After
several bouts with extreme facial pain in the last few years, I have
finally accepted that I have, as the old guy in The
Avengers
said to the Hulk, a “condition”. More specifically, I have a
condition of the nerves, called trigeminal neuralgia.
Basically,
this means I have an electrical problem in my face. When the nerves
“short out” so to speak, they send pain signals to the brain, for
no reason whatsoever. This means that the entire nerve network on the
right side of my can basically suddenly flare up, and cause severe
pain, from the top of my head, all the way down into my neck.
Yep, pretty much all of that hurts
I
have, as I am wont to do, researched this particular condition ever
since I began suspecting that I had it, and I have found one
consistent theme running throughout the information that is available
about trigeminal neuralgia. Unfortunately, that theme is that
there is no consistency in treatment of TN.
When
I began researching TN, I also soon found out two things about the
condition that...well, let's just say they weren't encouraging. The
first little bit of info, which I had already discovered on my own,
was that most regular pain medications, such as ibuprofen, Tylenol,
and even Vicodin, don't have much of an effect on pain from TN. They
will sometimes take the edge off, but that's about it.
The
second little tidbit, was the fact that TN has a fun, happy little
nickname. It's sometimes called th “suicide disease”. Oh joy!
Sounds absolutely delightful, doesn't it?
The
thing is, the pain it causes is so chronic, and so hard quench, even
with high-powered narcotics, that after a few nights spent sitting in
a recliner, unable to sleep because of the pain, depression sets in
very quickly. The depression comes from a feeling of helplessness,
because the pain very quickly lets you know that it will come and go
on its own terms...you have no say in the matter.
I
had some success treating the condition with B12 shots and keeping it
at bay by taking B12 orally, but this last flare-up finally convinced
me to go see a doctor. She put me on a 5-day cycle of Prednazone.
This seemed to work for a while, but the 5 days were soon up, and the
pain immediately came roaring back.
Phase 2, which I started a few days ago, was an anti-seizure
medication called Epitol, or Carbomazapine, which was given to me
with an absolutely delightful list of side effects. I haven't
suffered any of the side effects yet, but on the downside, I also
haven't felt any benefits from it, either.
I
have had one of my worst days with the disease so far today, which
brings me to the title of my post. I have, so far today, spoken to a
dentist, about the possibility of an infection causing the current
flare-up, a doctor about why the drugs aren't working yet, and a
midwife, about scoring some more B12 shots in hopes of calming the
raging nerves causing my pain.
I
realize that there are worse conditions, and people that are
suffering much more than I am...please don't mistake my writing this
post as a plea for sympathy, but as a cathartic exercise, and
possibly a way of connecting with other people that have or have had,
this condition.
If
you, or anyone you knows suffers from this condition, I would be very
interested in talking to other people who have gone through the same
thing.
Thanks
for reading, and as always, feel free to comment below.
God
Bless!
