links:

http://www.webmd.com/migraines-heada...ses-treatments

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neuro...neuralgia.html

:hug:
DejaVu

It hasn't been diagnosed but that sounds right. I've tried massage, Advil, etc....
I'll talk to neuro about nerve blick

Canagirl,

I hope you can find relief before your appointment.

Have you tried massaging your neck and shoulders with either magnesium sulfate (Morton's Epsom lotion) or magnesium chloride (usually an oil base)?

I hope you can get help with a massage.

If there is neck level impingement, it may be made worse with muscle spasms.
It may be helpful to calm the spasms. WebMD had mentioned a muscle relaxant and heat, which often relaxes spasms. At the same time, heat applications can aggravate inflammation. Thus finding relief may be a bit of trial and error.

Some people use the essential oil of lavender (a few drops) in a carrier oil (jojoba, almond, others) for muscle relaxation, and mind calming effects.

I am still trying to think of a home-made remedy for you. ;)

:hug:
DejaVu

I have had great results with compounded creams from a pharmacy. You'll have to talk your doc into it but it's been great for my burning pain etc. They even have one with Ketamine but it's VERY expensive. Ketamine acts as a nerve block. I have a little of it but need it very rarely as my other "free" compounded cream works very well so far.

I'm going to mention a couple other things that have done wonders for my neuropathy pain. At least twice a day I do what's called "The Body Scan Meditation. It has the ability to really relax the body and that reduced my pain greatly due to the fact that I was so scared anxious and freaked out most of the time. I'm pretty relaxed these days. The other thing was challenging myself to use a Vegan Diet based in raw, fermented and sprouted food.

My pain right now is a 2-3 as opposed to a 5-7 just a few weeks ago. And I have a life again.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your views I'm dying anyway. I have something else going on that is causing massive weight loss and my doc is concerned that I'm "failing to thrive". And I'm allowing no invasive tests for reasons I'll explain. I'm retired, I'm old, I have no family to consider. All my affairs are in order. Whatever is causing the weight loss is not painful. My neuropathy is both small and large fiber was getting very painful indeed. Now it's not so much but could all come roaring back as I just don't know. I don't think it's going to right away but in my view dying of something non painful is quite appealing. I'm not afraid of becoming what I was before being born but I do greatly fear a painful life.

Best of luck and maybe something here will help you. :hug:

And if you are interested in that body scan there is a wonderful book and tapes that will walk you through it. It's called " Full Catastrophe Living" It's a book and you can purchase the CDs of the meditation along with other thing like light yoga etc. This program (8 weeks) was used in a major medical hospital on folk who doctors had given up on due to pain meds no longer working against massive pain issues. The success rate was a whopping 70% for improvements in pain profiles. These are the worst cases that the medical profession had given up on. It's a beautiful program for dealing with pain issues.

icelander
Thank you for the information about the Body Scan Meditation and for sharing about your situation. Your calm and rational approach to the inevitability of dying is reassuring. I hope you continue to maintain your relatively pain free life for as long as possible. Your words of wisdom here on NT are much appreciated. :hug:

I get this SFN flare up too. The back of my entire head, neck, back, shoulders and butt will burn and flare. Sometimes only certain parts burn, but once in a while they will all burn and it is awful. How much gabapentin are you on? Talking to you doc about increasing it. I take 2400mg/day and it really helps with the burning. I do have a skin cream that was made by an acupuncturist. I only use it when I get bad flares so I can sleep. I think one of the main ingredients is St. John's Wort.

I set my nerves off on this past Monday because I took a warmer than usual shower and I paid the price for almost 24 hours afterward. It was the worst work day ever. I couldn't hardly sleep later that night. Are you watching the temperature of your showers? This can be a trigger for some of us.

canagirl

Sorry to hear the PN is still causing you so much pain. I don't have much in the way of medical advice that hasn't already been offered by others but there is something that you might try for short term relief. It's easy to do and can't hurt you - although I can't guarantee it will help.

Get an old towel and put it in a plastic bag in the freezer - not until it is frozen into a block - just until it is chilled. Take it out and spread open. Sprinkle drops of menthol oil in the center area and wrap it around your head.

Let us know if it helps at all. Again as MrsD said - if it makes the pain worse, when you see your doctor Tuesday tell him and ask for investigation into RSD
(Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy).

Take care and hope you get relief soon.

Thank you, I think someone mentioned to me long ago that life wasn't forever. I managed to ignore that and to believe I was an immortal. But alas that subterfuge was not to last and for that I'm grateful as I had not factored in all the things that could go wrong and would eventually make life not so worth it. Disease, old age, accident not to mention the emotional slings and arrows we humans are prone to.

