Tomorrow will be 3 months since I had my MVD. I've been doing great so far...except for the last 3-4 days. The left side of my neck near the area of the incision has been hurting a lot the last couple of days. It started as just feeling sore and uncomfortable. Then it hurt enough where I was having trouble sleeping. Today it hurts a lot. 7/10 on the pain scale. On top of that, my head is hurting today too. Only on the left side. Almost feels like a migraine except that it goes all the way back to my neck.
I've been taking Flexeril and Tylenol, using heat and cold. I even took sinus medicine in case it's my sinuses (even though it doesn't feel like it is). Nothing is helping. I don't remember hurting myself. Nothing looks swollen but it does hurt if I press the mastoid area.
Any ideas on what it could be? Any suggestions on what else I should try doing? I left a message with the NS's office for a call back.
I had my MVD done about the same time & have no problem but I am curious what the surgeon has to say. Please let us know. I hope you have a comfortable night.
I had my MVD 11 mounths ago and sometimes my incision and part of my neck feels stiff but no pain .... and I feel little shoks on the side of my pain..... but nothing big...... my left nostril feels numb when I touch the part of my head where the pain was....my dr. said that is normal 'cause the nerve is healing.... I try to relax ...'cause I get nervous when I feel strange things, numbness and little shocks and try sleeping..... my dr. gave my a muscle relaxer and that helps...... I still take Lyrica once a day........ hope u get better..
Delia, I know what you mean. The incision feels weird every now and then and my scalp and ear 'feel' like they hurt when I touch it but it's just the nerves waking up. It's a very strange feeling. I still get the occasional numbness of half of my tongue, nose and lips if I do too much. But this neck pain is very different. And the head pain is like a constant electric current. It scares me because it feels similar (but not as painful) to the ATN pain I had before surgery. I don't want to freak out because it's only been 3 months, but I'm still on edge. If you don't mind my asking, what muscle relaxer do you take? I'm taking Flexeril and it's not helping. It did before but this time it's like taking a placebo.
the best thing u can do its call ur dr. thats what I do every time I feel a strange thing.....I had mine almost 11 mounths ago and I still feel strange little things....hope u feel better soon and please ask ur dr about it....its the best thing...
ihold said:
Thanks Dixie. I'll let you know what he says.
Delia, I know what you mean. The incision feels weird every now and then and my scalp and ear 'feel' like they hurt when I touch it but it's just the nerves waking up. It's a very strange feeling. I still get the occasional numbness of half of my tongue, nose and lips if I do too much. But this neck pain is very different. And the head pain is like a constant electric current. It scares me because it feels similar (but not as painful) to the ATN pain I had before surgery. I don't want to freak out because it's only been 3 months, but I'm still on edge. If you don't mind my asking, what muscle relaxer do you take? I'm taking Flexeril and it's not helping. It did before but this time it's like taking a placebo.
Call your doctor first of all to see what they say. I had my MVD in october, and lately I am getting crushing headaches behind my eyes, I never had them before. My neurologist is testing for other disorders ( I have a whole bunch of stuff going on ) so I would run it by your doctor just in case this is something underlying or new. I also have that weird feeling where my incision is, its not quite numb , yet it doesnt have feeling either...I find it creepy to touch it, and it itches like a bugger, so I find myself trying not to itch it....catch 22 as they say.
The NS’s office got back to me yesterday. The PA says that it’s probably a nerve that’s irritated. He wants me to take Neurontin/Gabapentin 3x a day. It honestly doesn’t feel like nerve pain, but I’m giving it a shot. I hope it works 'cause I’ve been pretty much living on my couch since Monday.
The scalp thing is so weird!! I’ll take it over pain, but it’s still weird. I didn’t really notice it 'til my husband said something, but I’ve been tapping/smacking the surgery side of my head lately. Scratching doesn’t help the itchiness but somehow tapping it helps. My husband noticed me doing it a couple of times and asked what was wrong. I wonder how long I’ve been doing it w/o noticing?! LOL I must look so weird. But it feels so good to do!
