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headache frustrations

Each person's headache journey is different. There are so many different types of headaches and it affects each of us so differently. Here is the next piece to the journey I have had this year. So I went to see a new doctor since my insurance covers everything for the rest of the year. She is a neurologist physician assistant and has had migraine headaches herself. My first visit with her was not one that I was impressed by. The first thing she said was that all chronic headaches are just chronic migraines that are stuck in the migraine cycle. It made me frustrated at that point because I have never believed that all headaches are the same. Not everyone has the same treatment. What works for one person may not work for others. She said that the first thing to do was to take me off all of the pain medications and muscle relaxers. That same appointment they tried nerve blocks at the occipital level, temperal area, above each eye, and below each eye. The nerve block should numb the t
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Lots of treatments I have tried...

The last time I wrote was about the arm pain that I was experiencing along with the headaches that I have. I had an EMG and nerve conduction study done on my right arm and some in my neck as well. The hard part about it is that once again it didn't show anything out of the ordinary besides mild nerve compression in my neck, but nothing that would need surgery to fix. Once again I am at the same point I have been with other doctors. A lot of people seem to think when I say I have headaches that they are migraines...that is not the case for me! Anything I have tried which helps migraines only makes my pain much worse. Therefore I will not be trying to do that is used to treat migraines. for the last year these are the procedures that I have tried: temporal auricular nerve block (on both sides of my head above the ear) AA injection (in between the Axis and Atlas of the spine which is the top 2 vertebrae of the neck) AO injection (in between the Atlas- C1 and the Occipital bone at
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Headaches and arm pain

Living with chronic pain is not easy. So many people tell me how amazed they are at how happy I am, and most cannot tell that I even have chronic headaches. I have learned to live with it and most of the time the pain is just a part of life. The pain has become a part of life, a part that I would love to change. over the last 6 years after going to lots of different doctors I began with steroid injections in my neck at C6-C7. I received that injection because my right arm was having trouble with being shaky, numb on the pinky side, and weakness. I am right handed so having my arm feel that way does not help in everyday life. It was a few months after that when I went to my first pain specialist. After having pain for 12 years, I wanted help to get through it so I have been doing a lot to keep moving forward. Recently after a Ketamine Infusion last year which didn't help with the pain at all- it was generally to help reset the system, but instead it was something I would not go th
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headaches..so hard to treat

My name is Tammy. I have had a chronic headache for half of my life. It isn't one that just comes and goes, it is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Honestly I couldn't tell anyone what it would be like to not be in pain, because I don't remember. I have been told that the diagnosis is Daily Chronic tension headache, Occipital Neuralgia type headache, and even chronic migraine. There is no reason for why it started, and no one seems to figure out what to do do help. The interesting thing is that throughout the entire time I have always known I would find something to help either decrease the pain a lot, or have the pain completely gone. If you are like me with a constant headache, you have probably wondered if there will ever really be something to help. Over the last few years I have had a chance to talk with others who have headaches. The hardest thing is that no one has a headache like another- we all have different types, different intensities, and different parts of
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