Shot In The Head

Courtesy of Nemo at Pixabay

So this past Friday I had my steroid shot for my occipital neuralgia. I call it my “shot in the head”...which sounds more terrible than it actually is, but kinda makes me sound a little badass :) This time I didn't experience the normal side effects to the steroid that I usually do. Is it possible that my body is getting used to it? That actually scares me a little.

Normally I experience insomnia either the night of, or the night after, or both. This time I didn't have this at all...thank God. And my cheeks were flushed a little bit on Sunday...which is weird, because I usually experience that the day after my shot. I guess this time my body decided it was going to do things differently! The back of my head, where I got the two shots (into the occipital nerve, and lesser occipital nerve), was tender for a few days. This is completely normal. I iced that area Friday and Saturday a few times, which helped. Sunday I just felt like overall achy crapola. I think it was the steroid's last stance or something.

This shot should last me for another few months...it seems like I go three to four months between them. I would have had this shot 3 weeks ago, but it took me that long to get an appointment! Holy hell. I brought this up to my doc and he said that if it's really-really bad to just tell the front staff and they'll try to fit me in. Ummm...I don't usually call until it's that bad! So this time I just booked an appointment for November and if I'm still feeling fine and dandy I'll just call to reschedule. My doc said that they are trying a new scheduling routine...I don't know what that means exactly...but I'm hoping that it means that it won't take 3 weeks for an appointment. He's my pain doctor...I should be able to get in quicker than that! And, thankfully, he agrees.

It's Wednesday...Happy Hump-Day all!

A Pain In My Neck...No More?

I'm happy to report that my neck feels a million times better than last week.  Immediately after I had the shots on Friday my pain level went down even though I was still experiencing the pinching.  Saturday the pain was less than the previous day and Sunday was even less than that.  

My pain level was at such an acceptable level yesterday that I ventured out of the house and went to my in-laws to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday.  Both my neck and ankle did reasonably well, although I was really wiped out by the time we got home and my ankle was aching a bit.  Nothing a little nap couldn't cure!  And I really needed it since I was sleep deprived.  As usual, the steroids gave me a bit of insomnia.  I usually can't sleep the night of the shots, but for some reason I didn't sleep Saturday night instead.  And my left knee started hurting on Saturday and is still bothering me today.  I swear this also happened the last time I had steroids....I'll just file that under "random weird happenings of my body" :)

So even though the pain was less, I continued to feel the pinching throughout the weekend.  Today, I have no pain in my neck and haven't really noticed the pinching.  My physical therapist did “the wand” on the spot where I was experiencing most of the pinching last week.  Hopefully that will help keep the muscles loose.  As far as medicine goes, I've been taking Flexeril 10mg, 3 times per day.  I took a Vicodin today...but that was because I was going for PT.

There is still a spot on the back of my neck where the skin is numb, and I'm still totally freaked out by this.  Anyone else with neck problems ever experience this?  Tomorrow my pain management doctor is back in the office and will let me know about the x-ray readings and we'll discuss if I still need to get the MRI done that I have scheduled for Wednesday.

Many thanks to everyone who kept me in their prayers...they worked :)

"Room At Arles" ~Vincent Van Gogh

A Pain In My Neck...Again

For the past week the right side of my neck has been hurting like crazy and my normal remedies (heat, massage, muscle relaxers) haven't been helping at all.  And the neck pain that I've been experiencing all week has been different than the pain I usually experience on the left side.  At first, I thought the pain was because of the weather since it started last Sunday when we had freezing rain, but after it didn't let up during the week I started coming to other conclusions.

In the past, the pain on the left side of my neck has been a burning pain that starts at the base of my skull and radiates down my neck, up my head, and across to my ear.  If you remember, I had tried an epidural injection and facet joint injections to help relieve this pain that was caused by the occipital neuralgia that I was diagnosed with two years ago.  (In case you missed it, you can read about why I have neck problems here).

This week, the pain on the right side has been very different than the left.  The right side has been a pinching pain and when it gets really bad it just feels like someone is stabbing me in the neck.  The pain also starts from the base of my skull (but on the right side) and radiates down my neck to my shoulder.  Also, my skin is numb at the back of my neck on the right side.  This numbness freaks me out the most.

