Squeezing head pressure

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I cannot stand this constant muscle tension in my head, the tight band around my head and squeezing pressure on the top is destroying me. I tried all i did the pervious years but nothing reduces it anymore. My central nervous system is damaged and sensitized. Anyone have this as bad as me?, i cant function with this discomfort, its terrible. 

[[Na...]]

My muscles are super tight around my ribs. Your muscles are tight around your scalp. Different places but you wonder if it's not the same thing going on. Both caused by benzo use and withdrawal.

I'm getting desperate enough I may have botox put into the attachments of the muscles that are affected. You ever thought about doing something like that?

 

 

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I had Botox years ago (2008) but they put it in my scalp. Maybe wrong points?. I will try acupuncture or massage tomorrow i feel terrible this constant muscle squeezing my head. I feel like i am trapped in a torture chamber and cant escape. 

Hope you feel better, i remember you had the tight muscle on your ribs for years, did it reduce at all?.

[[Na...]]

It isn't as bad as when it started which would almost drop me to my knees sometimes. It's better than that. But it can be pretty bad sometimes. Hasn't changed in a long time now so not getting worse but not getting better.

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This tight band around my head and pressure/squeezing what is your opinion is it actual muscle contracting or a sensation?.  It feels like a tight grip, sometimes i can't get out of bed my head feels so heavy and its such an effort to stay standing up. I dont understand why its not reducing. 

[[Na...]]

I don't know Scooby. I ask myself the same question about the muscles on my rib cage.

It feels like extremely tight and contracted muscles. But, maybe it's some sort of neuropathy that simply is giving me that sensation. I ask myself the same question now and then.

If I had to bet, I'd say it's spasmed muscles. I can take my hand and kneed those muscles and they feel tight to me. I get a massage once or twice a month and the massage therapy person tells me they feel very tight to her too.

I do think it's some sort of neurological dysfunction that's making those muscles stay contracted like that. It seems like it's similar to dystonia but it doesn't really meet the requirements of that completely either.

[[Bl...]]

I have constant issues with my head feeling like I'm on drugs and this includes a measure of, more on than off, head pressure. It's hard to describe. Been living with it for too long, Im so tired of it. Change in weather intensifies it, and can make me feel as though I'm teetering on the brink of incapacitation. 

I will not take any pharmaceutical in hopes of relieving it...too afraid of possible adverse reactions. I definitely feel benzo's/Z-drug's caused this symptom...it's been with me since 2012, and possibly to a lesser degree prior to 2012,  the year when this nightmare began, as a result of adversely reacting to Ambien.

You are not alone Scooby. But you are worse off than I am with this symptom. I'm so sorry you have been dealing with this for so long and at such an intense degree. I'm going to push my provider(s) to hopefully help me regain some better health to what I've been dealing with for too long.

They just won't even entertain the notion that benzo's could be the originator of the condition I've been in for so long. I certainly haven't held back from expressing that fact, that...benzo's/Z-drugs can in fact be the reason for my state of health(since 2012).

Edited December 6, 2023 by [Bl...]

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These doctors are still in denial of the damage these drugs do and still prescribe them. I had a severe head injury taking them and coming off them i don't understand how this has got worse over the years. I was thinking it could be a specific vitamin i been taking for a few months and i stopped this today to see if in a week or so if it will subside. I feel severe pressure and muscle tension all over my head but worse on the top and tight band around the head. It gets so severe i cant function at all. I have tried everything in the past of what might help and nothing relieves it anymore. I was told this is a sensitized CNS but not even herbal sedatives relieve it anymore. Are you able to function like work and live comfortably?.

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If it's muscle tension which muscles would be responsible for the tight band around the head and squeezing pressure on the top?. Anyone know?. It's so uncomfortable to function with a crushed head.

[[Bl...]]

I don't work. And I'm amazed how others going through benzo w/d are able to work. I've been doing good to just do the basics in order to survive. I have to pace myself daily. Some days are better than other days. I do have windows, but they are not pronounced. I basically have lived life as best as I can; by trying to live life as close to what I was doing prior to when I entered benzo w/d.

