Aa
Lost it on the kitchen floor
I posted this on another forum a while back and TM was mentioned to me. I have read a little into it but see more of the sharp pains that are shooting and dont last as long or quite the same as mine. Any input would be great. going to see my PCP soon and will talk to her about all this
.............The head pain came to a peak Saturday evening. I had been battling increasing head pain for days mainly on my R side above my eye and behind it. All of a sudden I started having excruciating pain from my L eye to my ear.
It was piercing and mind boggling pain that had me rolling back and forth on the couch.
I tried to get up and get a drink and it was all i could do to walk to the kitchen. I grabbed the handle of the fridge and then down to the floor I went. my hubby came over to swoop n me up and help me back to the couch and I could barley walk because of the pain.
It was coming in sorta waves, and I had to stop 3 times on the way while he held me up.
The tears started. He wanted to take me to the ER but I have been down that road. They say I have some crazy type of migraine,give me morphine, and then send me home because I am still in pain and they dont know what else to do!
I have had an increase in sx since the 17th of last month. I normally have headaches almost 24/7 and my pain tolerance is pretty high. I have had extreme head pain before but this was by far the worst.
.............The head pain came to a peak Saturday evening. I had been battling increasing head pain for days mainly on my R side above my eye and behind it. All of a sudden I started having excruciating pain from my L eye to my ear.
It was piercing and mind boggling pain that had me rolling back and forth on the couch.
I tried to get up and get a drink and it was all i could do to walk to the kitchen. I grabbed the handle of the fridge and then down to the floor I went. my hubby came over to swoop n me up and help me back to the couch and I could barley walk because of the pain.
It was coming in sorta waves, and I had to stop 3 times on the way while he held me up.
The tears started. He wanted to take me to the ER but I have been down that road. They say I have some crazy type of migraine,give me morphine, and then send me home because I am still in pain and they dont know what else to do!
I have had an increase in sx since the 17th of last month. I normally have headaches almost 24/7 and my pain tolerance is pretty high. I have had extreme head pain before but this was by far the worst.
So sorry to hear you are dealing with this pain.
Trigeminal Neuralgia is a diagnosis of ruling everything else out -- usually based upon the patient's own description of symptoms. So my first suggestion is to keep a pain journal -- writing down what type of pain ("electric", shooting, burning, aching, etc); where the pain occurs, how long it lasts, intensity (on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst), frequency, anything that appears to be "triggering" the pain. This will all help the doctors diagnose you.
The Trigeminal Nerve has three branches -- one of which is in the forehead area -- and can cause pain near the eyes. If you Google Gray's Anatomy -- there is an online version of the book and you can search Trigeminal Nerve -- they have great drawings of where the nerve is and all the little branches throughout the face.
Since you say you have a history of headaches/migraines -- it might not be TN. Could be cluster headaches or something else entirely.
The doctor will probably want to run tests. Usually a brain MRI is done to rule out tumors or MS. My internist also ran blood tests for every disease under the sun.
Be aware that TN is considered a rare disease and a lot of doctors, including neurologists, don't have much experience with it. I went through 5 doctors before I found #6 - a Facial Pain specialist that helped me. Facial Pain specialists are usually found at a large teaching hospital -- and are very knowledgeable about all types of facial pain and its causes.
TN is also very often mistaken for other things -- mine started as a "phantom" toothache -- toothaches that my dentist could never find any reason for. Lots of people have reported having massive dental work done before finding out it was TN causing the pain and not really any dental problem. (The TN nerve runs across the forehead, across the cheek, and near the jaws).
Hope you find a solution to your pain very soon! Stop back and let us know what happens and what it turns out to be. Your story could help someone else.
Take care!
Nancy
Trigeminal Neuralgia is a diagnosis of ruling everything else out -- usually based upon the patient's own description of symptoms. So my first suggestion is to keep a pain journal -- writing down what type of pain ("electric", shooting, burning, aching, etc); where the pain occurs, how long it lasts, intensity (on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst), frequency, anything that appears to be "triggering" the pain. This will all help the doctors diagnose you.
The Trigeminal Nerve has three branches -- one of which is in the forehead area -- and can cause pain near the eyes. If you Google Gray's Anatomy -- there is an online version of the book and you can search Trigeminal Nerve -- they have great drawings of where the nerve is and all the little branches throughout the face.
Since you say you have a history of headaches/migraines -- it might not be TN. Could be cluster headaches or something else entirely.
The doctor will probably want to run tests. Usually a brain MRI is done to rule out tumors or MS. My internist also ran blood tests for every disease under the sun.
Be aware that TN is considered a rare disease and a lot of doctors, including neurologists, don't have much experience with it. I went through 5 doctors before I found #6 - a Facial Pain specialist that helped me. Facial Pain specialists are usually found at a large teaching hospital -- and are very knowledgeable about all types of facial pain and its causes.
TN is also very often mistaken for other things -- mine started as a "phantom" toothache -- toothaches that my dentist could never find any reason for. Lots of people have reported having massive dental work done before finding out it was TN causing the pain and not really any dental problem. (The TN nerve runs across the forehead, across the cheek, and near the jaws).
Hope you find a solution to your pain very soon! Stop back and let us know what happens and what it turns out to be. Your story could help someone else.
Take care!
Nancy
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