Nerve Blocks

[sheila53213]

My neurologist mentioned to me yesterday about a deep occipital nerve block around the C2 area and also a gaglion nerve block.....has anyone ever had this done? did you find relief from it? If so, how long?
We are trying to find me some relief for awhile here since none of my fast acting meds seem to be knocking the migraine out of me.
Thanks again!
Sheila

[SaratogaNurse]

I didn't have the C2 medial branch block either.   That's done with a spinal needle and and goes deeper than mine did.  The block my NL did was right on the surface and it was just three quick injections.  He literally just said "Turn around, lift up your hair, and lets try this."   I keep thinking I'm feeling relief - then I think I'm not.  I had some dental work done today and my head was screaming the whole time I was in that damn chair and seems to be getting worse by the minute.   I'm not a big narcotics person, but I just doped myself up and better put on my warm fuzzies before they kick in.  

Your NL sounds like she really cares and wants to help you.  Count your blessings for that and keep searching until you find a NS that works for you also.  

[merlot3106]

Hi,

I had the medial branch block, occipital nerve block and a nerve oblation (sp?) that is where they kill the nerves. I felt no relief from any of them. But that is not to say you wouldn't get relief. I also wanted to add, I read your other post about your delima about surgery. I agree with Elizabeth, I too know of a couple of people that Dr. H turned down for surgery. But You do need to do what feels right for you. Get your 2nd opinion if you need it, because you have to be comfortable with doing the surgery before you do it. You don't want to have any regrets!!

Good luck!
Meg :)

[sheila53213]

Did you have the C2 Medial Branch block that goes in the neck or did you have the Occipital one that goes in the back of your head? I've had the one in the back of my head and that did not work that long....maybe a day or two....that is it.

I am waiting to hear back from my NL tomorrow to see what she wants to do....since she is clearly against me getting surgery.

Thanks for your take on it.

Sheila

[SaratogaNurse]

Hi Sheila,

I called my NL because it's been 5 days since he did the injections and I have noticed an improvement in my headache.  It's not gone - but there is improvement that I wanted him to know about so maybe we could work more with it.

The procedure he did was an Occipital Nerve Block.   He wants to try repeating it next week to see if we can improve further.

I also asked him about the Ganglion block, but he said that it's a deeper tissue block and I didn't have that done.

So the Occipital is showing some promise anyway.  :-)   Expect some brain pain that night, but it's certainly worth a try!

Good luck!

[SaratogaNurse]

Hi Sheila,

   I saw my NL on Saturday and he did "nerve blocks" around the back of my head.  He didn't say "deep nerve blocks".   It was just three injections very near the nerves at the back of my head.  It was an experiment to see if he could relieve my Chiari headache this way.  This may be totally different from what your NL is planning to do, but it might not (?).   The back of my head tingled like crazy for about two hours and felt really fat - like someone had filled it with air (my brothers always said I was an airhead anyway LOL).   The headache didn't really do away, but you could have hit me in the head with a hammer and I wouldn't have cared.   It's hard to explain that one.   Everything wore off about 4 hours later and I didn't notice anything different at all.   This wasn't for migraines though, this was an experiment for the Chiari pain and only surface injections.  

One thing we are going to try is Botox injections for the headaches.  The research has shown to be very effective on migraine, cancer, and trauma patients so we're hoping they can work for Chiari too.  My insurance company already approved my first 2 treatments - if they work I can have more.   Hopefully they will get rid of my headaches because we can also smooth out a few wrinkles while we're at it.  ;-)   I just know that something's gotta give soon.  My coping abilities have worn extremely thin.

Good luck with your nerve blocks.  Let us know if they work for you.

[selmaS]

Hi...no never had either of those, but interested if they give u relief.

Good luck
"selma"