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        New Message Board Archives >> 2004 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> Cervical Disc problems and CHS
        
(Message started by: nancyc on Sep 1^st, 2004, 12:46am)

Title: Cervical Disc problems and CHS
Post by nancyc on Sep 1^st, 2004, 12:46am

I know some of you guys have cervical disc problems along with chs so I am hoping you can give me some opinions....I have 3 bulging discs with nerve impingement, degenerative disc disease and arthritis...Do you think that cervical problems can affect your chs in any way? I know you can cervical headaches (not sure what the symptoms are though) ...but do you feel the nerves in your cervical spine, especially those affected near the trigeminal nerve, could affect your chs in anyway? Just wondering.....smiles,nancyc

Title: Re: Cervical Disc problems and CHS
Post by Mr. Happy on Sep 1^st, 2004, 1:14am

on 09/01/04 at 00:46:05, nancyc wrote:

do you feel the nerves in your cervical spine, especially those affected near the trigeminal nerve, could affect your chs in anyway?

Nah. I got the same crap, Nanc. Had a cute little "laminectomy" to reduce the nerve impingement, helped a lot, but CH related? Nah. Scares the hell outta me, cuz the nerve is the same side as Mr. Bad Boy, but it doesn't get any worse than a one sided headache.....which is still enough to scare the wajeebies out of any sane CHead.
CH during acute impingement pain would be a rare treat indeed.

Please....More pain,
RJ

Title: Re: Cervical Disc problems and CHS
Post by floridian on Sep 1^st, 2004, 9:57am

It's not clear how much overlap there is between clusters and cervicogenic headache, but here are some relationships.

Head trauma and TMJ are more common in clusterheads than the general population - these are assumed to contribute to the genesis of CH.

People with clusters and cervicogenic headaches have a common pattern of immune activation and inflammation (raised levels of IL-1, TNF, nitric oxide)

Quote:

Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2000 Mar-Apr;18(2 Suppl 19):S33-8.
Proinflammatory pathways in cervicogenic headache.

Martelletti P.

Cervicogenic headache (CEH) is a relatively common form of headache arising from the neck structures. The pathophysiology probably results from various local pain-producing factors such as intervertebral dysfunction, with a no less important role played by the frequent coexistence of a history of head traumas. This report represents a series of pathophysiological studies in CEH patients and the results achieved by pharmacological treatment of the disease. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and Tumour Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-alpha) exert their multifunctional biological effects by promoting and increasing the molecular events of cellular inflammation. We found that the cytokine pattern of CEH patients is--similar to cluster headache--biased towards an inflammatory status. Higher levels of both IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha were detected in the sera of CEH patients than the levels in patients with migraine without aura and in healthy subjects. There were also differences between the spontaneous and mechanically worsened pain phases of CEH. Nitric oxide (NO) synthase is also activated in cervicogenic headache. No change in NO metabolites levels has been observed after NO donor administration. This behaviour is clearly different from that observed in migraine and tension headache patients. We conclude that the high degree of cytokine and NO production in CH may depend on the differing pathophysiological mechanisms at work in CEH than in other forms of headache.

Cluster headache and one-sided migraine respond to localized steroid injections (nerve block), a mainstay for treating cervicogenic headache.

Quote:

Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2000 Mar-Apr;18(2 Suppl 19):S59-64.

Cervicogenic headache: prevalence and response to local steroid therapy.

Anthony M.

Cervicogenic headache (CEH) has been said to be common among patients with idiopathic headache, but no information exists as to its prevalence among those who have not suffered whiplash or head injury. This study was designed to answer this question and in addition to determine whether headache relief could be achieved by blockade of the occipital nerves (greater and lesser occipital--GON, LON) in the upper neck, on the side habitually affected by the headache. Among 796 patients with idiopathic headache, 128 or 16.1% were found to be suffering from CEH. They were predominantly female, as in the case of migraine, older than the migrainous group (49.5 years as against 34.7 years), respectively, and with a monthly headache frequency of 18, against 6.9 in the case of migraine. Injections of depot methylprednisolone into the region of the GON and LON produced complete relief of headache in 169 out of 180 patients with CEH for a period ranging from 10 to 77 days, the mean duration of relief being 23.5 days. However, similar relief of headache could be achieved in patients with attacks of strictly unilateral migraine or cluster headache, suggesting that local steroid injections by blocking the cervico-trigeminal relay, can arrest other forms of unilateral headache.

Cervicogenic headache can be triggered by nitroglycerin, although this provocation is not as reliable as in CH.

Title: Re: Cervical Disc problems and CHS
Post by nancyc on Sep 1^st, 2004, 12:57pm

I KNEW IT!!!!! BTW, I also have TMJ... THanks so much for the info....I am beginning to think alot of this clinching and spasms are from the cervical and they are triggering off the chs in some way....My neck and jaw are staying so tight and clinched that it is so damn painful...then the second i take something to relax it, the ch hits...i am also,having another type of headache along with the chs but imitrex will also abort it....My neuro was going to admit me last nite and do botox injections but i ask him to wait till today...He put me back on the duragesic patch last nite ...I had been pretty much pf on it for two years and came off of it three months ago...since then, i have gone down hill...Last nite, i only had one breakthru and the pain was so dull...not like the nite before when i was banging my head with 7 attacks...Maybe i need to go ahead with the nerve block in my neck...The doctor that spoke in Nashville knew I was on pain management and he recommended I do the cervical block along with it to get better results....Thanks for all of your help...I can breath again today...Thank GOD! smiles,nancyc

Title: Re: Cervical Disc problems and CHS
Post by Judo_Tom on Oct 1^st, 2004, 9:59am

i really didnt understand too much of the studies..i guess i will learn how to understand them more as i do more research.

but just too add a bit.. i never suffered any CH until i ruptured 2 discs in my neck.. about a year after that was my first cycle.

my nervepain runs down the left side of my body (upper arm, lower arm hand fingers) but my CH pain is focused on my right eye

Title: Re: Cervical Disc problems and CHS
Post by E-Double on Oct 1^st, 2004, 10:09am

I'm curious if anyone has really "caused" severe cervical damage due to the dance.
I honestly bugged a bit yesterday because I felt like my kneck was "clicking" right at the base of my skull. Didn't seem to be a muscular issue felt like bone.
Never had neck problems just lower back.

Just curious because so many of us have beaten the crap out of ourselves, thrashing and pounding for so many years.

I wish you well Nancy as everyone else.

Eric