[yorkietalkjilly]

The numbness doesn't have to be concurrent with the pain to still be from your neck. But with that history you gave of how you slept, a killer headache, neck pain and occasional numbness in your hands in the past, it is very indicative of a cervical pathology of one type or the other, this time probably aggravated by that sleeping position. I often get numb hands when I am on the computer a long time and have sat with my neck in the same forward position for a prolonged periods of time. That can overwork the muscles holding my neck in that position, they start to spasm and squeeze on the nerves, who send little paresthesias and/or numbness along the course of the nerve to my hands, the left worse, right not so much. My neck feels tired but it hardly ever hurts at these times. I do have arthritic changes in my neck by x-ray but all I ever get from it usually are two or three severe yearly headaches that start in the base of the skull and over the top to the forehead accompanied by nausea and the hand numbness and tingling and weird sensations in it. I stay off the computer, take some relaxant and a pill called Esgic Plus that I keep just for these headaches, don't put my head back and use the moist heat 2 - 3 times a day when I can. Last fall, I had to go to the ER with one of the headaches, it was just so bad and I was out of the Esgic stuff. The headache usually lasts me 2 -3 days but with that Rx and the 1/2 of a diazepam, it usually knocks it right out. But I had nothing that night so went to the ER and they gave me a shot so powerful it had to have a nausea injection administered first. Stopped the headache almost completely in about 3 hours and finally I could drive home, an almost headacheless woman. It finally went completely away in another few hours.

But getting on that headache at the start seems to be key for me. If I don't get on it right away, it just spreads all over and my left hand just goes dead feeling. Sometimes my neck will crack a little when I move it during these times but it doesn't hurt. Maybe a bit radiating shoulder pain but it's that headache that puts me down for the count without that combination of medicine. That stuff works magic on it. So if I feel that terrible headache starting - and it is unlike any other and it is severe, unremitting, tight - I get my medicine and take it. I hope you can find something that works for you and has some caffeine in it as that Esgic Plus does and with a out-and-out relaxer, it sure can help. Caffeine works wonders on my headaches. I can only take 1/2 of that pain pill as it is so strong but it does the job. I'm usually very careful to never run out of it in case I get one of those horrible headaches. I would say it is almost migraine-like but I don't get an aura or anything, just that awful, hard and constant pain.