It's been challenging all along, and I have days when I feel like symptoms are beyond bearable. Not being understood has added to this painful ordeal. That in itself is exhausting...not being understood. I'm still learning how not to worry about how others perceive things. 

I fully understand your feelings with what you're dealing with. Recently I went to the ER because the head symptoms were relentlessly intense for two days without any letup. This occurred during a heat wave. Extreme weather systems, without a doubt, ramp up my symptoms. But the duration of the head symptoms was new, or at least seemed new, thus compelling me to go to the ER. 

I still hang onto the hope of soon, one day, feeling better and seeing benzo w/d as a faint memory...fading ever so gradually from my memory bank! Wouldn't that be nice. 

[[jo...]]

Yes I have this constantly. I get tightness and squeezing on my brain, head, neck, shoulders. It sort of feels like knives sometimes stabbing into my head. But also tightness and burning at other times. I recently also get nerve pain and burning in my feet and shins also. My physical symptoms have worsened. I am 31 months off. 42 months suffering total 

[[Be...]]

Not a long hauler, but still not fully recovered, just really close now. 8 months almost since jumping. But thought I could offer something to this discussion.

 

I has a history of occipital neuralgic (ON) years ago, with debilitating head pain. I was going to a pain management clinic. I was given nerve blocks. Every few months I would get a nerve block done. I would be relatively pain free, until the block wore off. The physiatrist I was seeing said I was a good candidate for a nerve ablation procedure. That if it worked, I could wean off my long term narcotic use. I had the ablation done, and was free of excruciating head pain after years off suffering it. I gradually weaned off my pain med. Was headache free until I began tapering off benzos. The head pain and squeezing/pressure feeling was similar to my experience with ON. I was using gel ice packs again, like I did with ON.  Fortunately, I rarely have this issue now. Headaches are short-lived and fleeting. If they didn't go way on their own, I'd be back at the clinic getting nerve blocks again. 

 

Has anyone with this being a persistent problem, ever tried to see if an occipital nerve block would help? Might result in relief lasting a few months. After you have three of these, and reported a successful outcome, do the doctors offer a full nerve ablation, which can last 2 or more years. Mine is going on almost 6 years. I thought it was failing when the benzo issues popped up. But I now see it wasn't a return of ON, but a whole different animal. The nerves eventually grown back after an ablation. But the original problem that the ablation was for, don't always return. 

 

If you've tried everything, and nothing has worked so far, a nerve block might be something to consider. Physiatrists and Anesthesiologists are trained to do nerve blocks and nerve ablation procedures. With ON, the nerve is somehow inflamed. With benzos, we know the nerves misfire a lot. Something is messed up with the signaling. Silencing the signaling with a nerve block, then an ablation, might provide relief as the body continues to heal. Stop the nerves from registering pain.   

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11 hours ago, [[j...] said:

Yes I have this constantly. I get tightness and squeezing on my brain, head, neck, shoulders. It sort of feels like knives sometimes stabbing into my head. But also tightness and burning at other times. I recently also get nerve pain and burning in my feet and shins also. My physical symptoms have worsened. I am 31 months off. 42 months suffering total 

The brain does not feel pain because there are no pain receptors. Its coming from the outside of the brain beneath the skull. Mine is constant squeezing. pressure all muscle related. Tight band around the head pressure on the top feels like a ball on top at times. This is damage to the CNS caused by the neurotoxic drugs. They work on nerve cells in the brain disrupting its normal function. Have you tried acupuncture or massage?.

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4 hours ago, [[B...] said:

Not a long hauler, but still not fully recovered, just really close now. 8 months almost since jumping. But thought I could offer something to this discussion.

