connection between lack or poor sleep to occipital neuralgia
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hello guys,
first of all, i have been diagnosed with ON, got a nerve block (no help), got nerve block with ultrasound (with some help for a short time), my Dr now want to do the medial branch which, in his mind, is the cause of the ON.
for so many years (15) i suffer from morning headaches, it happens 80% of the time and it's connected directly to the way i sleep - if i sleep 8 hours straight with no interference then no headaches, but if i sleep 5-7 hours or my sleep quality is poor (many arousals during sleep) then the morning headaches have ON symptoms: they start upon waking up on lower back are of skull (right above the top area of neck), then climbs to the top of skull and in the eye and eyebrow. The pain continues throughout the day until 3 or 4 pm, UNLESS i am going back to sleep, then surprisingly the pain stops! i visited so many doctors, CT scan to head, sleep tests, pills...obviously no help.
nobody knows what i have if going back to sleep resolves it (the severe headaches for long hours), if i was just tired from bad night sleep that's fine, i can have some coffee and get over it, but the headaches prevent me to function. Most of the pills i took were good for 2 weeks then the pain started again so to increase the dose over and over again? i am not sure about it, i really want to know the cause of the problem. what happens during lack/poor sleep that triggers the occipital neuralgia? is it lack of deep sleep? rem sleep? Another thing? is it really (like my Dr saying) coming from the neck (c2, c3 compress and irritates the nerve)? if yes why going back to sleep resolves it (suddenly the inflammation was gone)? any info can help, any. thanks
0 likes, 3 replies
edgar30813 liba110
Posted
Hi,
don't know much about ON, but I wanted to share a similar thing. I have epilepsy, and what happens is that every month or two I have a day in which I feel queezy and have a series of small seizures (the ones in which you don't lose consciousness). The seizures always start in the morning, and don't go away until I get more sleep.
I've tried upping my dose of epi medicine, tried various other solutions, but it's only sleep that helps.
It feels like some switch goes wrong in the brain while I sleep, and only by sleeping some more I can flick it back.
There's a lot more to be discovered about sleep and the brain I'm afraid.
Good luck with your ON, if that's really the problem!
liba110 edgar30813
Posted
Hello,
i think that there is a term for this problem (sleep to solve headaches), which i don't know exactly what is it, anyway, when you don't sleep good enough (or need more sleep) there are some muscle spasms in the neck which compress the cervical nerves (i think on C2 and C3) and that create headaches, maybe this is the cause of your problem as well, but if you find that term please share
katrina70291 liba110
Posted
Do you have pain after activity or lifting things? If so you probably need to have the occipital decompression surgery. I’ve neen dealing with horrible migraines for 4 years now and have finally found out that it has been a few nerves that are compression that are causing my pain. I will be having the surgery for it in a few weeks that I’m looking forward to.
I wanted to share this with you if you haven’t already been able to get some relief because I know how debilitating to our lives these headaches are. I would also change your doctor so he/she can test you for occitpal nerve damage. Google the best neurologist in your town because we deserve to live our best lives.
Hope this helps!
Katrina