Unbearable neck cramps

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caffinated1
caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

I'm nearly at 4 years in remission but lately I've been having muscle cramps in my neck that will stop any activity that I'm doing. I've had them pretty much all along this ugly ride after radiation but these new ones REALLY suck. I thought the tongue spasms were bad but I could still work while that was going on. It just sounded like I was eating a sack full of marbles at the time. Massages aren't seeming to help, citalopram only makes me loopy...anyone have any advise?

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  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    #2
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    Neck cramps

    I would guess your doctor knows, and if so he should have you try a muscle relaxer to stop the cramps and then you can do stretching exercises.

  • kdot2003
    kdot2003 Member Posts: 143
    #3
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    I wish I did.  I dont but I'd

    I wish I did.  I dont but I'd like to hear others advice as my neck is getting stiffer as time goes by.  I'm sorry to hear that your neck has spasms.  That sounds horrible.     

    Karen

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #4
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    Spasm

    I had them in the neck always on the left side just under the Jaw bone. It was all I could do to stop from screening and falling down it hurt so bad. I have been doing a lot of studding on the effects of cannabis oil for treating seizure in people, and so far it seems to be working great. But the government does not want people like us to try it because they can’t tax it I guess. Anyway that is what I was having in the neck, seizure and all they could give me was a meds that did not work very well.

     

    Tim

  • MarineE5
    MarineE5 Member Posts: 1,030 Member
    #5
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    Start at the beginning

    Caffinated, 

    Just a suggestion on my part here, looking at your name, I would guess you drink a lot of caffine. I am not sure if you do or not, but caffine can cause us to be dehydrated. So, I would start looking at that, are you hydrated enough? dehydration causes cramping.

    2nd, Potassium helps ward off cramping, I have one banana a day with my morning cereal and that seems to help me. Do the simple pinch test on the back of your hands and the skin should return to normal in a matter of a few seconds, it not, you are dehydrated.

    As I mentioned, look at the simple things first and I hope they help out.

    My Best to You and Everyone Here

  • caffinated1
    caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
    #6
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    MarineE5 said:

    Start at the beginning

    Caffinated, 

    Just a suggestion on my part here, looking at your name, I would guess you drink a lot of caffine. I am not sure if you do or not, but caffine can cause us to be dehydrated. So, I would start looking at that, are you hydrated enough? dehydration causes cramping.

    2nd, Potassium helps ward off cramping, I have one banana a day with my morning cereal and that seems to help me. Do the simple pinch test on the back of your hands and the skin should return to normal in a matter of a few seconds, it not, you are dehydrated.

    As I mentioned, look at the simple things first and I hope they help out.

    My Best to You and Everyone Here

    I love my coffee, but I drink

    I love my coffee, but I drink plenty of water. I do protien smoothies with banana every morning still tying to gain my weight back, slowwwwwwly so neither of those are an issue. This has gotten worse lately, it has ALWAYS sucked but now it's become a lot more than I want to deal with. 

  • caffinated1
    caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
    #7
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    Hondo said:

    Spasm

    I had them in the neck always on the left side just under the Jaw bone. It was all I could do to stop from screening and falling down it hurt so bad. I have been doing a lot of studding on the effects of cannabis oil for treating seizure in people, and so far it seems to be working great. But the government does not want people like us to try it because they can’t tax it I guess. Anyway that is what I was having in the neck, seizure and all they could give me was a meds that did not work very well.

     

    Tim

    I've read up on the canibis

    I've read up on the canibis oil and would love to try it, would really be good if it could be topical so it wouldn't affect my job.

  • caffinated1
    caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
    #8
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    wmc said:

    Neck cramps

    I would guess your doctor knows, and if so he should have you try a muscle relaxer to stop the cramps and then you can do stretching exercises.

    I've tried the excersizes

    I've tried the excersizes they showed me and mist of those exasperate the cramps. Ugh.

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #9
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    You might have to see a neurologist....

    ...and ask about Botox.  I'm hearing more and more people using it for the cramps.  It has to be redone every 3 or 4 months, tho....

    p

  • caffinated1
    caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
    #10
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    phrannie51 said:

    You might have to see a neurologist....

    ...and ask about Botox.  I'm hearing more and more people using it for the cramps.  It has to be redone every 3 or 4 months, tho....

    p

    I will at my ENT dr. Next

    I will at my ENT dr. Next week. Somehow all of my doctors recently now do beauty enhancement injections. odd how that works.

  • ratface
    ratface Member Posts: 1,337 Member
    #11
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    yoga will help

    The best answer I have found is to incorporate some gentle neck and spinal twists in a routine yoga workout. You can get away with once a week if you are doing some other form of routine exercise. "The gift of Yoga" is a good video you can do at home in about 40 minutes and it cost next to nothing. You really have to stick with a regular routine or it won't help. I still get them but they are minor, and very manageble as long as I keep up the yoga routine.

  • osadmed
    osadmed Member Posts: 4
    #12
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    Have you tried Acupuncture?

