Sharp pains in head

[Gabbiigabs]

HI all
I haven't posted anything here since I began the avonex treatment. Well, it ***** of course. I can always look forward to be in my bead shaking and shivering etc. EVERY time I take it. basically i hate it and I am finding it very hard to will myself to not quit.
anyways lately I have been experiencing something weird:
I have been getting very sharp pains that shoot through my head.  Not like a head ache but sharp and shooting from a spot that is real intense then lightens as it travels.  The spot is not always in the same spot but mainly on the back of my head and along the left side. It is such a random and unexpected pain it makes me cry out a little and twitch. It ranges from extremely painful to just painful. I was wondering if anyone here has any ideas on this.
just a reminder: I am only 20 (just diagnosed last year) and all of this is very new to me!
thank you,
Happy Holidays!!

[michelleric]

Hi there,

This sounds very much like occipital neuralgia.  I would let your neuro know.  If it is that, it is not from a side effect from your med, but yet another nasty symptom of MS.

Happy holidays to you as well....
Michelle

[Gabbiigabs]

Thank you Paula for your response.
Your sister's been taking them for 10 YEARS?!! oh no that confirms my fears of being on this thing forever :(
I agree, I don't believe they are side effects because they began almost a week after. The only side effects I get from the actual injection are chills/shakes etc. until I fall asleep finally, and like you said the day after when i just kind of lay around feeling eghhh.
Now the only thing that I have found to work is PM Advil, it knocks me out before I even begin to feel any side effects!
While I have seen this question being asked on other forums as well, nobody really knows what the heck it is so
I will definitely be calling my neuro tomorrow :)

[figuerpa]

I started Avonex 3 months ago. My sister has been on it for 10 years. I ask her a lot of questions.

For me the side effects are getting better as long as I take aleve or ibuprophen before I inject. I also found that doing my shot between dinner and bedtime helps too because I sleep through most of the side effects.

I do have a headache the day after and I am tired but it is getting better with each injection. I hope you figure out what is going on. I don't get the sharp pains you are describing. When I asked my sister about the headaches she said she never got headaches.

I am giving it some more time, I see my neuro at the end of the month so I will ask him about it then. I just kind of lay around that day after, more and mroe I am getting up and moving around.

I don't know if this will help, my sister told me to leave the shot out to get to room temperature for 2 hours cause that works for her and she gets minimal side effects if any. I have found that leaving it out for 30 to 45 minutes works for me.

Maybe you should just play around with injection times, and how long you leave med out to get to room temp. Also if you are using ibuprophen try using aleve to see if that helps or vice versa.

Good luck with your pains. You should contact your neuro about them because to me it doesn't sound normal and as far as I know it isn't a side effect but there are so many side effects and people react differently to medications.

I hope you find some relief,
Paula

[PastorDan]

Have you noticed this pain striking at particular times of the day, or when doing certain activities?  Do you think it could be part of the side effects of the injections?