My father had the MVD two days ago, and felt the same pain like before today

Hi Amy

Thanks for the info about your dad. I'd be interested in responses from this site because I am a "hot case" for MVD myself, as I have the classical compression of the nerve by the artery. I think that his symptoms might well be transient and things should settle down - after all, it is a major surgical intervention and there will be local swelling that will eventually disperse.

As you probably know, there are a lot of people on this and related forum groups who will see your message - and many have first hand experience of this procedure. Their views will be most useful for you, and for me I'm hoping!

Good luck, I hope your dad's condition resolves soon.

Cheers

Big D

I had MVD surgery 2 months ago, after having TN for about 10 years. Sometimes the pain can take a few weeks to fade away. The success rate for the surgery has climbed to 80-85%. As far as his eye, that's definitely a question for his neurosurgeon. I hope your father has a successful outcome.

Hi Amy, Sorry to hear that your dad is still having pain. I had MVD 5 months ago and feel that i am lucky to not have any more TN pain, however, there have been a lot of other things post surgery that have happened that ill attempt to explain briefly as they might help your situation.

For my MVD, they also did a partial rhizotomy as they decided on the operating table that MVD alone might not fix my problem. I have full left side numbness, tightness, fat face feeling, burning sensation ( sometimes ), and tingling sensations everyday at random on the TN / left side of my face.

I spoke to many doctor's including my own surgeon and nobody really seems to know for sure why these things are happening, however, they kept me on my same dose of Tegretol for 2 months past surrgery. My surgeon just didn't want to take a chance incase the pain came back during the healing stage. Some other doctor's also told me that when the nerve is disturbed or damaged as in my case, it can send strange signals to the face.  It may not send pain because there is no direct contact anymore with a blood vessel or artery, however it's sending incomplete signals during healing and that can be felt in the form of strange sensations on the face.

Did yor dad's surgeon's tell you that they saw a very clear offending artery or blood vessel and were able to create the seperation between it and the TN nerve? I would assume that they can only call it a complete success if that was the case.

For his continued TN pain, are the surgeons keeping him on his meds for now? as my meds stayed for almost 2 months past surgery. It was a tough period because it will leave the patient anxious to know if the pain is gone or not?

With regards to his eyeball not funtioning smoothly, i don't know much about that, but in my case they created a sinus issue that was non existent before. My left eye and nostril have become overly sensative and expeirnece minor tearing daily for a couple of hours. My post surgery MRI also showed that something went wrong with the sinuses.

My advice would be to keep your dad on the meds he was taking untill the surgery can heal in a couple of months and keep daily notes of what he's experiencing.  I wish you guys the best.

I can identify with so much of what Saaz says . . . 

I will be 70 by Christmas; have suffered TN for 30+ years; and had my first MVD 14 years ago.  Unfortunately, that didn't work - but, for anyone undergoing a MVD now, the technology has massively changed since then!

It is in the past that a first MVD didn't work for me . . . and the surgeon wasn't interested in his 'first failure' . . . 

I then found a really good consultant in Bristol (UK) who gave me 2 RF rhizotomies over the next couple of years and, with some help from gabapentin, kept the TN pain at bay for almost 13 years . . !

The pain attacks then returned however - and that consultant had retired.

I searched out his successor and, after another two RF rhizotomies didn't help, I had my 2nd MVD 6 months ago.  

Based on a pre-op MRI, the main purpose of that was to undo what the previous surgeon had managed to achieve . . .  

So, although I now share the experience of Saaz in terms of full left side numbness, tightness, fat face feeling, burning sensation (sometimes), and tingling sensations everyday . . .  I am free of the 20 or 30 excruating attacks of TN pain which, every day, immediately pre-op, would literally see me on the floor screaming in pain . . . !

None of us want to suffer from TN but that, for me, has to be an acceptable trade off . . .  

If it is any help to Amy, my surgeon told me to tail-off my medication (gabapentin + tegratol) from the day I left hospital.  I was up to 2700 mg gabapentin per day and it has now been down to zero for several weeks! The withdrawl symptoms are not fun but they do pass . .   Problems with my eye and ear disappeared after a few days . . . 

Several people have mentioned sinus problems . .  and I can add myself to that group . . .  but again, an extra box of tissues each week is a cheap price to pay against the TN pain attacks . . .  

Overall, escaping TN pain does involve a trade-off but I, for one, am grateful that such a trade-off is possible!  :-)