View Full Version : Questions about trigeminal neuralgia.
Have any of you guys ever encountered any cases of Trigeminal Neuralgia? It's like having a migrane but your arteries in your head wear the sheath off of the nerves in your head. They had me on methadone and percocet for 4 years but I quit cold turkey 6 months ago. They didn't touch it anyway :(
I guess my question is there anything I can due to ease pain without narcs?
And is Trigeminal something that would keep me out of the army? I have checked all the sites I can find but cannot see this on any list.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
M
Have you been truly Dx with this?
If you have been on methadone and percocet already and just quit my next question would be have you been seen by a pain specialist and neurologist now or in the past regarding pain control?
http://www.tna-support.org/
"TN (Trigeminal Neuralgia / tic douloureux) is a disorder of the fifth cranial (trigeminal) nerve that causes episodes of intense, stabbing, electric shock-like pain in the areas of the face where the branches of the nerve are distributed - lips, eyes, nose, scalp, forehead, upper jaw, and lower jaw. By many, it's called the "suicide disease". A less common form of the disorder called "Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia" may cause less intense, constant, dull burning or aching pain, sometimes with occasional electric shock-like stabs. Both forms of the disorder most often affect one side of the face, but some patients experience pain at different times on both sides. Onset of symptoms occurs most often after age 50, but cases are known in children and even infants. Something as simple and routine as brushing the teeth, putting on makeup or even a slight breeze can trigger an attack, resulting in sheer agony for the individual. Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is not fatal, but it is universally considered to be the most painful affliction known to medical practice. Initial treatment of TN is usually by means of anti-convulsant drugs, such as Tegretol or Neurontin. Some anti-depressant drugs also have significant pain relieving effects. Should medication be ineffective or if it produces undesirable side effects, neurosurgical procedures are available to relieve pressure on the nerve or to reduce nerve sensitivity. Some patients report having reduced or relieved pain by means of alternative medical therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractic adjustment, self-hypnosis or meditation".
Service in the military requires a fairly rigorous health screening to include past medical hx. Service in SF requires a Chapter 2 physical (QP please correct me if I am mistaken). A condition such as this would probably preclude one from military service but only cofirmation by the MEPS MDs could verify this-
First off thank you.
Yes I have been diagnosed with this by two doctors. One runs a pain management clinic in the hospital, and the other is a nuerologist in St. Louis, but the problem with that is that two docotors with equal credentials have said that I don't have trigeminal, I have something similar but they don't know what it is. I have profgessivly got better, I used to pass out , I think part of my healing process came form getting off the meds. I just want to get all the way well.
Thank you very much for the information. I wish more doctors knew more about this. I'll look into what you said and let you know what I find out.
Sacamuelas
03-18-2005, 21:08
I know a good bit about this condition as it is in my area of the big mechanics shop of healthcare. I have treated only two patients with the condition as it is pretty rare.
What are your specific signs and symptoms? HOw long have you been experiencing this problem? Is it constant or periodic? Have you identified a particular trigger point or area that causes the pain to begin when stimulated? Where is the trigger zone, if identified? What treatment regimens have you tried other than using narcotics to dull the pain? Do you have any loss of motor or loss of sensory perception in the area? Does it affect you on both sides(bilateral) or only on one side of your face? Has anyone ever given you a local anesthetic injection in the trigger zone? Specifically, how long does the pain last in general if you have an episode?
Oh yeah, and what specifically did the docs that disagree with the Dx cite as their reasons to believe its something else.
I know..lots of questions. You want help though right? :D
I used to pass out
Hmmm..any other cosymptoms like low BP or slow HR when this happened? Can swallowing set off your symptoms and cause the episodes? :munchin
Wow, I am surprised by the response.
I guess I will start by describing the symptoms. The pain is entirlely on the left side of the. It is mostly around the eye, and temple with a small patch on the top of my head.
The best way I can decribe the pain is to take a TENS unit, hook the leads up around the eye and crank the juice up till it hurts real bad. I know not everybody has a TENS unit so it feels a lot like when you shock yourself with 110v ( I know that doesn't hurt that bad but have you ever shocked your face? those nerves are sensitive) It is a constant pain with the real bad pain coming and going a few times a day. The bad episodes can last from 10 minutes to 6 or 7 hours.
That is the main reason the other doctors disagreed. They said that if it was trigeminal it would not be constant.
As far as treatments other than narcs, I have tried all forms of migrane medicne, as well as some anti-depressants, topamax, neurontin, tegritol, and various other meds.
Actual procedures that have been done were nerve blocks, nerve burnings, and radio frequency lesioning(that hurts a lot to have done).
They have injected pain medicine into my face a couple times, it helped but it's pretty expensive to go have done so I avoid it.
As far as when I passed out, I don't know what to tell you, I always have low blood pressure but I thought when in bad pain it shoots up. Not sure.
Only trigger that I know of that is constant is stress. I don't think swallowing affects it.
Thank you for taking an intrest!
M
I didn't want to start a new thread since this isn't that important to anyone but me. I just wanted to say that I am finally getting this fixed. I've turned out to be a good candidate for surgery to repair this and I am meeting my surgeon next Tuesday for preperation and scheduling. Finally I will be able to get on with my life. Now I guess I will have the oppurtunity to see what I'm made of.