I just had a baby 6wks ago I had to get a epidural because she weighed 9lbs. About three weeks ago I started to get sharp back pains that start at my lower back shoots up to my neck and con'ts to my head. I then cant function because of how sharp the pain is and it causes me to have bad headaches as well. I asked women who have had epidurals before and they never had this pain. A few said it may be a pinched nerve but I looked it up n it dont sound like the pain im having. Do you have any idea as to what it might be?
Dear CCF Neuro MD...by your description, my symptoms very well could be the idiopathic stabbing headache. You mentioned MRI....would it be advisable to request that I have an MRI, given my symptoms? And then if that is normal, i guess by the process of elimination - one could then assume it is the stabbing headache. Or is requesting an MRI not really necessary?
Dear Mary:
Sorry that your having these headaches. As with most headaches, one needs to rule out the other possibilities. Assuming that everything is normal, lab work, MRI, etc. You do not mention any other symptoms like tearing, pain just surrounding the orbit or temporal area, nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, or eyelid edema associated with the headache (making SUNCT or paroxysmal hemicrania unlikely). I think you might have idiopathic stabbing headache (actually a classification of the international headache society). These types of headaches effect females more than males, they are stabbing in quality, can be severe, affect any part of the head, last only a few seconds, and vary from none to many a day. However, it is possible that your rheumatoid arthritis might be playing in this also. Just a thought. It is difficult to tell you for sure over the internet.
I hope I have helped.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD