Facial Pain

[duckling]

I am a 27 yar old female who has been suffering from severe pain on the left side of my face for almost a year. It has become so bad that i have had to drop out of school and very rarley go anywhere. My family Dr. refered me to a neurologist who had a MRI/MRA done.  It was found that i have a mass of overgrowth of bone pushing against my trigeminal nerve.  the neurologist has perscribe tegretol which my body is not handling to well and told me me that he has never seen this before and really does not know what to do for me.  What can i do i feel like i am being left alone to suffer with this.  I dont even have a name for it to look it up and find a Dr, who will help.. Please steer me in the right direction.

[Caliber2005]

Hi duckling,
How are you feeling now?
How is your pain? What I feel you are suffering from is trigeminal neuralgia, in which pain is distributed along the course of nerve on face.  The Pain which is severe in nature, stabbing type, lasting for few seconds to minute and which has a triggering factor to it describes pain of trigeminal neuralgia. Physical examination of the patient is normal. Most patients cause is compression due to overgrowth like some tumor in its pathway.
Comprehensive pain management care is helpful.
Carbamazepine is drug of choice, but along with Baclofen it serves good result for episodic pain. There are other newer anti-convulsants like toprimate which could be tried, but it depends on neurologist comfort with the drug.
Hope this helps.
Bye.

[jcverive]

If an overgrowth of bone is pushing on your trigeminal nerve, trigeminal neuralgia would not be unlikely, especially if Tegretol (a sodium channel blocker) relieves much of the pain. A neurosurgeon might be able to help, though drug treatment is probably less risky.

If your system is not handling the Tegretol well, you might want to ask to be switched to Trileptal (which is Tegretol's active metabolite).  Otherwise, you could try Lyrica (a calcium channel blocker), any of the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), neurotransmitter blockers (like Keppra and other anti-seizure drugs), etc. Your neurologist ought to be able to try any one (or combination) of such medications. Be patient, as it may take a while to find the particular drug or drugs, dosage, and dosing schedule that works for you.

I wish you the very best. Neuralgia is a cruel disease (or dis-"ease") ; I know, because I've been fighting my own battle with occipital neuralgia for 30 years, and only in the past 6 months have my doctors and I found a drug regimen that works fairly well - after more failed surgical "interventions" than I care to count right now.

[sonu78]

Hi,
How are you feeling now.
You sound to be suffering from trigeminal neuralgia.
MRI findings indicate an overgrowth of bone  that is compressing your trigeminal nerve.
Currently you are on medications.
There are quite a lot of medications available for neuralgic pain. In your case, there is an compressive element.
Have an consultation with neurosurgeon.
probably surgical intervention could also be suggested.

[duckling]

The neuarologist originally thought it was atypical trigeminal neuralgia because this pain lasts for several hours and gets so bad i just want to call it quits.  I feel like he has just left me though because he said he had never seen anything like it before. I had a normal scan in April of this year there was nothing there and now there is.  I am being seen at one of the best hospital in TN and am ready to go to other states. My husband is being deployed in February i need my head fixed. I feel like he is just leaving me be!

[Caliber2005]

Hi,
I feel along with changing of your drug regimen, you should consult a neurosurgeon ASAP, to get a better understanding of the situation and getting more treatment options for the same condition.
I hope best for you.
Bye.

[sonu78]

Hi,
Kindly have an neurosurgical opinion as suggested in my previous posts.
Probably surgeon's eye may have a different outlook.

[JOEY54]

DID THEY DO A  BONE  SCAN [NUCLEAR MEDICINE)?