Hi Debra, I know exactly how you feel. I had my AN removed 12/10/1998. I never had headaches before but after my surgery, (middle fossa by Jackler/Pitts @ UCSF) I did. They started once or twice a week. Gradually increasing in severity and frequency. Back then, my doctor said it wasn't from the surgery. My family practice DR. gave me fiorcet. They worked for me for several years. However I was taking more tablets (3-4) two to three times a day. I was given a referral to see a neurologist at UCSF, (Dr. Neil Raskin). He understood what I was going through. He explained that about 10% of AN surgery patients have this curse of a side effect from the surgery. They do not know why or what causes the headaches. I am sure you may have read the article about the headache study here on this website. Continuing with Raskin, he said over time the headaches disappear, however, less than 1% never go away. Lucky me, I am in this group. I am currently taking 90 mg of methadone- 20 in the morning, 30mg in the afternoon, and 40mg at bedtime. When the pain break through this, I take half a ml of a product called Oxyfast. Liquid oxycontin. Very fast acting. Makes me sleepy. I take a nap and when I awaken my pain has subsided. Now all of my meds are class 2's. Both Percocet and vicodin are as well. I could not take Vicodin because I am allergic to codeine. Prior to seeing Dr. Raskin, my FP graduated me from the Fiorcet to the Percocet. They worked for awhile, but like all meds our bodies adapt to the meds. We have to take more pills more frequently to get the same relief we originally received. Hopefully, I pray, you are not going to be like me. I ultimately had to retire (2004) because of my headaches.