For me a conscious death is to be prefered also. I really don't want to be medicated to oblivion and miss the show. This may be tricky to achieve but it's what I want.

Thanks all. I don't know what to do. I'm taking all the pain medication I can. Nothing is helping. The pain is going down either side of my nose, from my lower jaw down by ear and both pains culminate in my teeth. My burning al over is excruciating. I thought I was in the worst pain before, but it's worse than ever. I don't know why this happened. It's not just my head flaring but everywhere. But the pain in my head is so bad I can't concentrate. I can't go on like this.

Anybody know if u can take flexeril, gabapentin, Advil, and marijauna? Together in the same day?

Icelander, thanks for ur input. I'm so sorry to hear that u have other more serious issues. I'm not one with words ( unlike most of the other members) and I really don't know what to say to help. I'm thinking of u and hoping for whatever healing may take place.

Are you not able to see pain mgmt doctor? Is the waiting list too long, or just not available? This is what you need...someone that specializes in pain mgmt. It doesn't even sound like anyone is doing further testing/investigating. What is the plan?

The only cream I can think of that might help is what others have suggested (epsom lotion).

Emergent Medical Assistance?
 

Hi Canagirl,

Are you able to seek emergent medical assistance if needed?
I am hoping you have this option.

Thinking of you.

:hug:
DejaVu

My pm doc said he wanted to defer to the neuro on the pain management doc. However, my neuro has been on vacation ALL summer. I had my biopsy on May 20 and I had do get my pm care doc to hassle the neuro office to have the results sent to him so that I could find out. The neuro didn't inform me of the results and just called last week to schedule an appointment for Tuesday. I am Hoping that the positive result will make her take me seriously and do some testing ) although I know the major pain I'm dealin with is from trauma to my large nerves from acupuncture) but I'd like further testing for the sfn. Sooo... I don't know what the plan is. I hope to find out soon and I hope she refers me to a pain doc.

I've tried all the suggestions on this thread except for the lidocaine patch ( couldn't find it in the store, maybe it's a prescription here?) and the menthol oil because I didn't make it to the health food store before it closed. I'll try the oil tomorrow and the taurine mrs d suggested earlier.

I could go to the ER...i tried that a few months ago before I started meds. I spent sonething like 8 hours there and all they did was send me home with Ativan ( a benzo). So I don't really want to do that unless I can't handle another second. I dont know what they would do for me this time. It's unfortunate

The lidocaine patch is an RX here in the US too. You'll have to get your doctor to prescribe it for you.

I'm fine dear, I have either worked through some of my pain issues or am in a remission for a time and truly feel death is no defeat for me. Besides the fact that everyone does it, it means I made it through all the challenges of time and material existence and am now going home for some much needed R&R.

I have grown emotionally and psychologically though all of this and I'm grateful I've had this reaction to such a horrific challenge. I feel kind of like a big success at times. I'm mostly calm and relaxed and I'm playing my ukulele and singing loud for at least a couple hours a day. That also deeply relaxes my body. My doc says he is very gratified that I have maintained a reason to get out of bed and live a life. He said he rarely sees that in this kind of disease situation even when it would be possible.

That's part of my treatment plan. Most of my "mistakes" have been when I was stressed out in the fear/panic mode.

Hi Canagirl,

I hope pain has calmed down and you are more comfortable.:hug:

I am very sorry the ER does not do enough to help your pain, even temporarily. :( :mad:

I hope your neurologist will be helpful to you.

Warmly,
DejaVu

Thanks. The pain in my head has calmed a tiny bit, but my burning/stinging body wide is out of control.

I think my head pain has something to do with muscles in my neck and back. Sitting in the car and moving with it when the car stops, accelerates, turns etc causes the intense pressure in my head to shift to other areas until my head is in normal position again. The. The pressure sits concentrated in the middle of my ( on the very top, then down behind nose and into roof of mouth). I want to stretch or massage these areas but I won't!! ( every time I try sonething I end up worse). Just going to medicate and hope for the best. Currently taking gabapentin ( upped), Advil, t3, flexeril and mj. Started all these yesterday ( except gaba and mj) hope they work soon.

I am sorry you are going through so much. :(
Take good care of yourself. :hug:
Warmly,
DejaVu

Sorry you are dealing with so much pain. I hope you can find some relief until you get to your Dr. appointment. Can he/she give you some "emergency medication" that you can have on hand in the event this happens again so you won't be in so much pain while waiting for an appointment. Not something you would take all the time, but something that would be short term and not be dangerous to take with your current meds.