Do your headaches/migraines...

[Victoriah1999]

Do your headaches/migraines start at (or near) the incision site? 

What have you tried and what were the results?
(Either good OR bad, both are informative!)

I've used the occipital nerve block with some success.  It depends on the Dr. doing it.  If they are skilled, they do spread the solution out a bit.  I've had them where the Dr. just put a golf ball sized lump in the back of my head over the nerve and it does not work nearly as well. 

Thx for the responses in advance! 

[Rc Moser]

Well, I consider myself an expert on headaches, head pain, and migraine's being I have to deal with them daily.  First off early after the operation I couldn't lay on the insission side. Would get head pain which would turn into a headache and then a migraine. I also would experience neck pain, stiffness of the neck, and stinging or numbness on the AN side. I still have alot of head pain, sometimes the pain will roll from the left side of my head (AN side), accross my forehead, to the right side down into my eyes, and eventually casue my teeth to throb. I assume these are cluster headaches.

Most of my head pain starts at eyebrow level behind my eyes, move to the right side, if this pain don't dispate it will make my teeth start to ache, then my eyes will be light sentive. After an hour or two of this misery if it don't let up the pain gets more intense, my teeth by this time is pounding, behind my eyes is producing almost unbearable throbbing pain as my heart beats. Insync with the heart beat I can sometime feel every tooth throb. By this time 2 to 3 hours into the head pain episode I can't stand noises or bright light and in the early stages of a migraine.

For me this it time for the second dose of tyn. If that don't fight off the mild migraine by the 4th hour My metal ability is now effected and I have to seem bedrest in total silence and darkness with Ice pack on my forehead to stop the pounding.
I have to lye in state usually 4 to 28 hours (for me being 4 years out usually most migraine's will subside within 4 to 8 hours) Few have lasted more than 12 hours now.  My headpain overall is less intense and most of the time I am able to recover faster now being 4 years out.

To answer you question:  depends on what stage of post operation you are at IMO. After;  yes the pain started at the incession, after a month or two while still on the medication the headache for seem to slack off, then, about the 6 month point the picked backup to the three year point, which for me that seem to be milder and less intense if I take precaustions. Then there are days that it don't pay to get out of bed. On these days (usaually about two a month) no matter what I do I can't prevent a migraine. The headpain just gets worse till it goes into full blown migraine.

For me headaches are the only thing still limiting me from getting back to normal.

[Brendalu]

I am 27 months post op and didn't have migraines until after the surgery.  They started at the incision.  I went through several neurologists until I finally found one who presribed Topamax.  I take 200mg a day and it helps.  I don't have as many as I used to.  I was having five to seven a week lasting from four hours to sixteen hours.  I know have one to three a week and they seem to be stress related, but they last only two to six hours now.  A huge difference from before.  Read the posts under Topamax.  It seems to help a lot of us prevent them.  It does not help once you have one.

Good luck,
Brendalu