Every night I'm apprehensive about going to sleep, in fact I'm quite a night owl these days because I put it off as late as I can.
If I sleep a certain way I wake up with a stiff painful neck and a headache and high temperature. It only goes once I've found the correct way to manipulate the area, which could be my neck, where my neck meets my shoulder, or my upper back (because sometimes a sit-up posture will free something in my upper back and I start to feel better). I had a disc problem in my neck which was fixed by an osteopath, but ever since I feel like my entire neck and upper back area is unstable. It clicks all day, and once it's clicked in the wrong way it can be three days of muscle tension and headaches before I can free it.
I don't even feel comfortable lying down to sleep anymore, I can feel tension building up straight away. My best bet is to lie with my head hanging back off the top of my pillows so it's tilted.
Last night I went to bed with my right shoulder stiff, the muscles felt like rocks. I was too uncomfortable to sleep. It was light outside by the time I managed to solve the problem, and I'd tried all sorts, even hanging my head off the bed until it nearly touched the floor (that works sometimes). I just circled my shoulder back at the right time (I could have done it dozens of times before, it won't release until it's ready) and I heard 2 or 3 light clicks, then I could feel the tension leaving my shoulder and I could go to sleep.
I woke up today with some neck stiffness but my shoulder is okay, and no headache.
I'm so tired of dealing with this. My GP seems to think it's just something you have to put up with once you are into your late thirties, he didn't even examine my neck. I worry that there could be something more sinister, like a tumour, but he won't refer me for an x ray.
Does anyone know what my problem is called, is there a name for it? I do have an underactive thyroid, I don't know if there could be a connection with that? If anyone can give me any advice on this I would be very grateful.