Hello Everyone!
My name is Tony, I am 50 years old, I am from Pennsylvania, USA.
I was just diagnosed with TN (Trigeminal neuralgia)
I got to tell you folks, this thing called TN is a very scary thing!
Unlike many people who describe their pain originating at the left or right part of their faces… I get my pain originating from the left side, at the right inner part of my left eye near my nose, going up like feeling like cutting razor blades, and ending up at the middle part of my head. But. All felt in the left of my head only. No pain in the right side at all. And just like most of you describe it, it intensifies like crazy when touching affected area.
When I first started to feel the pain symptoms, it really drove me crazy. Lots of things went through my mind… Like: Am I going to die? Do I have a horrible tumor in my brain; do I have just have a few days, weeks, or months to live?? What is wrong with me?? Why am I having such horrible pain?
As soon as I started to experience my first pain symptoms, I called my Doctor to scheduled an appointment right, as soon as possible. When I got to my Dr’s office, he started by asking me a whole line a questions such: Do you have a bad root canal? Do you have a bad tooth; do you suffer from migraines or frequent headaches?? My answer to all his questions ended on a NO. Then he said, it looks like you have Trigeminal neuralgia. Until that moment, I had no idea what that was? Never heard of it, could not even pronounce it, if I wanted to.
He started to explain the symptoms of TN. Then he started by asking me many questions, which would be related in the triggering of TN pain. Each time he asked me a question, my answer seemed to be YES. At the end of all the questions; he then said, I think you definitely have TN.
He told me he had to rule out several other things, so he ordered a blood test, ordered a MRI of the brain, and when the results returned, a few days later… He called me and said that the results didn’t point to anything else. So now he was now sure it was TN. During this visit to the my Dr’s office, he prescribed me some pain medicine and 400 mg of Tegretol XR. Which is helping me, but. It does not take away all the pain, I always get it the most, when I talk and when I brush my teeth, but. Mostly when I eat, eating brings out the biggest episodes of pain imaginable. Really bad!
Every now and then the pain just shows up, and the it goes away after a few seconds.
I learned that when I get a pain episode, if I place pleasure with both hands at the bottom back part of the neck, which is near my shoulders. The pain goes away. Is weird, but. For some reason it works for me. Also if I walk a while, I do not get any pain episodes for a while, exercise seems to have a soothing effect on the pain.
Since my first visit to the Dr’s office and learning that I possible had TN,. I started to read about TN online, and what TN really is? And I was getting more frighten and confused. Things like: Its called the Suicide Disease, because 50-60% of the people diagnosed with it, end up killing themselves. WoW!!! No relieve there!
When I found this site, I was so static, because I can now relate to actual people that suffer from TN, people who share their own experiences and issues as they deal with it.
I can say that now feel more at ease, knowing that “I am not the only one” dealing with this, and that “there are many more like me” who go about their daily shores struggling with pain, but with a clearer and more dignified understanding of what we are dealing with. Thank you! Because. Although even though I am in pain, I can now relate to others just like me, suffering with TN, and I no longer have to feel afraid about the many things I said, read online about TN.
Thank you!