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Could Ms be the cause of my TN?
Hello everyone I was recently just diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia. After going through several doctors and them telling me I just had severe migraines. The doctor told me that Ms in people in my age is normally the cause of TN. I just want to see if anyone has experienced this. I have all the cognitive issues of ms and I have since child hood. I have a appointment next week with the neurologist. I'm just scared and I want to know I'm not alone thanks everyone. By the way I'm 28 years I forgot to put that in there.
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Hi and welcome,
Bilateral TN is less common than unilateral TN but statistically bilateral is more common in people with MS, TN is typically unilateral and more common once people are 50+ , but still being in your 20's and unilateral wouldn't automatically put MS on the top of your list of possible explanations, MS is definitely not the 'only' explanation. If your doctor is specifically saying there was abnormalities 'in your ears', that wouldn't typically be MS nerve damage, as its more in line with an inner ear infection or inflammation which can also cause TN symptoms, i think there is a possibility that this could actually be a one off situation if it is due to your inner ears....
"TN diagnosis is based primarily on the person’s history and description of symptoms, along with results from physical and neurological examinations. Other disorders that cause facial pain should be ruled out before TN is diagnosed. Some disorders that cause facial pain include post-herpetic neuralgia (nerve pain following an outbreak of shingles), cluster headaches, and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ, which causes pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and muscles that control jaw movement).
Because of overlapping symptoms and the large number of conditions that can cause facial pain, obtaining a correct diagnosis is difficult, but finding the cause of the pain is important as the treatments for different types of pain may differ. "
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/trigeminal_neuralgia/detail_trigeminal_neuralgia.htm
I've been dealing with episodes of bilateral TN or TMJ (dx changed multiple times depending on Dr i saw) since my mid 20's, never had a headache with it and my inner ears were always fine though the pain runs from under the earlobe along my lower jaw line. Cold air or wind now seems to be my main triggers, use to be talking too much but I'm not the talk-a-holic i once was lol so all i can think of now is when the weather gets cooler and air blows on my face, not a sure thing though, sometimes i haven't a clue what's set it off. My mum experienced TN after a dental appointment in her late 60's, she called to apologize because she had absolutely no idea just how painful it was, until she'd actually experienced it for her self, it can be really really bad or not so bad cause it doesn't last long and unfortunately there is no way of knowing...
keep you head up, try not to worry to much about MS, cause it honestly might not have anything to do with MS and it's something to do with your inner ears, i'll keep my fingers and toes crossed that they work out what's causing it soon!
Hope that helps...JJ
Bilateral TN is less common than unilateral TN but statistically bilateral is more common in people with MS, TN is typically unilateral and more common once people are 50+ , but still being in your 20's and unilateral wouldn't automatically put MS on the top of your list of possible explanations, MS is definitely not the 'only' explanation. If your doctor is specifically saying there was abnormalities 'in your ears', that wouldn't typically be MS nerve damage, as its more in line with an inner ear infection or inflammation which can also cause TN symptoms, i think there is a possibility that this could actually be a one off situation if it is due to your inner ears....
"TN diagnosis is based primarily on the person’s history and description of symptoms, along with results from physical and neurological examinations. Other disorders that cause facial pain should be ruled out before TN is diagnosed. Some disorders that cause facial pain include post-herpetic neuralgia (nerve pain following an outbreak of shingles), cluster headaches, and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ, which causes pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and muscles that control jaw movement).
Because of overlapping symptoms and the large number of conditions that can cause facial pain, obtaining a correct diagnosis is difficult, but finding the cause of the pain is important as the treatments for different types of pain may differ. "
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/trigeminal_neuralgia/detail_trigeminal_neuralgia.htm
I've been dealing with episodes of bilateral TN or TMJ (dx changed multiple times depending on Dr i saw) since my mid 20's, never had a headache with it and my inner ears were always fine though the pain runs from under the earlobe along my lower jaw line. Cold air or wind now seems to be my main triggers, use to be talking too much but I'm not the talk-a-holic i once was lol so all i can think of now is when the weather gets cooler and air blows on my face, not a sure thing though, sometimes i haven't a clue what's set it off. My mum experienced TN after a dental appointment in her late 60's, she called to apologize because she had absolutely no idea just how painful it was, until she'd actually experienced it for her self, it can be really really bad or not so bad cause it doesn't last long and unfortunately there is no way of knowing...
keep you head up, try not to worry to much about MS, cause it honestly might not have anything to do with MS and it's something to do with your inner ears, i'll keep my fingers and toes crossed that they work out what's causing it soon!
Hope that helps...JJ
The medicine that is very diagnostic of TN if it works is not gabapentin but Tegretol (carbamapezine). I didn't find that gaba did a great job at all. I didn't see my neurologist until months after the Tn had ended; he was very disappointed that I hadn't been given Tegretol as he said success with that would have identified it clearly as TN.
Funny though .. I didn't have a headache at all. Just the 30 second - 2 minute lightning bolts in the face ... awful. Triggered by car heater, rinsing teeth after brushing, touching my lower jaw, eating, etc.
Im glad you are gettings some relief :).
Funny though .. I didn't have a headache at all. Just the 30 second - 2 minute lightning bolts in the face ... awful. Triggered by car heater, rinsing teeth after brushing, touching my lower jaw, eating, etc.
Im glad you are gettings some relief :).
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It is the same for me I'm scared to brush my teeth and to have anything touch my face. I'm still getting pain in my jaw and ear but my head pain is gone. The doctor said there was abnormalities in my ears whatever that is lol.
I'm SO SORRY. I had trigeminal neuralgia for 6 weeks and for me, it was the presenting relapse for an eventual diagnosis of MS. However it also stands alone.
Have you had an MRI to check to see if there is an artery pressing on the nerve? my first MRI was done for this reason, however lesions suggestive of demyelination showed up instead.
TN is horrendous and I'm So sorry you are saddled with it.
Keep us posted. You will have more of an idea of whether ms is in the picture after the MRI. Honestly though ... Not sure the doctor should have handled it the way he did ... Especially because it is not uncommon outside of multiple sclerosis.
(((Hugs)))
Have you had an MRI to check to see if there is an artery pressing on the nerve? my first MRI was done for this reason, however lesions suggestive of demyelination showed up instead.
TN is horrendous and I'm So sorry you are saddled with it.
Keep us posted. You will have more of an idea of whether ms is in the picture after the MRI. Honestly though ... Not sure the doctor should have handled it the way he did ... Especially because it is not uncommon outside of multiple sclerosis.
(((Hugs)))
1 Comments
Yeah he was the only doctor who actually did a full workup on me. The neurologist will be doing a MRI on me and possibly other tests as well. They did a cat scan to check for abnormalities but there was none. I am currently taking gabopentin and Prednisone and happy to say for the first time in 2 months no headache. You won't believe how much this affected me before I couldn't do school work because my computer screen would hurt my head and then stabbing pains would go into my jaw so I couldn't eat. It was great being able to eat again. I looked online and it says if this medicine stops the pain it a sure thing you have TN. The pain in my head was right above my ear on the left side. Thank you so much for your concern it means a lot :). I will keep you posted.
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