Pain in Back on Head

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Not sure what this falls under, but I have headaches all most everyday.  The ones in the back of the head (base of skull) are sharp jabbing pains.  The head is tender in the same area.  I also get electrical shocks on different parts of my body that come and go.  It is not a daily symptom.  I will just get a shock on top a toe or underneath a toe, on the foot, or on the leg or arm or side, etc.  I have had some dizzyness that comes and goes if standing for awhile.  Don't know if this ties in or not, but also have sleep paralysis.  

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The pains in different parts of body are like little electric shocks, like someone taking a live wire out of a socket and touching you with it.  It just last a few seconds and comes and goes.  It is very sharp. You know how you get a static charge on a carpet, only worse.
The dizzyness or lightheadednes isn't preceded by anything.  I can just be standing and talking to someone and I get lightheaded.  It just happens from time to time,though.  Doctor also says I have a low white cell count. He says he is running a bunch more tests on my blood, but didn't say what tests or what he was looking for.  He did a Flow cytometry and it was fine.  What else would he be looking for?  I don't see him again until Feb.  Thanks.

[Neuro Forum]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine you and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of your symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

One cause of sharp pains that shoot up from the back of the head is occipital neuralgia, which is caused by irritation or injury to two nerves that run from the upper neck to the back of the head. The irritation could be due to neck trauma, pinching of the nerves (by muscles or arthritis), and other causes. Symptoms include a piercing sharp pain that travels from the upper neck to the back of the head and behind the ears. It is usually a one sided pain but can be on both sides of the head. Treatment includes physical therapy, medications, and in some cases injections, "nerve blocks", during which a physician injects the irritated nerves with an anesthetic. Other possible causes to your symptoms include a pinched nerve (radiculopathy), or muscukoskeletal tension leading to head pain (cervicogenic headache).

Cervicogenic headache is a headache that is "referred" to the head from bony structures, muscles, and other soft tissue in the neck and shoulders. Symptoms are usually one-sided and include: precipitation of head pain by neck movement or awkward neck positions, head pain when external pressure is applied to the neck or occipital region (as it sounds like is the case in you), restricted range of motion of the neck, and neck, shoulder and arm pain. Treatment for cervicogenic headache includes physical therapy, medications including anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen), muscle relaxants, behavioral therapy, and other modalities.

I am not sure what to make of the sharp pains in different parts of your body, sometimes these can be related to arthritis. R

egarding your dizziness, if by dizziness you mean vertigo (room spinning), an inner ear problem could be a potential cause,. Inner ear causes of vertigo most commonly include benign positional vertigo (BPPV), which is due to small particle in the inner ear that moves out of place, and can be repositioned with simple head maneuvers. The symptoms often include vertigo that occurs with turning of the head, often while turning over in bed. Another cause, if your symptoms are associated with tinnitus (ear ringing) and hearing loss is called Meniere’s disease and can be treated with medications and sometimes surgery. And so on, several other causes from inner ear problems exist, and those are best evaluated by an ENT specialist.

If you have a history of migraine headaches, the dizziness could be a variant of migraine called basilar migraine, the treatment is different from that used to treat other migraine types; the treatment in this case is a type of medication called calcium channel blocker, such as verapamil, which is actually used to treat blood pressure but works in type of basilar migraine as well

If by dizziness you mean light-headedness, causes could include low blood pressure such as due to dehydration or autonomic dysfunction, cardiac problems, and several other non-neurologic causes. Testing of the autonomic nervous system (the part of the nervous system that controls our blood pressure and heart rate etc) with a test called tilt table test (which assesses changes in heart rate and blood pressure with changes in posture) is indicated in such cases. Anemia can cause light-headedness as well. There are several other potential causes to your symptoms, and evaluation by your primary doctor (family physician/internist), with referral to a neurologist or other specialist as indicated.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.