Update
 

Finally, I have an appointment with a new Pain management doc next week and I got a letter stating that someone should drive me in the event they do injections, so maybe there is a nerve block in my future and maybe some relief, finally. My head and neck are killing me and I'm having more trouble with sleep and my eyes. Keep your fingers crossed that this helps! I was posting about this somewhere else and I can't remember where, so I started a new thread.

Ellena

Hi Ellena, I hope your new pain doc works out. I tried the epidural which helped my arm symptoms but not the head symptoms. Saw an associate of my pain doc and she was great, was able to reproduce my symptoms with trigger points in my upper back(symptoms to lower head) and pressure on my occipital nerves by my suboccipital muscles(symptoms over top of head/forehead). So plan to get bilateral nerve blocks next week, and maybe talk about botox injections.

Take Care, Diana

Hey pal You know my fingers toes arms legs and eyes are all crossed.
I have heard lots of good things about nerve blocks and I pray it is going to help you also. I am just going to keep saying that out loud over and over ..positive thoughts and prayers. This is going to work to help controll the monster pain. You so deserve and earned that there can be no other way but for it to help! I think it takes a day or 2 for it to kick in fully not sure but i think. keep us updated and next week I pray is your week to finaly get relief and controll! :hug: :hug:
Peace
BMW

Oh that's great news Ellena - about time too! :)

I've got everything crossed for you. Please let us know how you get on.

Best of luck :)

Well, the doctor went over everything and they have me scheduled for this wednesday. He agreed to do the occipital blocks first since that is most troubling for me and then he'll treat the spine (C5 & 6 and 2&3). I'm hopeful and I found him very easy to talk to as well.
Ellena

I am praying this is going to be the week you find sucess over your pain, and the blocks work just like the name ..."block" out the pain for a good many months. :hug: 'member to eat healthy and get rest before and after well a.m.s.p. ;)
sending positive thoughts and pain free vibs to you Ellena
PEACE
BMW

p.s. glad ya made it threw Fay :rolleyes: that was a "loopy" storm. see another down by cuba aiming at us. It is good you see doc this week :) many blessings and you will be on my mind and prayers all week and wendsday extra lots ,let us know how things go when you are able.:grouphug:

Thanks so much. I'll post as soon as I can. On the storm front, the ground is so squishy from so much rain that it's going to take a week for it to dry up. I hope the others break up or go elsewhere - its too painful to have these things around as my pain has escalated throughout all of this. Serious thanks for your good wishes :hug: Ellena

Ellena your in my prayers today.I hope things go exceptionaly well at your apt.
Sending positive thoughts all day long.
PEACE
BMW

Hope you are home and resting and i hope more then anything that it all went extra well! let us know how your doing and how ya feel when you can..but take it easy,and rest first. :hug:
PEACE
BMW

He did the occipital block first and once he got the area numb, I was pain free for the first time in such a long while that I realized that I've forgotten what it feels like to have no pain. Thats really sad:(. Anyway, because they gave me some demerol and versed before hand, I spent a lot of time sleeping :Zzzz: yesterday and taking it real easy. He did some type of trigger point injection in my neck and I can't elaborate on it as the details are still fuzzy with me so I've got to wait till I go back in three weeks for him to start working on the spine.
Today, I can tell that there is medicine in my neck and head. I feel some stiffness and a weird sort of fullness. He told me to use ice for the swelling which I'm going to start doing today. I didn't notice it yesterday and I stayed numb for quite a long time. I thought he'd be able to do both sides of my head but he explained that they can only do one side at a time as it would be too much to deal with otherwise. He also used florescopy while doing the entire procedure. So, my fingers are crossed that the steroids will bring some lasting relief as yesterday felt pretty awesome while it lasted. I'll post periodically about how things are going. Thanks for all the support here everyone!
Ellena

I'm glad you got some pain relief. How are you feeling today? My blocks didn't seem to do much, they were done without imaging so who knows if it was in the right spot. So the head keeps tingling, etc. On a brighter note, the trigger point injections did seem to relax my neck muscles a bit. Keep us posted on your progress.

Take care, Diana

Diana, he used some sort of device which caused little electrical jolts to locate the proper place to inject the meds for the occipital block. Didn't your doctor do that? My concern with that is I only felt the jolt on the side of my head and not the top, so I'm not sure if he got both the greater and lesser occipital nerves, so I'll ask about that when I return for the facet injections. He did indicate that the steroids can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month to feel the full effect. The numbness wore off that night, but it sure was nice to be rid of this pain during that time, even if it's just temporary. I'm still experiencing some pain and discomfort and a lot of stiffness. I'm stretching quite a bit per his instructions. I keep getting some strange pains that I can't really explain :confused:and I'm trying to understand what I'm feeling if that makes any sense to anyone. The other side gives me a point of reference for the pain and there is already a difference and I'm staying hopeful. Someone asked what the flouroscope is and I meant to add that its like an xray machine that allows them to see precisely where to place the injections. It seems as though our experience with this differs greatly. Were you injected with steroids? Did your doctor tell you anything similar to what mine did? Mine is an anesthesiologist. What is your doctor's specialty?