The pain had gotten so bad mid-week that I started taking Vicodin Wednesday night.  I was kinda upset at this since I had just stopped taking pain meds for my ankle.  Oh well... I've also been taking a muscle relaxer since Monday to see if that would loosen it up.  By Thursday nothing had changed, and I had a physical therapy appointment for my ankle that day.  I was hoping that my therapist would have some answers.

I know that my neck muscles get tight and just assumed that I probably had some big knots that may need attention.  My therapist looked at it and said that it didn't feel knotty to her and that my facet joint felt a little off.  She was unsure whether that was “normal” for me, considering that I had surgery back there.  Instead of manipulating me too much, she did an ultrasound treatment on the spot where I felt the most pinching and told me that if the pain didn't go away I should see my doctor.

After coming home, I took a double dosage of muscle relaxers and a couple of pain pills (gee, I sound like a junkie!) and called the neurosurgeon that I saw two years ago to see if there was any way I could see him.  Instead, his secretary told me to see my regular doctor first, this way they could order any tests (x-rays, MRI's) and rule out if it is just a muscle spasm.  I had called my pain doctor for an appointment that morning, so I was already set.

I saw my pain doctor today and she shot me up with some steroids in the back of my neck.  It feels a bit better now, but the pain isn't completely gone and I can still feel the pinching.  She thinks that it's probably just a muscle related thing, but ordered an x-ray to be on the safe side.  She also said to keep with the medicine protocol that I had started...muscle relaxers and pain meds if needed.

We shall see how the next few days go.  I have an MRI scheduled for next week, but if I miraculously get better over the weekend than maybe I can cancel it.

Fingers crossed!

Update-Facet Joint Injections Day 3

Just a quick update... (for some background click here)

I can no longer start a bonfire with my face...happy day!

Morning

When I woke up, my face was no longer hot to the touch and I slept better too...no insomnia! I did notice that my knees hurt...this also happened the last time I had a steroid shot. Last time the knee pain lasted approximately 2 days, so I made a *note to self* to have my acupuncturist address this later on.

Mid-Morning Acupuncture

My acupuncturist did normal needle acupuncture and some bloodletting on each cheek, on my left jaw, and on my third eye area, in hopes of relieving the neck pain and face pain caused by laying on my stomach during treatment. I felt immediate relief after the bloodletting in my jaw. After my treatment, my knees felt better and my cheeks were flushed again and warm to the touch. This went away after a few hours.

Evening

My left cheek still felt warm to me...but not to the touch. My neck was still tender from where the injections were, and I felt like I had more energy this afternoon...but that could be from the acupuncture.

The best part of the whole day was the random act of kindness that was gifted upon me...you can read about it here.

Update--Facet Joint Injections Day 2

Yesterday was the day after I had the facet joint injections on the left side of my neck at the C1, C2, and C3 levels.  Read about the injections here.  My neck was pretty sore, as well as the left side of my face a bit. On a pain scale, it was probably a 4-5 by the end of the day.

At least my body is predictable, as I suffer the same side effects whenever I get any type of steroid injection.  This is the third type I've had...the others being: occipital nerve blocks, an epidural steroid injection, and now the facet joint injections.  The three worst side effects I suffered yesterday are:

• Insomnia
• Neck soreness
• Flushed cheeks

I stayed in bed all day yesterday because the night of the injections I suffered from insomnia, probably due to a combination of the neck pain and the steroid.  I was hoping to nap during the day, but my body wasn't too keen on that idea.  Oh, and I felt guilty that I kept my hubby up all night long...and not in a good way.

The neck pain was the worst in the morning and by the evening it turned into more of a soreness...like if you sleep on your neck all wrong and it gets kinked up...except a little worse.  I could move my head right, but when I tried to move it left it hurt.  The site of the injections were tender but not black and blue.

My cheeks were flushed when I woke up and my left cheek got really hot by the afternoon (approximately 24 hours after the shot).  I tried putting a cold washcloth on it, but it didn't help much. It was on fire I tell ya!  I thought my face was going to spontaneously combust it was so hot.  I took my temperature because I wanted to check and make sure I didn't have a fever.  Weirdly, my temperature was 97.4...even though my cheek temperature was probably a million.

Overall, I took it easy but was pretty uncomfortable all day.  The best part of yesterday was that I didn't wear a bra and stayed in my pj's all day.  So that was my "bright side" :)  Hoping today will be better.