1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Trigeminal Neuralgia

New to TN and blogs

Posted , 5 users are following.

melinda1961
melinda1961

I was diagnosed with TN in 8/17 after thinking the jaw pain I've had since 2/16 was a tooth issue. in 2016 I saw dentists, endodontics's, chiropractor, acupuncture, massage therapy. In 9/17 I started wearing VOXX socks and the pain stopped until 3/18 when I had another stressful event.   The flare-ups come after stressful events in my work life.

I don't like taking the pharmaceutical's ie., Tegertol and gabapentin because of the side affects and knowing they will eventually have negative affects in other areas in my body. 

My neurologist thinks the TN is due to the 20-25 year old silver/mercury fillings in my teeth.  She says when a flight/fight stressful event occurs the body emits cortisol which counteracts with the mercury which causes the TN nerve to go into spasms..  I'm not so sure I agree. So I want to know if anyone else has had all there silver fillings replaced and if the TN went away?  It will be a long and very expensive undertaking to replace 7 fillings because they usually turn into needing root canals/crown. 

I recently started taking CBD oil and I think the flare ups are becoming less in quantity and intensity, but their still there.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Suffering with TN,

Melinda

1 like, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Texasbutterfly
    Texasbutterfly melinda1961

    Posted

    My chiropractor’s wife has TN and she had her fillings replaced and it helps. He said it was because acidic foods cause electric firing off metal. I have had TN for 7 years and could handle episodes every few months until recently. I finally went to neurologist and had MRI. No problems there, mine appears to be from stressful times. I take Keppra only 500 mg in morning and 500 at night. Keeps my episodes at bey. The only thing I avoid is acidic and spicy foods. I have been pain free for 2 weeks....just little shocks if too stressed. The episodes get worse the longer you have this condition. Try the stress relief techniques also.....deep breathing....walking.....laughing. I hope this helps you. Avoiding acidic foods is cheaper than root canals.....
    • melinda1961
      melinda1961 Texasbutterfly

      Posted

      Thank you very much for the insight to eating acidic foods.  I never thought about that so I will stop asap...definitely cheaper than root canals.  And yes I totally agree about the stress relief techniques.  I'm also trying hypnotherapy to help me with distressing and the pain. 

  • vicki78970
    vicki78970 melinda1961

    Posted

    Hi Melinda I am so sorry for the pain you've experienced. My pain didn't start until years after I had my fillings replaced. I, like you don't like the side effects of the med.'s they put you on. During the day I take 800 mg of Turmeric. (a spice you can buy in a soft gel cap.) The pain is gone for 12-14 hours. For some reason it doesn't work at night. At night I 1/2-1 table Carbamazapine . If there is any side effects I sleep through them.

    Going to the acupuncturist takes a number of times to get total relief. I was pain free after the 2nd time but the pain came back. After I spent almost $800 over 4 months  I went back to the Turmeric.

    People say they get relief from taking B 12 & a B complex together..

    I pray you find relief!

    • melinda1961
      melinda1961 vicki78970

      Posted

      Vicki, thank you for letting me know about your fillings and reminding me about the Turmeric.  I was taking Tumeric for several months and realized I haven't taken it now for about 3 weeks.  Dugh...maybe that's why it's been worse in the last month.  I will try to buy it tomorrow and get back on the right track. 

      Also Texasbutterfly told me about acidic and spicy foods and how they react to the metal.  I live in NM and eat our green chile on a daily basis. Guess I'm going to have to forgo that for a while as well. 

      Thank you for the prayers and healthier alternatives...keep them coming as I refuse to be dependent on pharmaceuticals.  I will pray for you too.

       

  • army183
    army183 melinda1961

    Posted

    Hello Melinda and others

    Sorry to be tardy in response but I've only just got home from a holiday. You may well have had some helpful responses already, but I thought I'd just ask you if you if your diagnosis in Aug last year was clinical or backed up with MRI? If you have the classical TN1 with obvious artery compression of the trigeminal nerve root, then the outlook could be quite good for you.  Sounds like you started pain about Feb 2016 and you're probably fed up with all this life-changing syndrome. 

    Mine was diagnosed properly and after MRI etc the compression was easily seen and the neurosurgeon reckoned that it had probably taken a long time for the myelin damage to occur and that this was unlikely to resolve naturally without some intervention. I was spaced out on very high levels of Tegretol and the drug's effects were becoming less and less. So, it was MVD for me - I never looked back, the change was instant and I've been pain free since the op in March 2017. I had to wean off Tegretol over about 2 months because if you stop suddenly you are at risk of a seizure...….

    Do you know if you have typical TN1 with obvious vascular compression?

    Good luck

    Keep safe

    Big D    

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.