    I have used Doctor of Chinese medicine that is a licenced Acupunturist and many of the nuero skeleton problems other have I have avoided and mitigated. Just a thought although it is not covered by my plan so it can become costly. Good Luck! Gary O

  • caffinated1
    caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
    #13
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    I've tried actupuncture,

    I've tried actupuncture, didn't really do much in reducing the tightness in the muscles at the base of my skull. All it takes to set these cramps off is moving my head the wrong way or raising my arms over my head. i was using a whisk to scramble some eggs last weekend and even that set them off.

    ugh! 

  • caffinated1
    caffinated1 Member Posts: 32
    #14
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    ratface said:

    yoga will help

    The best answer I have found is to incorporate some gentle neck and spinal twists in a routine yoga workout. You can get away with once a week if you are doing some other form of routine exercise. "The gift of Yoga" is a good video you can do at home in about 40 minutes and it cost next to nothing. You really have to stick with a regular routine or it won't help. I still get them but they are minor, and very manageble as long as I keep up the yoga routine.

    My oncologist had that happy

    My oncologist had that happy idea of exercises, I've tried them, doing everything I can to get these muscles to relax but the exercises set the spasms off. 

  • Duggie88
    Duggie88 Member Posts: 760 Member
    #15
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    Hurt like HELL

    I've gotten them many times, more so when I yawn. I've had to pull over when I was driving because I was afraid I was going to pass out. I have learned to ward them off some of the time by massaging and moving my neck muscles.

          Jeff

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #16
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    caffinated1 said:

    I've read up on the canibis

    I've read up on the canibis oil and would love to try it, would really be good if it could be topical so it wouldn't affect my job.

    cannabis

    While down south for the last two months I was making a cannabis tea, I was drinking some of it and also washing out my sinus with it daily. I am not sure what effects it was having because I had to cut it short because my time was up and had to come back to the US. But I do plan on treating it again when I get back in June and try doing it for the full time I am there.

     

    Also you can try a stuff called Pan-Away oil, I mix it with coconut oil and rub it into my skin and neck, really make it feel good.

     

    Tim

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,771 Member
    #17
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    Duggie88 said:

    Hurt like HELL

    I've gotten them many times, more so when I yawn. I've had to pull over when I was driving because I was afraid I was going to pass out. I have learned to ward them off some of the time by massaging and moving my neck muscles.

          Jeff

    ditto

    i get them most when  yawning. Lots of neck and head stretching helps. I do self massage along the muscles, tendons where I feel the tightness. Just three years out, not getting a lot worse but still happens at least daily. Sure a lot better than the alternatives though. Not enough of a PIN (Pain In the Neck) to warrant any meds.  Don

  • sunshine_64
    sunshine_64 Member Posts: 50
    #18
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    donfoo said:

    ditto

    i get them most when  yawning. Lots of neck and head stretching helps. I do self massage along the muscles, tendons where I feel the tightness. Just three years out, not getting a lot worse but still happens at least daily. Sure a lot better than the alternatives though. Not enough of a PIN (Pain In the Neck) to warrant any meds.  Don

    neck pain and jaw problems also

    4 years out from treatment and I too am experiencing some pretty severe neck pain (especially on the side that received the most radiation). I also could not open my jaw some mornings.

    I started out with gentle range of motion exercises (in fact started them before treatment as I read that this is an issue), but now need daily stretching and massage exercises twice a day. Getting the scar tissue out of my incision scar on my neck is a problem (after an idiotic ENT misdiagnosed my cancer as a bacterial infection, and then, did NOT send the tissue out for biopsy--I am lucky I am alive, believe me). Thus I have an extra source of stiffness, but I find that massaging it has made a huge difference. Keep asking the doctors questions - they don't know enough at this point because not enough of us have survived to have to deal with the neck pain. They're learning, especially the physical therapists.

  • luv_freedom
    luv_freedom Member Posts: 49
    #19
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    I have a neck and shoulder massage done once a week and that seems to help me. I still have spasms but not cramps like your reffering to. It seems like  lot 0f people are having these types of issues after radiation. No one seems to have the answer to what really works. Seems to be different for everyone. Sorry you're going through such a rough recovery.

    Gary

  • npcsurvivor
    npcsurvivor Member Posts: 27
    #20
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    building shoulder strength

    I have spasms sporadically but not to the severity you describe. I get them when I am out in the cold or when I am lifting or carrying something heavy. I find that weight lifting to build shoulder muscles (esp. trapezius) helps reduce neck spasms. The most important thing is to start with light weight and build it up slowly. Some of the exercises I find useful are front and lateral dumbel raises and upright rows. Hope this helps.

  • MrsBD
    MrsBD Member Posts: 615 Member
    #21
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    Cramps

    I really think that doing the neck and shoulder exercises faithfully helps with stiffness and cramping. If I skip a couple of days, everything starts to tighten. Another factor could be your salt intake as it can aggravate lymphedema. My sister swears by PanAway essential oil, but I haven't tried it. 

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