Occipital Neuralgia,Vertigo. UK patient

[..Rob..]

I have been diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia and vertigo for the last 3 years.I am writing to you for advice on which medication could be best for my symptoms.My General Practioner has prescribed me with Carbamazapine(800mg daily)for the Neuralgia and prochlorperazine maleate(3mg tablets to take as and when needed)for the Vertigo.The Carbamazapine seems to have no effect on the Neuralgia except for side-effects(drowsiness,lethargy,longer sleeping paterns)and the Prochlorperazine only stops me feeling sick during the vertigo attacks.

Both the occipital neuralgia and vertigo came at the same time and since then I have seen a neurosurgeon,had CAT and MRI imaging scans on my Neck and Head and have had accupuncture but my symptoms still persist.I have had 3 attacks which lasted upto 7 days but it is more common for me to have short lancing pains which are more intense but only last for split seconds and make my head flinch,I can have as many as many as 10 of these in a day.

The neuralgia has been pretty constant over the three years with the longest"break"being about 1 month.

It was suggested to me that a blow to the head could cause occipital neuralgia,I have had to wear a collar as a child because of spasms in my neck muscles between the ages of 9 and 12 and 5 years ago i recieved a blow to the right side of the face in a car accident which broke my teeth and jaw and perforated my right ear.Could either of these episodes be the cause?I am 34 years old and other than the Neuralgia i am fit,healthy and have an active life. any help would be much appreciated.Thankyou.

[kitlyn]

I can not answer your questions , this is the patient to patient forum.. the other posting site for to ask DR's is never available it seems, but i wanted to say how sorry i am. That sounds very painful. Do you have spots that showed on MRI"s ? I also had a blow to my head w a steel pipe when i was in my 20's, and i wa sfine after many yrs...interesting thought. on the neuralgia. What do your DR;s say? Mine told me that my head pain wa snot from blow to my head.,.. but you never know.  Take G care.. Kit

[..Rob..]

My Doctor says a blow to the head can cause damage to the nerves in the neck and head,which can cause Occipital Neuralgia.I didn't hae any spots on my MRI scan,everything was ok.

Thank's for your concern over the pain though.

[jcverive]

Yes, a blow to the head can cause trauma to a nerve, and it may take years or even decades for the trauma to develop into neuralgia.  In your case, it is probably at least as likely that the muscle spasms in your neck caused the initial trauma. Regardless of the cause, if you have neuralgia due to nerve trauma, any neuralgia starting now is unlikely to stop on its own. Damaged nerves send out little "fingers" that try to reconnect, and many of these get trapped by other tissues.  Occipital neuralgia is pain caused by damage to the occipital nerve - a bundle of nerve fibers that generally connects to sensory structures in the back (dorsal) side of the spinal column at the level of C2 (the second vertebra in the neck), though sometimes some of the fibers get integrated into nerve bundles at C1, C3, or C4.  Medications are often the only effective treatment, with antidepressants or anti-seizure meds such as Elavil, Pamelor, Tegretol, Trileptal, Cymbalta, Lyrica, Neurontin, Remeron, Effexor, and Klonopin (to name a few) used together with narcotics such as Vicodin, oxycodone, morphine, etc..  A good pain clinic and/or neurologist with pain specialization are your best bet.  Good luck.



Jeff

[Dermotto]

Hello everyone I think I have had occipital nerve problems with all the usual symptoms(tingling skull etc)but I also had what my doctor thought was a TIA at the same time.However I think the "TIA" was actually not a mini stroke but a symptom of my trapped occipital nerve,has anyone else had loss of power to one side of the body and dribbling as a result of trapped occipital nerve  thanks Dermot Doyle