Cervicogenic headache

What do you think? Does it exist and what is your experience of it.

Just before last Christmas and after a long M free period (my M has been getting much better in the last year, or two) I have been struck by an extremely painful bout of head pain which definitely originated not in the head, but came from the upper spine, followed by the neck and only then hitting the head itself.

The pain was excruciating and lasted for over three weeks and did not respond to Imigran/Imitrex which always works quite well for my M. IT was horrendous and I was in a state of panic, because it was relentless and I did not know if it is ever going to go away. In the end I was able to get rid of it by taking a short course of Prendisolone. The whole episode left me quite drained and weak so I was still feeling quite ill over Christmas.

Today, looking for something else, I have come across this:
http://www.uptodate.com/contents/cervicogenic-headache?source=search_result&search=C2+Carnitine&selectedTitle=4%7E150

In the past I would not notice the article, but I can assure whoever wrote that, that this type of headache exist, even if it is rare.
I have been suffering from M for several decades, since my childhood and it is the first time that I've experienced this type of h/a, so I wonder if anyone else here suffers, or suffered from  this kind of cervicogenic headache, and how often do you get it.

Hi,

That sounds like a terrifying experience.

I've never used that term, but I do get two distinct heachaches -- one is a migraine (which can make my neck sore), and the other is a headache that comes out of the neck and that if I can't get it under control leads to a migraine. Headaches which come out of my neck won't respond to Maxalt (triptan) until they start going into a migraine but will respond to naprogesic, aspirin or valium.

I used to get bad neck-based headaches, and took codeine with muscle relaxant for them. (I remember a doctor saying to me in my early 20s that basically in life there is pain, just suck it up and get used to it).

I have done some work increasing neck muscle strength, and while I don't get them as often and they don't last as long, neck based heachaches can still really get going. the cause for me seems to be that the joints tighten up and then the muscles tighten around them. I found that my neck joints (C1, C2, C3) tend to get "sticky" (word my physio uses) and she gently presses on them to loosen them. Over time (about 4 years) I have been able to decrease my physio visits to get my neck joints loosened from every 2 weeks or so to every 4 or 5 weeks. I did have my physio draw the dots on my neck and take a photo with my phone so I could get my partner help me get used to being able to press on them to loosen them a little bit myself.

Not sure if that is the sort of headache you are talking about or not. I do hope you don't get any more of that headache that you described.

cheers,
Lynn

Many of mine start in my neck and go into my head.

Thank you for your responses Lynn and Migrainegirl.

I also get the kind of neck tension which can lead to M, and M that makes my neck muscles sore, but this new kind of Cervicogenic pain is quite different. For one thing it starts lower down, below my neck and it feels more like trapped nerve (this is the best way I can describe it) but sharper, and then it shoots all the way to the base of my skull.

This is why this article was so interesting, because obviously (unlike M) it seems to be quite rare. I was relived to read it though, because at least I had some explanation.
Yes, Lynn, it was quite scary. I am OK now, and I hope it will never come back. I had about every type of h/a and M in my life. but this was a new one for me, so I just wanted to know, if anyone else had this kind of headache.

I hear in US the winter storms are getting really bad at the moment, so I hope you are safe and have enough medication in case you need it.