Diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia but I'm also pregnant

I'm in the same boat as you....I spent my first trimester in pain....I never experienced pain like that....I spent hours of my day just rolled up and trying to keep breathing.

My doctor said he was wait till I was 13 weeks to put me on Lyrica....but that same time I decided to try acupuncture......this is what worked for me. It took about 6 sessions, but I had relief right away...I had to pay out of pocket but it was worth every penny! After the treatment I've had about 3 or 4 episodes of pain but they were less intense and lasted about 45 minutes. I'm now 23 weeks and hoping the pain stays away......once baby is here I guess I'll deal with whatever happens!

I know how you feel about not enjoying the pregnancy.....I remember one night I was begging my husband to take me to the hospital to have me put to sleep (not sure why I had the idea anyone would do that) or that I would threaten to harm myself.

I never really thought of the baby, or I would feel negatively about it for keeping me in pain.

Many people here suggested tumeric, but talk to your dr about it.... natural supplements don't seem to have a lot of testing for effects on pregnancy. I also used aromatherapy until I was 12 weeks and then used the oils on my skin- again being careful not all oils are compatible with pregnancy.

The trick for me was acupuncture.

Don't lose hope, you will find something that works for you!

Hello ellen1992. I’m in my third year of tn and waiting for a date for an mvd. You must be climbing the walls being unable to use carbamazepine. It does help initially although it’s effectiveness reduces with time. In my early days before I had been diagnosed and given an appropriate medication there was only one thing that helped me through the worst pains and that was mindfulness.

when those shocks shot across my face I would initially react physically by grabbing my head or one of many ways of flinching. This of course tightened muscles in my face which then set off a chain reaction and a vicious circle of pain..reaction..pain.. reaction until eventually I realised that only being still would allow the relays of shocks to play themselves out.

now add to the mix the emotional reaction of poor me..woe is me.. it’s not fair.. why me, take your pick.

our physical reaction is quite natural and our emotional reaction is equally normal considering we’ve just been wired up to the national grid for how ever long it lasted.

mindfulness makes it easier to change our physical and emotional reactions into a response.

when in that nano-second I know there’s a zap on its way or when in the middle of a relay of shocks I become still almost like a child playing pass the parcel except that the gift is the worst pain known rather than a bar of chocolate.

mindfulness also changes the emotional reaction from one of anger, despair  to one of compassion for oneself. I know compassion sounds a bit new aged but it’s got to be better than selling your soul to the devil. An angry reaction does nothing but feed the physical reaction and before you know it it’s the pain that’s running the show.

there is loads of mindfulness practices on the net. Have a look at John kabat zinn and his work with mindfulness for pain. You don’t have to be a Buddhist or light joss sticks. It’s just simple teachings on how we can be with whats happening right now. Have a wonderful baby. Peteh