This post is for you to share your experiences of your headache journey; both the ups and the downs – your experience will help someone else.
Click on the post title to start describing your journey.
If you do not have time to complete in one post, label it Part I, Part II etc., and we can join them together when complete.
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Tags: compression headaches
I could not remember the last time I woke up without a headache, and I never had a day without a headache. Some days they were much worse than others, but they were always there. Since I have been Dr. Blake’s patient that has all changed and it has made such a difference in my quality of life. Sometimes people thought I was in a bad mood or looked unapproachable, but in reality I was just trying so hard to concentrate on what they were saying to me because my head hurt so bad. I was taking over the counter migraine medication every single day.
After seeing Dr. Blake, I began trigger point injections and Botox treatments. The treatments, combined with occasional medication, have made a drastic improvement on my life. I now wake up without a headache most days and that is a great feeling. I can enjoy conversations without needing to concentrate so hard on what was being said. Not only have I noticed the difference in me, but I have been amazed at how many people have noticed as well.
I am beyond thankful for finding Dr. Blake!
I have had migraines since I was 19yrs old, they first started small with seeing a neurologist who wrongfully diagnosed me with psuedo-tumor and kept having me get spinal taps because they though the reason was I had to much spinal fluid. After a year of that they finally gave up and sent me to Dr.Blake. She was able to finally help manage my headaches. She was able to help me control all them.
However, there was an issue that happened. My migraines progressively got worse as the years went by. They went from simple annoying migraines to debilitating ones where it was becoming hard to just live day by day. Every day was a struggle to find the drive to get up. My migraines were taking on stroke like symptoms where I lost the ability to talk, my face felt numb, couldn’t move one half of my body, I would constantly fall and the lights and sounds of everyday were making me a complete shut in. Doctor Blake did hang in with me through it all, every treatment worked…for a little while. I took the medications, the trigger point injections and botox, nothing worked.
Finally though, I was given the option of the nerve decompression surgery. It was my last chance to get any sort of my life back. It was nerve wrecking since they were going into my head to re-arrange my nerves. It was the best decision of my life. I am now 32 and about 2yrs post op and I have not had a single debilitating migraine like that before. It is safe to say that without Dr.Blake I have no idea where I would be now. They never gave up and I wanted to so bad sometimes. I barely have migraines now and I still cry every time I look at my surgery photos because those small nerves destroyed me for 10yrs.
Dr.Blake and her team helped me through so much and gave me my life back.
I have suffered from headaches since middle school. For many years, I tried to manage them with Excedrin, regular exercise, and proper rest. However, about five years ago, my headaches became a daily struggle, significantly affecting my quality of life.
I consulted two neurologists before finally meeting Dr. Blake. One of the previous specialists recommended Botox injections for my head, neck, and back. While this treatment provided some relief, for me it also caused significant discomfort at the injection sites and muscle pain.
Last year, I was fortunate to find Dr. Blake. She listened to me, and what had worked and not worked in the past. She thoroughly evaluated my condition and explained that my headaches were likely due to nerve compression in my neck. She started me on a combination of medication and targeted site injections. Since beginning this treatment, I have gone from experiencing debilitating headaches every day to only about three per month.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have found a physician with Dr. Blake’s expertise. Now in my late 40s, I can truly say that her treatment has enriched my life in ways I hadn’t felt in years. I am deeply grateful to her and her dedicated staff. I also have a much better understanding of my condition, and if I ever choose to undergo nerve decompression surgery, I trust that Dr. Blake will connect me with the right specialist. Knowing this gives me confidence that I can continue enjoying my life for many years to come.
My headache journey was long and frustrating until I found Dr. Blake…
During high school I started to slowly develop more and more headaches, until one day I woke up with one that never went away. My daily pain ranged from a 5-7 with two to three days a week with excruciating pain from migraines. These left me laying in bed for hours taking dose after dose of Tylenol unit the pain would slightly subside.
I saw many doctors who gave me little to no answers. They would tell me it was stress, that I needed to get glasses, or that I just needed to relax and this would fix itself.
