Stop Running.

43 years ago my life changed forever. I was in a speed boat at what was supposed to be a fun weekend in Patagonia, Arizona. But instead, it started out with a very unusual accident. I was in the back of the speed boat and I had a seat belt on, the bench in the back of the boat broke. Next thing I knew I was up in the air flipped upside down and landed directly down on my neck.

Running away from the pain

Well, I'm sure you understand if I say that most of my life I've been in severe pain the migraines have lasted up to a month sometimes. I kept running and I felt nothing was going to stop me so I kept running away from the pain. And I had something happened a year ago October. Now mind you I've had to take pain medicine and have lost most of my abilities to work. Last year I just had a very strange thing happen while standing looking out the window of my apartment. My legs collapse from under me and I really have to watch how I fall and I was very careful I kind of slid holding on to the couch cushions. Three days later I couldn't move my head and open up my eyes move my neck and my head felt like it was a Non-Stop electrifying serious sharp nonstop horrible pain on top of a migraine.

Waiting for months for an appointment

It took 3 months for me to be able to even have an appointment to see what was wrong. Well, the worst thing that you can get with migraines happened. I developed full-blown occipital neuralgia. I don't know if anyone has experienced migraines completely around your head and neck and then you injure the two main nerves in your neck which causes migraines to begin with, occipital neuralgia are the main nerves in your neck and they also are the nerves connected to the film over the brain. So they just go off in a very painful non-stop non-forgiving electrifying pain that you can't move your head. I thought I saw the worst of it but now my life has changed again forever not even being able to bend my head and clean or do anything that I always have, so now I'm completely disabled with these pains and was wondering if someone else has experienced those occipital neuralgia on top of the migraines and what has been done for it. I appreciate everyone's input because I haven't been able to in this whole year share part of my story. I haven't been able to make any appointments when I do to any doctors or therapy or tests I have to cancel every time. Even therapy I have not been able to take part in because of my head exploding when I wake up. So now something else has triggered it again, which it's always there but now it's worse. Being bedridden this year has really put strain on my body and I have no muscle, my arms, as I'm trying to get myself in and out of bed or off the couch, have taken a big hit. They are so painful to move the bursa sacs need the fluid and they have to help me to exercise my shoulders and arms because now they're affecting everything, so pretty much I can't do anything.

Living through the trauma

I am a true survivor I've been through so many traumas and painful afflictions in my body that I'm surprised I'm still here and have had many counselors tell me the same. I am isolated and have been for 18 years. something good happened this week I was able to lay my head down on a pillow for the first time in years. I always had to have a rolled towel or something that I can put my neck on and just let my head hang to keep the pain away. So I thank the Lord for that. God has helped me through this there's no other way that I could live my life with constant critical pain when pain clinics don't do anything for you. Personally, I think pain clinics are part of the torture that I'm going through right now. They have it set amount of pain medicine for everyone. And since we are suffering from migraine disease and occipital neuralgia disease as far as I go I have no preventative medicine at all. And like we've talked about before there is nothing no way of any understanding nor do they really care as long as they finish your appointment and get you out.

Seeking relief

I've wanted to go for procedures so I can eventually get relief. However, they do procedures in their office and do not offer a vascular team of any sort. I blow veins every time. I have woken up with cameras down my throat. Many surgeries with no pain medicine and then they complain because they think that you're taking too much medicine, to begin with. It's cruel to put anyone through the kind of pain that we have and suffer from sometimes every minute of the day. I'm in Tucson Arizona. If anyone knows of a good pain clinic besides Pima pain clinic. I would love to go and check it out. But they have to be able to do authorizations so they can also treat you properly and individually. Has anyone ever had full-blown migraines and breakdown of neck and arthritis then occipital neuralgia completely over your brain. I need to hear from people because I'm going crazy I try to be light-hearted and I'm young at heart and I'm never going to give up guys. But I'm lonely isolated and I need company too. Get back to me I hope you're all doing good as best as we can do. Thank you for listening that's just a small part of the story but it takes a lot out of me when I try to talk right now. Joanne St Pierre Tucson, Az.