Suffering from Trigeminal neuralgia

[sarahc55]

I am 21 years old and yesterday I was diagnosed with Trigeminal neuralgia.  I am concerned and confused as to if this is acutally my condition.   Some of the symptoms do not add up.   About a year ago the facial pain started only on the left side of my face.  Nothing triggered it,  eating, brushing my teeth, ect ect..  was never a problem and still is not a problem.  The pain only comes at night,  it is very severe,  stabbing, sometimes it feels very cold and hot, burning,  and aching.   It is not the same pain as a headache or a migraine.   It lasts anywhere from half an hour to 2 hours.  Usually it is there until I fall asleep.  It feels as if it is affecting every area on the left side of my face.. the most intense pain is in the temple, the eye, my upper teeth and gums, and in my nose.  I would have these episodes of pain ususally every 2nd day for about 2 months, until they finally went away.   Now one year later they are back.  The attacks come ever 2nd night..  usually around 12:30 am - 2:00 am  and they are lasting from half an hour to 2 hours.  Falling asleep is my only escape.    The symptoms are the same as the attacks one year ago,  except this time I sweat,  and have a little trouble breathing.   I beleive that the sweating and breathing might have to do with the way I handle the pain when it comes about..  I get very worked up when they are coming and very afraid.  My doctor prescribed me Tegretol,  starting off with 200mg per day... it is my second day taking them..  and i am awaiting to see if they work.   I am afraid though that I do not have TN.  I have been researching  Atypical TN and Cluster Headaches and my symptoms seem to fit with those better.  I should also note that the very first time i started getting these facial pain attacks,  my first doctor thought it was migraines and prescribed me Sumatriptan.   And the sumatriptan did take the pain away.  And I have learned that sumatriptan helps with cluster headaches.  Is there any other trigeminal neuralgia sufferers out there,  who suffer the same symptoms as I do?   Help me please I am very confused about this condition!!!
Sarah.

[Darcey14]

I'm going to the doctors today to see what they say about my neck, head and back pains it's like very severe nerve pain but only at nights and I'm struggling to sleep.