I has a history of occipital neuralgic (ON) years ago, with debilitating head pain. I was going to a pain management clinic. I was given nerve blocks. Every few months I would get a nerve block done. I would be relatively pain free, until the block wore off. The physiatrist I was seeing said I was a good candidate for a nerve ablation procedure. That if it worked, I could wean off my long term narcotic use. I had the ablation done, and was free of excruciating head pain after years off suffering it. I gradually weaned off my pain med. Was headache free until I began tapering off benzos. The head pain and squeezing/pressure feeling was similar to my experience with ON. I was using gel ice packs again, like I did with ON.  Fortunately, I rarely have this issue now. Headaches are short-lived and fleeting. If they didn't go way on their own, I'd be back at the clinic getting nerve blocks again. 

Has anyone with this being a persistent problem, ever tried to see if an occipital nerve block would help? Might result in relief lasting a few months. After you have three of these, and reported a successful outcome, do the doctors offer a full nerve ablation, which can last 2 or more years. Mine is going on almost 6 years. I thought it was failing when the benzo issues popped up. But I now see it wasn't a return of ON, but a whole different animal. The nerves eventually grown back after an ablation. But the original problem that the ablation was for, don't always return. 

If you've tried everything, and nothing has worked so far, a nerve block might be something to consider. Physiatrists and Anesthesiologists are trained to do nerve blocks and nerve ablation procedures. With ON, the nerve is somehow inflamed. With benzos, we know the nerves misfire a lot. Something is messed up with the signaling. Silencing the signaling with a nerve block, then an ablation, might provide relief as the body continues to heal. Stop the nerves from registering pain.   

I think a nerve block would be useful for nerve pain but possibly not for muscle tension. This is drug induced CNS problem. The pain points may help though.

[[Be...]]

3 hours ago, [[S...] said:

I think a nerve block would be useful for nerve pain but possibly not for muscle tension. This is drug induced CNS problem. The pain points may help though.

The only way to find out, is to have one done. Might work, might not. But it certainly wouldn't make things worse. My ON headaches were similar to the benzo w/d ones. Almost alike, the ON was more intense. I think the nerves are inflamed with benzo w/d. And that's what a nerve block does, treat the inflammation. Ablation just kills off the inflamed nerve endings.  

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It may cause harm because its injecting chemicals into the nerve. Acupuncture would be a safer option. All the acupuncturists i met have no experience in treating central pain. They just put needles wherever.

[[Be...]]

14 hours ago, [[S...] said:

It may cause harm because its injecting chemicals into the nerve. Acupuncture would be a safer option. All the acupuncturists i met have no experience in treating central pain. They just put needles wherever.

If you've had Novocain or other for dental work, or had a shot of cortisone for an inflamed joint, or took prednisone, cortisone' or dexamethasone; then you've had the same type of chemicals. Your body makes cortisol naturally. The dental ones are injected into a nerve. These are only done to test out if one is a candidate for an ablation. There's no chemicals for an ablation, that uses radio-frequency sound waves. 

I lived for many years with ON pain. The pain would get so bad, I plopped ice on my head and laid down. Nerve blocks gave temporary relief, the ablation ended up giving me long-term relief. I might, or might not, need a repeat in the future. If the w/d headaches lingered, I would definitely have done this again. I've yet to hear of anybody being harmed by the lidocaine and cortisol given in a nerve block. 

It's the old adage, you can lead a (very thirsty and dehydrated) horse to the water, but you can't make them drink it. 

[[mr...]]

Relatable

 

some days are worst than others for me, It literally feels like im going crossed eyed at times. I check the mirror to make sure its not my eyes going cross eyed.

I feel it more when i stand up too fast or bend over with my head facing down.

Its also starting to ruin my sexual life as The head pressure gets so bad during intercourse than i am unable to stay erect for too long.

All started happening after mixing benzos with alcohol. sometimes it the the top of my head sometimes the back of my head by my spine, it feels like my brain is misfiring.

My memory is fine because i can remember childhood events kind of. But anytime i do DEEP thinking my brain kind of just starts to cause me headaches and weird head sensations.

