This started a few months ago with a throbbing at the lower right base of the skull which after a couple days went away but the area stayed tender to the touch and a dull pain that never went away. Also had some sepitis of neck and neck pain if neck is rotated to either extreme. The doc had me do neck exercises and that got rid of the sepitis but didn't affect the headache. The headache will always be a dull pain in the lower right base of skull area that sometimes flairs up to a hot poker pain in the same area accompanied by mild dizziness, reduced vision in right eye and mild nausea. Some times it ramps up suddenly with movement. Doc had me try several pain killers, mostly NSAID based stuff. Not only did they not help but I got bleeding gastritis so now I am off all pain killers and on prilosec. About a year ago I had lung cancer surgery (I am a life long non smoker) and they think they got it all but are now concerned these headaches may be related. I had a head CT and no causes where found. After several weeks the headache went away but a month later it came back to stay and hasn't gone away in several weeks. 2 days ago I had a spine and head MRI but results are not back yet. I am a non smoker, rarely drink and allergy tests came back neg. The doc has been guessing maybe a bone spur or pinched nerve but wanted me to have the MRI even though the CT Scan was neg because the MRI will sometimes show base of skull tumors the CT scan doesn't. This is always same spot, the lower right base of skull,its always tender to the touch and strong light or sound seems to have no effect on it like a migraine. It varies from bearable to so bad I can't sleep and don't feel like doing anything all day. The throbbing has never returned that happened when it first started. I've also tried different pillows, sleeping positions etc and no help. Any ideas? Seems the doc has only been making guesses so far.

Dave

Seeing a physical therapist would be a good idea.

two analgesics that wont damage your stomach, yet can offer reasonable relief, are Excedrin Tension headache and Extra Strength Percogesic

Try them both, see which one works best.

Rubbing the area with BenGay can also help quite a lot

My symptoms got bad enough last night I went to the ER. I was just sitting at the computer and all at once I got very nauseous, dizzy, blotchy skin, throat got parched and the pain and tenderness at the base of my skull got much worse. I also felt disorientated. My BP is usually around 110/70 but now it was 220/135! I've never seen my BP that high even after exercise. They thought it could be some kind of stroke or clot and put me on IV meds and after an hour or so my vitals came back to normal. The blood and urine work came back normal and they did xrays and a head CT (after my vitals returned normal) and found no reason for the problem. They were also going to do a spinal tap but changed their minds after all the tests came back neg. They never figured out what the cause really was. The headache is still there but back to where it was before last night. Their guesses were: Blood clot that moved on or dissolved with the IV meds. Drug interaction: but all I had all day was a Prilosec and (1) Ibprofen. Or they think it could have been a massive Anxiety attack though I have never really been prone to having those. In the meantine the headache is still thriving.

Dave

I finally got the results of my Head and Spinal MRIs from last week. Turns out I have 3 crushed vertebrae (C2-C4) causing pinched nerves. Now I am waiting to get set up with a specialist to find out what the options are. Guess I need to move this to the spinal forum...

Dave