Tongue numb/burning

[Miktek]

Have lingual nerve damage and right side of tongue is numb, burning/tingling...day 13 here...got given Tergretol today. Dentist said could help with burning but have to get levels right, have blood test, keep going in to be monitored re: levels and it has some nasty side effects,,,suicidal ideation and being sleepy which is out of the question with me at work. I don't sleep we'll but will get sleep tabs if need be over these side effects. So is it worth it taking this ? Anyone got experience with this drugs ?

[Miktek]

Day 22 - still the same hell. Got anti depressants which I am now trying. Take a week supposably till I feel the benefits. Very little, if any pain relief for tongue, mentally exchusted at the moment. Stressed, tired, obsessive about the pain and fear so it is time to take something to help, Its been 3 weeks. Most people I speak too for the first two months see no real signs of improvement and say it is hell, so early days, very tough though. I'm just going to not talk much today and rest. Have work for 5 days next week, going to be hell but maybe also a good distraction than just being at home.

[Miktek]

So my tongue still burns, some of my bottom teeth are hurting. Mainly one on the right. Still not sure if that's from clenching and I still feel swelling on the right side cheek, just above the jaw, squishy. Lip on the right is starting to tingle mainly when I rub it and then my tongue tingles. The lips and jaw are not numb. My ears still feel blocked at times. So far no migranes or ear aches. Finding it hard to chew on the right but food just burns my tongue anyway. Left side of tongue is fine so I can taste but it's all a duller sensation. Working with this condition is tough but I'm shift work. Big test is next week, working 5 days in a row at call centre. I need to get a plan in place with managing this pain. I'm normally best at the moment for the first two hours after getting up. Feel the burn more as time goes on then I'm awake.  I can get the burn down to bout 3 if I relax completely but it takes effort. When I talk my tongue after can literally feel like there are razor blades in it but as long as I stop talking for 5 minutes I can get the burn down to a 3 to 5 and it will continue falling when I'm luckily to a 3. I know there is no quick fix. I brought some frolic acid and super supplement dietary tabs, mega b. Have no idea if there scams or false promises. My true believe is there is no cure only mangerment of it till time does it thing. I think feeling good and being healthy is the key. Managing levels of pain constantly is draining. I am still dealing with this being forever and the impact this will have on my life from here. People have lost jobs, careers, family, their lives. The Tergretol has stopped working for me. I am now on 200mg. I will not increase it and it's not the bliss it was those first two nights. I have been given Lycra. Am researching that now. More horrid side effects but for some it worked. I have found no way to get pain relief when talking or eating to even stop my tongue for reaching pain of 10. Only relaxing takes the burn down. I have read the more accessible sites and blogs on the net to get information and start to deal with all this. It's a mixture of hope and sadness. A lot of blog entries seem to end and you think did they recover or just get fed up with the pain and move one. Some are horror stories with people suffering for years. I get confused if bruised lingual nerves do get better at all sometimes and will then read the veterans who say though they still have damage the pain has receded and they have good days and bad suggesting improvement.3 days of work now so will keep distracted, rest, watching movies and video games helps me lose myself on all this for a while. Unfortunately this condition does make u anti-social but my partner and I have always been a bit like hermits anyway, no huge social life before. I keep telling her that I'm feeling good and the tongue is manageable. I only vent here. I can talk to her about it, we makes jokes about it and she is great but she doesn't get it and it's important for me to have some good quality of life while I got the fight and hope in me. I haven,t really told her that the injury is quite serious. We just discuss that it will heal and it's all good..conversation ended. I'm am sure she too is scared though. I am very appreciative of her and we are having some good quality time which regardless of the burning I truly enjoy. If this goes on for years it may test the relationship, so I am just enjoying the here and now. I'm going to garden tomorrow. I'm exercising again. Just abs and push ups. May go for a run soon. It's seems 85 percent do recover, I get this from my research and it is not an official stat, regardless, 1 month, 2 month, years, it's a life changer physically and mentally and I'm only 3 weeks, the veterans must be thinking whiner but hope and fight is all I got. I wish there was more support for this. I am thinking of seeing a psychologist but maybe around the 3 month mark when I past that first hurdle. At the moment laying here at 3.30 am my tongue burn is at a 3. Sorry for the long rant to whom ever reads but I don't have any other outlet at the moment. Will keep updating. On to week 4.

[Miktek]

Dark day today. It's funny how the mindset kicks in and can make these damn nerves just bearable one moment but then razors on the tongue for hours. We'll I have hit a brick, I can't really talk to family and friends about this. They are kind, they listen but they don,t get it or as with my poor partner, just starts to stress them out and that hurts me more. I am learning just to say it's getting better and pretend. I don't blame them. If I didn't have it I wouldn't understand either. I have nothing now but the net so for now just writing in this little post is all got.It's 4 am, I start work at 2pm. Working shifts as I don't sleep well at the moment. Will take a sleeping tab once this is written and sleep till 1. Already taken tergretol. So has become my life. Talking and eating flaring my right side tongue. I feel tingles when I brush my right jaw line with my finger on the tongue and just above the jaw lines feels mushy, it still feels swollen around the nerve. My jaw on that side and a tooth hurt a little but I'm clenching down on my jaw more than normal and raising my tongue into the roof of my mouth for some comfort - I hear this is common. My ears sometimes get blocked, feel like they have to pop but no real pain besides that burning in the tongue. At night when I'm laying the burning sort of goes to a freezing cold feeling and I get a lot my tingles-shocks when I'm laying. Teeth feel like little razors on my tongue when I lay.  Yeah lots of hellish mouth sensations. I am obsessed with this damage and am researching every night. Reading the horror stories. I feel I should at times just get on with and give it 3 months which I have heard is the time that if it is going to get better it will improve. But I'm not ready today. I still need to read and write about it so I don't overburden everyone in my real life with my fears. At nearly 3 weeks I can't say this is the worst thing that will ever happen to me but a year, yearS, maybe forever ? I'm so tired of it and it's only 3 weeks. Was a dark day today..hoping for a better one tomorrow.

[Miktek]

Day 18...basically 2 and half weeks since my lingual nerve was bruised...still burning, tingling and numb...Doctors, dentists etc all seem to have limited knowledge or just don,t know, all saying it takes time. I have noticed small improvements, I am numb but feel my nail on the tongue, pressure of teeth, the feel of a toothpick, just not the actual prick..Eating, talking flares the burn and worrying..anxiety...does the same..Wake up everyday hoping for improvement but always disappointed...I know only a few get this forever but I read so little success stories online...but I guess those that heal tend to drift of and not update. It's all just statistical at the moment...I have given myself 3 months and see where I am at then...taking vitamin b and 100 mg Tergretol at night to help sleep...I will be so glad when the burning goes or just get a good sign it's getting better... Writing this I am at about a 3 to 4 level of burn and today got to a 6 to 8 ...when talking and eating...I'm dealing with it but the constant uncomfortabilty of it is always there....if my dentist had said u can risk constant pain for god knows how long I would not have bothered...funny thing is they wanted me to have them out 2 years ago and I cancelled but this time I thought about it but went ahead...I didn't need to have mine out so I feel so angry sometimes I did this.  One last thing, I read and was told by docs, dentist etc that early burning and tingling means the nerve will heal....is this true as some stories I read on line people say they have permenantly .Would also love to hear some good stories too...did anyone heal .

[scottma]

Vitamin b1, b6, b12, folic acid, and omega 3 fatty acid  supplement may help nerve healing. Amitriptyline, gabapentin, minocycline are medication for nerve healing.