After graduating, I pushed through to college where the weekly migraines continued. A friend had joined a nursing program, and during a clinical discussion on chronic headaches she let me know about Dr. Blake’s practice and that I should make an appoint.
I walked into Dr. Blake’s office ready to be told the same spiel and quickly learned she was taking my pain seriously. We had many discussions and exams and found that I had a pinched nerve at the base of my skull that was causing the pain. We started with medication treatments, that helped manage the pain but the issue persisted. Then we tried a few cycles of Botox treatments, which also helped but was more of a band aid than a fix. Then we started our discussion about the new Nerve Decompression Surgery. After meeting with the surgeon, I was excited at the thought I could get my life back and stop wasting it stuck in bed. The surgery was life changing and the best decision I could have ever made. After recovery my daily pain dropped with my migraines becoming less and less often as I recovered.
I am now 15 years post surgery and still think it was the best thing I could have ever asked for. I am still on a recovery path but I tend to only get a migraine once every couple months (when I haven’t taken care of myself) and I have been able to decrease my medications from around 3200mg to 200mg, as we work to get even lower.
I never grew up with headaches. Then, during the Houston freeze in February 2021, I literally woke up one morning with a blinding tension headache. It was debilitating, but at first I wasn’t overly concerned because I assumed it would go away. After five straight days of severe pain with no relief, I realized something wasn’t right.
I made my first appointment with a neurologist, was prescribed migraine medication, and had my first MRI. Little did I know this would turn into a very long and frustrating journey. My headache never left for a single day for years — only the severity would fluctuate.
I saw several neurologists in Houston, and unfortunately none of them were able to help. For nine months straight, I endured daily headaches that sat between a 6–9 on the pain scale. Medications did little, if anything, to alleviate the pain.
Eventually, I applied to and was accepted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. I flew there from Houston and stayed for three days, hoping for answers. Instead, I was misdiagnosed with New Daily Persistent Headache (NDPH), which I later learned is often considered a hopeless and largely untreatable condition. They suggested Botox, but otherwise told me there wasn’t much that could be done to treat or overcome it. I left feeling defeated.
After doing my own research and receiving another Neurologist’s recommendation, I made an appointment with Dr. Pamela Blake at Headache Center of River Oaks.
That decision changed everything.
From the moment I walked into their office, the experience was different. The staff was attentive, compassionate, and genuinely invested in helping me. Dr. Blake treats the whole person, not just the headache. She started me on a nerve medication that, for the first time, actually began to provide relief.
She also explained something no one else had ever fully addressed — that my occipital nerves were likely being compressed or restrained by the muscles in my head and neck. She looked at my headaches through a broader lens, considering stress, muscle tension, and long-term patterns instead of just throwing medications at the pain.
We discussed how the stress of the freeze was likely the final straw — the moment when years of accumulated stress caused my muscles to clamp down and trigger a headache that simply wouldn’t stop. I had been carrying habitual stress from family and life issues for years without realizing the toll it was taking on my body.
Dr. Blake encouraged me to address those factors through counseling, explaining that doing so would also make any surgical intervention more successful if it became necessary. I deeply appreciated that approach — it made me feel seen, heard, and hopeful for the first time in a very long while.
If you’re struggling with chronic headaches and feel like you’ve hit a dead end, I just want you to know that answers can exist — even after years of pain and misdiagnosis. Don’t stop advocating for yourself, and don’t be afraid to look beyond conventional approaches. Sometimes the right doctor truly can make all the differenceThis journey lasted four long years. Four years of daily pain, searching for answers, and trying to survive each day for my kids while feeling like I was barely holding on. Finally, in January 2025, I underwent Occipital Nerve Decompression Surgery.
It was the best decision I have ever made.
Today, most days I am 100% pain free. I can think clearly. I can be present. I can be the mother I want to be again. I feel joy, gratitude, and relief in ways I honestly feared I might never experience again.
I share this part of my story because I know how dark and isolating this journey can be. If you’re reading this and you’re still in the middle of it, please know that there can be hope — even after years of suffering. This surgery gave me my life back, and I will always be grateful for that. I have been able to get off all of my medication that I take daily.
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