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What Causes Numbness In Cheek And Head While Suffering From Chronic Migraine?
I have had optic nueritis twice now (once in each eye) in the past two years, i am currently diagnosed with chronic migraine even though these are not my typical migraines that I have had in the past, the symptoms that I have while i have these headaches mimic ms but neurologist ruled ms out due to no lesions on mri in brain or 3 section spine. blood work came back as vitamin d12 difiency and put pn 50,000u weekly. i hate these headaches as nothing helps fiorcet stoped working and imitrex is candy. tried topomax but it greatly impaires ability to function so was taken off. headaches typically start off with sensitivty to light to one eye then ice pick pain from top of skull above eye down into temple on one side only. it sends almost a numbness into the cheek and behind the ear before finally throbbing in the back of the head behind the eye as the pain in the temple continues. this goes on for days on end...i wake up with it and go to sleep with it....can anyone give me any ideas or have similar headaches?
Fri, 29 Jan 2021
Hi,
Thank you for your questions. It is indeed true that Optic Neuritis is often seen in patients with MS. I am glad that your doctor was able to rule out MS. Vitamin b12 deficiency can cause neurological symptoms, and again I am glad that your doctor ruled it in. I am glad that you were given treatment for it. The rest of your symptoms are typical of migraine headaches. I want to mention one type of headache, which is called medication overuse headache, which happens when you are taking medications to prevent a headache in the first place for a long time. The reason I am mentioning this is that you stated that Fioricet stopped working. There are still medications that can be tried besides the one you have already taken, like beta-blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, calcium channel blockers, ergot derivatives. I would recommend working closely with your physician to determine which medication works best and take scheduled breaks from taking medication to prevent medication overuse headache. I hope it answers your question.
Sincerely,
Dr. Saralkumar Desai MD AP
Thank you for your questions. It is indeed true that Optic Neuritis is often seen in patients with MS. I am glad that your doctor was able to rule out MS. Vitamin b12 deficiency can cause neurological symptoms, and again I am glad that your doctor ruled it in. I am glad that you were given treatment for it. The rest of your symptoms are typical of migraine headaches. I want to mention one type of headache, which is called medication overuse headache, which happens when you are taking medications to prevent a headache in the first place for a long time. The reason I am mentioning this is that you stated that Fioricet stopped working. There are still medications that can be tried besides the one you have already taken, like beta-blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, calcium channel blockers, ergot derivatives. I would recommend working closely with your physician to determine which medication works best and take scheduled breaks from taking medication to prevent medication overuse headache. I hope it answers your question.
Sincerely,
Dr. Saralkumar Desai MD AP
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