Recently Diagnosed with TN after 5 Years of Pain
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Hi all,
Firstly, I am an 18 year old girl and have been experiencing earache-like pain in and around the ear for almost 5 years now, though it's hard to remember how long it's been. At first, doctors thought it was an ear infection so I went through courses of antibiotics throughoutschool that did nothing. The doctors then told me to wait, that it was probably something to do with growing up and that it would go away in due time.
A year or so later my parents were still concerned so took me to see another doctor. They referred me to ENT at my local hospital, and all they did was a hearing test and a pressure test and said it looked fine so there was nothing wrong. Bear in mind that I was probably around 14-15 at the time and TN isn't common at that age at all.
Since the doctor told myself and my parents that it was fine, I stayed away from doctors for a while. The pain tended to come in waves that usually lasted at minimum an hour, and I had long periods of remission which made me think less of it. I did notice though that normal painkillers weren't doing anything at all for the pain.
My years in college were a lot worse than in school, and the pain was worse and happened a lot more often than before. At the end of my second year of college I couldn't take the pain and the fact that I couldn't control it, so I went to see my doctor again. I was 18 when I did this and was about to go to university (Which is where I am now) so I wanted to know what this was. She referred me to ENT at the hospital where my university is, and the ENT there was a lot better than the one at home. They used a camera up the nose to have a look inside, and also did an MRI to make sure it was nothing serious. The ENT then diagnosed me with TN in January.
Since then I visited a doctor for treatment who prescribed me with Amitriptyline. So far I've had some side-effects and I am finding it hard to cope. I am feeling depressed, sometimes to the point where I am crying over small things and can't stop myself. I feel like I want to get my doctor to replace my prescription with something else but I have to wait a few weeks to see if the side-effects improve at all.
I feel like I have no one to talk to who understands what's happening and could really do with some advice.
Apologies for the wall of text, but I hope someone can help me with this.
Thank you.
1 like, 5 replies
stevep1965 georgia18769
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georgia18769 stevep1965
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Also it must have been annoying to have had to try so many different things so I feel for you also. I'm not good with needles at all so I am dreading anything I may have to have done, the cannula for the MRI scan was enough for me.
stevep1965 georgia18769
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Valkyrie georgia18769
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paula76255 georgia18769
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