In need of advice

[Heidelberger]

I am currently fighting with awfull headaches,for years now ,I am 43 and thought good health except for these headaches,I had 3 MRIs done and they found a small tumor in the petuatory I am told that this could have been there for ever and not causing the pain also my neck has a bulging disk I belive between C-5 and 6, I have been on Skelaxin,verapamil, naprosyn,ultram,darvacet, and today I was perscribed Lyrica ,now the darvacet helps some but I have to take 3or 4 to get this to get the headache to go away the pill is100/650 tab, is there anyone going through this or maybe a diffrent pain med that I could talk to my nerologist about I think that this pain med is no stronger than extra strength asprin....
Thanks

[pharmd06]

give the lyrica a chance. it is a newer drug and shows promise in people with similar problems. it will take a few days to kick in, and the dose may need to be tapered up.

as far as pain killers, i don't like darvocet. vicodin would be they next step but some mds are hesitant to start a strong narcotic bc of addiction. talk it over with the md.

it is realy bad for your liver to take more than 6 darvocet in 24 hr. so if you do this frequently, you need to talk to your md. i would not even take 4 at once....

[Heidelberger]

Thanks ,I have been taking alot of meds for what they think is neck and buldging disks, but after all of the muscule relaxers I am on for 2.5 months and no significant change,I have an apointment with a pain managment doc on thursday and he wants all my meds ,my main worry is I am on the road in hotels almost every week and when I have these headaches real bad mostly in the lat afternoon or at night that right now I have nothing to take the initial rush of pain and being away from home when this happens....well not good. Any sugestions appreciatedThanks

[Heidelberger]

I have seen my pain management doctor and the pain med has change from darvocet to oxycodone 5mg is this a better sub for the other, and the also agreeto put an injection in the neck and lower back ,any input on this,the oxy is free without any asprin or anything only pain killer ...Thanks Lloyd

[ivanjrsmom]

Hi, I hope the oxycodone works a little better for you, it is alot stronger of a pain med. I had a baby 4 months ago and have been experiencing severe headaches ever since. So far they have put me on ellavil and oxy, I am not sure if the ellavil is working but I know that if my head really hurts and I take an oxy it sure does take the edge off. Anyway, I see a headache specialist on the 23rd so I will let you know what they say. Keep in touch.

[mpvt]

The shots you're referring to can work wonders.It's usually a combination os a steroid and morphine.They inject the meds around the vertabrae and if they get it right the pain will disappear.Sometimes it comes back after a few months and they do it again and some people are actually cured.It is well worth trying,I have had several in my lumbar unfortunately without much success but I have met a few people who were cured especially in the cervical area.Good luck.....Dave

[Heidelberger]

I have now had 2 of these steriod injections and to be honest I dont know whats worse the pain or the horrible sweats I get after I mean its like turning on the water hose I have 1 more injection to go , but I am on now 15mg oxy and lyrica and still no real relief maybe nat as frequent are the headaches but just as strong if not worse in intense.

[the dude]

I have been suffering from chronic daily headaches for over 10 years now myself. My neurologist has had me on everything from Midrin to Methadone and oxycodone...all the usuals (for head pain) along with a large ????nal of narcotics. Nothing worked, but the narcotics definitely helped.

My neurologist, being out of ideas, did some research and sent me to a particular specialty head & neck pain clinic where I was admitted into their inpatient program at a nearby hospital. I had 8 pain-free days in a row, which was the longest I'd been pain-free in over 18 months.

While I was there, I had an MRI on my head & neck (after 5 MRIs on just my head) and found some cervical spine & nerve damage. At that point I was scheduled for a temporary facet nerve block at 8 points: C1-C5 on both sides. It was just a basic lidocaine injection directly into the nerves at those points, but it worked very well for a few days. Based on the fact that that procedure worked, they're now scheduling me for an RF (radiofrequency) facet nerve block on the same nerves. It's basically the same as the temporary block, but will microwave the nerves via the needle. It'll take a week or so for the nerves to die, but once they do I shouldn't feel pain in those nerves until they regenerate (4 to 18 months, depending on whom you ask). Even if I still have some pain, it should be very minor and manageable with "normal" pain medication...no narcotics. And once the RF facet block wears off it can be repeated.

Also, I visited my doctor at the specialized clinic this past Monday and he did an occipital nerve block (I think that was it, anyway) on either side of the base of my skull. Each side got 9cc of lidocaine and 1cc of a steroid. It took a few days to kick in, but then gave me a few days of relief. It was a simple procedure that took less than two minutes to do in his office, however the occipital block is only meant to last a few days and was intended to "get me over the hump." I plan on having that repeated next week again, and hopefully I'll be scheduled for the RF by that point.

As of right now, I'm on a slew of non-narcotic meds: lyrica, methergine, DHE, vistiril, klonopin, mobic and even lidocaine nasal spray. None of it seems to work. But then again, neither has the Keppra, Midrin, verapamil, toradol, decadron, trileptal, indocin, skelaxin, baclofen, migranol, imitrex, or any of the other headache medications I've tried over the last several years. So as of right now, I'm putting all my eggs in one final basket: the RF Facet Nerve Block, hopefully to be scheduled soon.

It might be something for you to check into. Sounds to me like you'd be a prime candidate for that kind of procedure.

Good luck. I feel your pain.