Hi, I posted a reply a few days ago, but must have made a mistake because I don't see it here. My doc is a pain management doc. Wish she would have used the "zapper" to ensure the right spots because I don't have any relief yet.

How are you feeling?

Diana

The pain is back:eek: I started waking up in pain yesterday and I've been having random pain since the anesthesia wore off. So now I get to wait and see. On the plus side though, my muscles are looser from the TP injections. I wonder how long it should last, any ideas?

Ellena I am praying that the block still needs time to take affect! I hope so much that the pain recceds for you this week.:hug: My mom get injections for hip and knee not sure what type but for her they last 4-6 months. I dont think it is the same as you had and I hope yours last twice as long as that.
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers . :hug:
PEACE
BMW

BMW, time will tell on the ON. I'm staying hopeful that they will have some effect and I wasn't expecting prolonged immediate relief. It was really nice to feel normal/pain free from the ON for a little while. I hope this finds you feeling better. Hugs, ee :hug:

Hi Ellena, just checking in to see how your doing. My head pain seems to flare up more easily since the nerve block/tp injections. This On is a crazy situation! Hope yours is working better than mine.

Diana

Thanks Diana, but mine is still the same. I still think that he didn't get the nerve that supplies the top of my head and I won't know for sure until the next time I go and can speak with him. Hang in there, ellena

The side of my head that didn't get a block is giving me fits since last night. This is good, in that I can tell that the steroids are doing the other side some good and helping the pain but the side that wasn't treated is worse than its ever been. Even with the meds I take, the pain is bordering on unbearable and going off the scale:eek::eek::eek: so I guess this is good news in a sorry sort of way. ellena

I'm glad the side that was treated is doing better. But what's up with the other side. I wonder why it's acting up like that. I hope it calms down soon. When is your next appt. with your doc? Let us know what he says.

Diana

WOW! I had the freezing done both sides without any meds. They must do things differently in Canada. I had my second go round with the freezing last Thursday.

DO ice your head-you will probably get marbel sized lumps on the back of your head where the needles went it and it will hurt.

I had the first round of facet injections this week and it has really got the occipital nerve angry. I'm getting all sorts of strange pains from this, but he did four levels which covers three vertebra. I called his nurse and she justs thinks the muscles are aggravated, resulting in increased ON pain and she was sorry that this is happening. Hopefully, it will subside, but it hasn't yet, and thank heavens I haven't had any of the really bad effects from this. Two places where he placed the needles were really sensitive in spite of the numbing meds and the demoral/versed injection. He said the increased pain tells him he is in the right place. I should probably say that they all hurt, but two more so than the others. After he was done, he showed me the images on the flouroscope and explained everything. I'm really glad I seem to have gotten a great doctor. I hope everyone is doing well, ellena

Ellena,

It DOES sound like you have a great doc. :) He sounds alot like my own. ;)

It is common to have an increase in pain; in particular if the facets were already inflamed and mine usually are. Your doc is right; if you had relief right away from the numbing med then yep, the right spot. Same thing holds true for the increased pain. It SHOULD subside with time...give it about two weeks maybe a bit longer. It takes about that long for the steroid to kick in.

Anyway, the facet injections are the ones I usually dread the most simply because they hurt the most. My PM always kind of laughs because he says MOST patients don't mind the facet injections and hate the selective nerve root injections and those are the ones that don't bother me at all and I told him as much. So, that's when he said the reason the facet injections hurt is again, because by the time I need one or two, they are already badly inflamed.

But the good thing is the last facet injections I had were MONTHS ago at the C2/C3 and they are still working. So, hang in there and give it a few more days. Oh, and there were times I called my PM's office telling them they didn't work. But they said to give it more time and I'll be darned; they were right. ;)

And last but not least, try a cold pack or ice pack but only for about 20 minutes each time. I hope the injections kick in because when they do, it is blessed relief. :)

snappy10
 

good luck to you today and tomorrow............. snappy10.......

This time they did a direct occipital block along with the medial branch block, four levels worth again. I'm once again enjoying the break from this miserable pain. I still have a big lump from the occipital block, but the doc warned me I would and I think he put a ton of meds in there. I'm following the same drill as before and don't go back now for another three weeks. Has anyone noticed weight gain or increased appetite with these injections?
I seem to be retaining water. Anyway, I hope the pain reduction lasts a little while longer. Keep your fingers crossed for me :)

I've been postponed for the third time here, only this time by the doctor. I'm scheduled to have some heart tests next month and he wants to wait until they are done before proceeding. So, I'm now scheduled in January of next year. My pain has been escalating and will probably be back to where it was when he did the first block, but better safe than sorry.

I am so sorry this keeps happening to you and that you are in pain. It sure brings new meaning to the word suffering, doesn't it?

I hope you will get your treatment ASAP. With stuff like this, treatment is a matter of survival-otherwise how do we function?

*hugs*