Is this as good as it's going to get?

I have had a "neck" headache for a year now. I began having debilitating headaches at this time last year. I would come home from work and collapse on the recliner for the evening with heat on my neck and ice on my forehead while the dishes and laundry piled up. I had sinus surgery last April, and was found completely unresponsive 3 days later. I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital and was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and spent several days in critical care. Since then, the neck and headache pain have been ever present. Some days it is tolerable, and other days it will be almost unbearable, sometimes for days at a time. I have had physical therapy with manual "tractioning" (not sure of clinical term). Everywhere my neck or shoulders are touched, it feels bruised inside. I have arthritis in the neck, bulging cervical disc, and pinched nerves. I am on amitriptyline, lyrica, muscle relaxer, and prescription NSAID and have been in physical therapy. Some days are better, I am back to (easy) yoga, and feeling more optimistic, but I am wondering how long this will go on. Will I always have this pain? At my last visit, I asked my spine doc, "So now what? I wait until I achieve a tolerable level or until it gets worse?" I was depressed when he said, "Yes, come back if it gets worse and we can do cortisone injection." I know from past experience that those don't work for me. He also does not believe the neck injury is causing the headaches, which is difficult for me to understand, since the onset was simultaneous and I never have one without the other. He feels it is a lingering result of the meningitis. He gave me 3 months of prescription, but clearly it is time for me to find a new spine doc. (My neurologist, thankfully, believes that, "...everything is connected,") as do I. The constant pain is just so wearing and draining. And no one wants to hear about it! Not even me! And yes, I know things can always be worse, but now what?

Post Edited (Foxglovely) : 2/2/2015 6:57:49 AM (GMT-7)

I have done chiropractic in the past, but not for my neck. Just as cortisone doesn't really work for me, neither has chiropractic, even though I have done it for extended periods a few times in my life for lower back pain, which I also never got any real help for, which took about 2 years each time to resolve to a tolerable level on its own. Based on this history, I am not interested in trying it since it takes so much time and money. Having said that, I still apply heat and do the stretching exercises given me in this last round of physical therapy in an effort to stretch and relax spasming neck muscles. Even so, the pain in my forehead is vice-like. It also feels like other nerve pain I have had before, hot. Yes, I agree everyone should stay away from processed food as much as possible, but with an 8 yr. old the occasional hot dog or cookie comes into my life. I do not have dairy allergy, but use mainly unsweetened almond milk for myself. On a positive note, it appears the sinus surgery was helpful. I have not had any sinus infections this season, which have plagued me every winter as long as I can remember. I should add that chiropractic help for plantar fasciitis was VERY helpful. I had to do the exercises at least once daily for about 2 years before it resolved. I was very happy to avoid surgery.