trigeminal neuralgia

[ingel]

Has anyone found any pain medication helpful with this condition?
I can remain fairly free of pain if I don't talk, chew, touch my face, brush my teeth, sneeze etc. but obviously this cannot go on indefinitely.
I am waiting for a neurology appointment but in the meantime if anyone has found anything helpful.

[ingel]

Hi Nancy, thanks for that information which is pretty scary I must say. I have only had this again since Easter and it's driving me nuts.
I had a great pain free day yesterday but today it's back. I am involved with a teaching hospital but my family doctor was the only one who listened to me and gave me something for the pain.
Did your surgery involve overnight stay at the hospital? Surgery would be my last resort because I cannot leave my husband alone.
I don't see the neurologist till June so hopefully doubling the dose of meds which I am supposed to do tomorrow will help.

[nancy99n]

I've have had TN since Dec 17th.  My internist put me on gabapentin which did not help the pain.  My neurologist put me on Tegretol, which did not help the pain.  My pain specialist put me on Trileptol, which after slowly increasing the dosage finally controlled the pain.  April 22nd I had gamma knife surgery.  The pain specialist said it'll be 3 months before we know if it worked.  There are five surgery options.  Your doctor will have to figure out which surgery would be best for your situation.  Find out from your neurologist how many patients with TN he/she treats in a year.  

My suggestion is to find a teaching hospital in the nearest large city that has a "facial pain center" or "pain center".  These docs specialize in TN and other facial pain diseases.  I drive 1 hour and 45 minutes one way, but it was worth it because I found a TN expert that has been very helpful and stopped the pain.

[ingel]

My doctor put me on carbamazapine and I took the first dose last night. This morning I was able to talk and eat some breakfast. What a relief and to think I suffered for several weeks with this.  

[ingel]

Thanks for your suggestion. I am seeing my family doctor tomorrow and will ask her to prescribe something till I'm seen in neurology.
I did get put on neurontin the first time I went to emerg. but the doctor who followed up said it's a drug with bad side effects and has to be gradually increased and he didn't renew the prescription. He sent me for CT and MRI neither of which found a cause.
I was painfree for 8 months and now it's back with a vengeance.
This really is a miserable problem. It is hard to do anything when one is having an attack.

[linville]

try neurontin. helped me. other types of drugs in this class also can help. really a miserable problem though. how many times have you ended up in the er?