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occipital neuralgia

hello. i really need an advice with my problem. i'm not english so forgive me for the miskaes. i'm suffering from constant occipital neuralgia on the right side of my head, also my neck hurts/burns and sometimes i feel pain in my shoulder and shoulder blade. when the pain just started it lasted for about a month, than it went away for about a month as well and now it's back again. it's almost a month that it's present. also it's constant - i have it all day long and no medication help to take the pain away, the burning feeling is always present. also - stress does make it worse. i'm a 24 years old female. i've made an x-ray which showed that i have a neck ostheoarthritis, but one doctor told me i can't have such constant burning feeling just from that. anyway, i am wondering - should i take any other tests? as x-ray wouldn't show a disk herniation, would it? i just don't really know what to do,  and why painkillers don't help. it's obviously nerve as the feeling is burning, i've had such problems with my leg few years ago, it was constantly burning becouse of something in the spine, now the burning is gone i guess though the discomfort is still present. does anyone has any idea of what could be the cause of the pain being so constant? would really appreciate any advice..
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Avatar universal
hey there.. not sure if you still reading these or not .. but i would like to ask you what anti depressants you tried. Ive just started taking some (Cipralex) 2 days ago and i have had that burning sensation ever since. I already had tension issues in back head and neck area which was bad enough then to wake up at 2 in the morning after my first AD with this burning sensation. Its not pleasant at all. Has you sensation left or you still suffering from it? I know my feels worse when i think about it.. like now but it does seem to subside if i keep myself busy enough.. mind you my other issue is my eyes being blurry since my whole anxiety issue started...
With your ADs did your side effects disappear after some time or stayed? im scared that this feeling will continue and my eyes will never be the same.. i had near perfect vision before.. and now even doing this is a struggle...
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Avatar universal
hello again. unfortunatelly for me - MRI of the neck area came out normal, they found nothing except mild lordosis, which doesn't cause pain as I've read. i've been to 2 neurologists, one only diagnosed "occipital neuralgia" and prescribed anti-inflammatory pills and cream for the neck, which didn't help, the other doctor tried giving me anti-depressants which did help a bit, but I kept having too many side effects to all of them so I stopped talking them, and anyway, nothing I tried gave me total pain relief, some only dulled the pain. i don't know where to go anymore and what to do, for 1 month i've had constant burning pain in the occipital region and shoulder, then for 1 month i had break from it and now it's back for more than 3 weeks, the pain becomes worse if i stress or get cold. please advice me anything, i don't know what to do anymore, the constant burning sensation at the back of my skull and ner shoulder blade makes me walt to die..
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Avatar universal
thanks for the reply  :)  yes, I will try to make MRI soon, unfortunatelly for me in my country it's extremelly expensive, that's the reason I haven't done it already. it seems there's indeed something that is pressing on my occipital nerve othervise I wouldn't have this constant burning sensation along that nerve, and I guess the problem is in the neck. however I will not do MRI on my head or chest area of the spine becouse of the expense of this, I will only be able to do the MRI in the neck area but I guess there where the problem is as it;s where hurts most and radiates from it above and below..
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Avatar universal
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi,
The symptoms could be due to a nerve impingement in the neck or upper back that may lead to the symptoms of burning sensation in the neck and shoulder. The symptoms may be aggravated by occipital neuralgia and neck osteoarthritis. To get details about the neck and back please go for MRI of the spine. It gives the minute details. Please consult a neurologist for diagnosis of the problem and treatment. Hope this helps you. Take care and regards!
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