The same thing happens to me…now that u said it my scalp also itches …and in the morning burns a little (I had my electrical shocks in my head on the left side) and most of the time goes away after I shower and start my day…I ask the dr if it will go away…and said that is part of the healing…Is been 11 mounths beside those thing I feel ok…And I pray to GOD to give me strenght to keep going…cause I want to enjoy my life my family and my beautiful grandchildren …
I’m still in misery. Spoke to the PA again yesterday and he now has me taking 2 Gabapentin 3x a day plus Valium 5mg 4x a day as a stronger muscle relaxer. I’m now just drowsy w/pain. I see the NS tomorrow. I don’t get why my head hurts this way. It doesn’t feel like TN nor ATN pain. It’s closer to migraine pain but not exactly. I don’t know why I can’t describe it correctly. It’s the entire left side of my head, but if I walk around the top of my head pulsates like it’s going about to explode off. I’m guessing it’s from my heart rate going up (???). No nausea, vomiting nor visual changes.
I do have 1 strange new symptom: the last 4 days, when the pain spikes, I’ve been getting these dark red-almost purple blotches on my cheeks. They don’t feel hot when I touch it, it doesn’t itch, no fever. WTH?! It looks pretty terrible. Even my husband was concerned.
so sorry you are still having troubles..it sounds like you are having some sort of allergic reaction with the blotches on your cheeks..If it gets worse today I would head to the ER instead of waiting until tommorrow. I am wondering if you are either having some weird reaction or have an infection from being in the hospital and caught something there?
My husband thought that it might be an allergic reaction too, but it comes on so randomly and not around the same time of any meds. The Gabapentin is new, but I was taking it for a few days before the purple blotches started. I don't know what to think anymore. Don't get me wrong...I'm SO happy it's not TN pain! But it's still painful and stopping me from doing things. I have a very important thing I have to do tonight that I cannot miss. I might just do it and skip out and go home.
A Gabapentin question. I haven't taken it in years. Since I started it a few days ago I'm getting tinnitus again. No pain like I did with TN, but a sudden change of pressure in my ear and a super high pitch sound. It comes and goes. Is this a side effect of Gabapentin?
Not sure on that one, I never took it...I go on WebMD and check the side effects or Wikipedia, I am allergic to almost everything so it wouldnt surprise me if its that,,,I got tinnitus from narcotics, go figure.
I agree about the TN pain, I have some other issues going on since the MVD and they are painful and still undiagnosed, but every day I am glad I dont have that hard core pain,
I know one thing they keep an eye on after surgery is the incision that you dont get ketiods>not sure if I spelled that right...but you had the surgery quite some time ago...it just seems med related at this point
I saw the NS today and he says he doesn't believe it's surgery or TN related. He told me I should go to my neurologist. The one idea he had but wan't 100% sure was that maybe it was a weird "withdrawal" from Tegretol. (He said "withdrawal" because he didn't really know what other word to use to explain it to me but says it's not really a withdrawal like you would normally have, like when you stop narcotics.) He suggested I pop a Tegretol once every other day to see if it helps.
I called my neuro (who I'm not super fond of, but that's another story) and he prescribed Medrol Pack (steroids) over the phone. He thinks it has to do with the weather, it's supposed to snow tonight. I find that hard to believe because it's been 8 or 9 days of pain. I get that the weather can cause headaches, but the weather hasn't been the same all these days here. I would just like a little bit of relief at this point so I can think straight! I wish I had leftover pain meds from surgery, but I never asked for a refill at the time and this is where I am at the moment. Ugh.
It's just a bump in the road and I'll make it. It just stinks. Thanks for thinking of me Debbie. Oh, and of course, I totally forgot to mention the purpleish face blotches. I get airhead brain when I'm in a doctor's office. Even if I have it written down, I forget to look at my notes.
I have still been in pain. I’ve been doing as told by the Neuro taking the steroids, pain medicine and muscle relaxer (Flexeril). I’m still in pain. I was about to do my hair and I can feel a huge indentetation at the surgical site, right where the pain is radiating from. THAT WASN’T THERE EARLIER TODAY! My husband checked it out and there is a HUGE difference between the left and right side of my head. WTH?!?? I’m calling the surgeon tomorrow morning. I don’t think it’s a “go to the hospital” emergency because I don’t have any extra sudden pain, so that’s why I’m going to wait. But I’m still scared.
Can it be a muscle that is out of place?? I highly doubt my skull caved in. If that was even possible I’m sure it would be hurting me a lot more.
