I had depomedrol nerve blocks in the greater and lesser occipital nerves and I got the first real relief from daily pain and 2-3 migraines weekly that I'd had in three years. I had I think 6 of them in about 18 months or so. Downside is that you cannot have them indefinitely, but they do buy you some time for your body to heal itself some, which, believe me, it will. It may take years, but it does get better.
I was ecstatic at going to the beach and being able to boogie-board a little and walk the beach. I had been to the beach the year before and spent 3/4 of the time up in the condo with a migraine watching everyone else on the beach playing and having fun--hence the being ecstatic part. We even took a small boat to a deserted island that didn't pick us up for several hours, something I couldn't even dream about doing previously.
When my pain doc, Mike Douglas (yup, that's his name) told me I had to take a break from the depo, I started having my first Botox, another moment of ecstacy! If I'd known then what I know now, I would never have put myself through all that drug therapy which cost thousands of $$ and didn't do squat. (Well, they did do squat--they ruined the lining of my stomach permanently and I ended up with a liver issue that nearly killed me.)
I'd like to go back again for a nerve block as they do a better job at controlling the sub-occipital pain and the Botox does a good job at not letting the pain spread across the top of my head and lodge behind my eye, which are the super-brutal brainwrecks.
Cin, what kind of specialist did you see?
The injections are really painful because they go right into the nerve, but it only lasts for a second or two and the area can be quite tender for a day, but I hope you will be as amazed at the difference as I was.
Good Luck!
Capt Deb