I got a few days of relief last week, but now its back full force. My medical bills are just pilling up at this point, I am not making this feeling up, I am not crazy, I def feel something going on with my head. No one understands though because they never done benzos

Just want my old life back. people say you heal but i feel like im getting progressively worst. 2 years since a benzo in feb 2024

running out of hope, I currently moved back in with my parents because its just too hard to deal with alone and working a job 40 hours a week with a never ending headache/ head pressure

Edited December 9, 2023 by [mr...]

[[jo...]]

On 08/12/2023 at 08:36, [[S...] said:

The brain does not feel pain because there are no pain receptors. It’s coming from the outside of the brain beneath the skull. Mine is constant squeezing. pressure all muscle related. Tight band around the head pressure on the top feels like a ball on top at times. This is damage to the CNS caused by the neurotoxic drugs. They work on nerve cells in the brain disrupting its normal function. Have you tried acupuncture or massage?.

Massage takes the edge off. Acupuncture doesn’t do much. I manage with heat and chiropractor. Sometimes migraine tablets if I’m desperate. 

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9 hours ago, [[j...] said:

Massage takes the edge off. Acupuncture doesn’t do much. I manage with heat and chiropractor. Sometimes migraine tablets if I’m desperate. 

Where is the location of your head muscle tension most concentrated?. Does the heat help? you put it in the back of your neck?.

[[jo...]]

Mine is all over. Back of neck, around my head, back of head, shoulders all over. I put the heat usually at the back of my head, or neck. Sometimes I sleep with it on the side of my head or forehead. It’s brutal.  

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Mine has reduced just a tad today a bit more tolerable from better sleeping habits sedative herbs and control of stress. though i still feel uncomfortable but not that torture of a few weeks i was having. I also use heat on my neck and back of my head and shoulders, Does it help you?

Edited December 12, 2023 by [Sc...]

[[Br...]]

 

scooby99, what has helped me effectively has been Lysine 500mg from the Sundown brand that I use for herpes zoster that has been attacking me and I noticed that it has greatly relieved my atm and neck headaches.. in another post here I researched Lsina because I was taking Aciclovir 200mg and it was making me more anxious.. and when I started supplementing with Lisina it calmed me down and naturally my neck and head muscles calmed down.. I tried it and it worked.. I really hope for your reports that This might bring some relief to you friend..

Hugs from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro to everyone on this forum who has helped me a lot. Sorry for my Google Translate English as that's what I use to read and post.. Here in Brazil there are many who use Rivotril and Aprazolam. I have a group on Facebook called Rivotril how to stop step by step, with almost 300 people and there I post the Asthon Manual and the Link for people to register in this wonderful forum.. I hope that one day there will be a Brazilian Portuguese translation for it.

God bless you all ..

 

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16 hours ago, [[B...] said:

scooby99, what has helped me effectively has been Lysine 500mg from the Sundown brand that I use for herpes zoster that has been attacking me and I noticed that it has greatly relieved my atm and neck headaches.. in another post here I researched Lsina because I was taking Aciclovir 200mg and it was making me more anxious.. and when I started supplementing with Lisina it calmed me down and naturally my neck and head muscles calmed down.. I tried it and it worked.. I really hope for your reports that This might bring some relief to you friend..

Hugs from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro to everyone on this forum who has helped me a lot. Sorry for my Google Translate English as that's what I use to read and post.. Here in Brazil there are many who use Rivotril and Aprazolam. I have a group on Facebook called Rivotril how to stop step by step, with almost 300 people and there I post the Asthon Manual and the Link for people to register in this wonderful forum.. I hope that one day there will be a Brazilian Portuguese translation for it.

God bless you all ..

Hello, thanks for your suggestion. I will do research into lysine and give it a try, i am familiar with it but have never tried it. Having a crushing head with muscle tension everyday all day is nothing but torture. I hope something can help. Obrigado.

[[Be...]]

I take Drs. Best Magnesium and it contains lysine and glycine.  Try a bit of that.