Strange New Head Pain

General
1

Hello. I’ve had TN1 for the past ten years or so. Mostly left, with a short stint on the right. I’m taking 1,600mg of Tegretol and and tapering down my Gabapentin, very, very slowly. I’m at 2,000mg now, dropping 100mg every five days.

I have a new pain, though, that is confusing me. When I wake up, either in the morning, or from a nap, I have a sharp pain on the top of my head, figure up and to the left of of my eye, above my temple. It only hurts if I touch it (cue, don’t touch it!) and then it goes away after a few minutes. Does this sound to anyone like the Occipital branch joining the party? Or something else entirely? Have not called my neuro yet. Curious if anyone here has thoughts.

Thanks!!

Faye

2

Odds are it’s gabapentin withdrawal to some extent as that may cause headache, muscle pain, and nerve aches.

Also, 2000mg of that med is a fairly high dose so be careful tapering off, you may want to extend it longer than 5 days between drops.

3

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The top branch of the trigeminal nerve goes up to the top of the head. I get very sharp pain there sometimes. The first time it happened I thought I got stung by a bee.