Occipital neuralgia personality changes

[Debora_Lee]

I have had occipital neuralgia since Sept, 2011.  My pain is constant and unrelenting, causing several er visits and a hospitalization at Stanford University Medical Center.  I have had several nerve blocks and am scheduled for a Radio Frequency Ablation in the next week.  I have become more and more short-tempered, impatient and angry each day of late.

My question is...will my personality keep getting worse as time goes on?  Please help

[painterchic]

To answer your question regarding your personality... studies have shown that chronic pain does change your personality long term, so if you can fix your problem surgically and eliminate or significantly reduce your pain it would make sense you would feel like your old self in time. It is hard to put on a happy face when hurting 24/7.
For more information on this and facial pain in general, I suggest you watch the video "Tides of Neuropathic Pain" by Dr.Ken Casey to see how chronic pain can alter the pathways in our brains. It's very interesting. And shows the importance of not letting it become our "normal" if possible. It's long, but very good. http://vimeo.com/10284243

[Barbie214]

Don't give up - there is help out there.  Consider surgery when the artery that is rubbing the trigeminal nerve is cut or relocated.  It's rather simple, and relief is immediate.  Talk to a neurosurgeon about it.  Get a doctor that has done this surgery many times.  You don't want someone who has done it just a handful of times. you only have to spend 1 night in the hospital.  quit playing around with this procedure and that procedure - it won't help.  They are all temporary solutions.  Surgery is permanent.