Doctor, Dentist, and Midwife

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!