Trigeminal Neuralgia

Have been ther before, took all sorts of pain relief but eventually nothing works, I had to have an operation called microvascular decompression and it worked very well have been pain free for 4 years now, the worst is the headaches after for 2 months but that was easy to take after the pain I hade for 7 years.

I got almost up to the maximum Tegretol that can be taken then had to add Lyrica which is a bit of a nightmare at first because it makes a person drowsy and you lose your words when  you try to explain something. Also Lyrica gave me hand twitches and made it difficult to do much. It wears off after a while. Most people seem to take Gabapentin which i have not tried.

Is surgery an option for you?

I have tried Gabapentin and all the rest nothing worked for me 

There area lot of other drugs out there such as gabapentin, trileptal and amitripyline the last one might be a good idea as I know it is prescribed for headaches as it is a good pain blocker.Are you having cluster headaches that is another option to look at.

You might want to research Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania (CPH). I have both TN and CPH. The difference is, with CPH you have short bursts of pain like someone is stabbing you in the eye and your eye tears (runs). I had the MVD surgery for the TN and was pain free for 6 years. The CPH set off the TN so I ended up getting a Glycerol Rhizotomy in Nov 2014. So far it's holding but I have to have dental work soon, so I may be back where I started. The best thing about the nerve block is you can get one every 6 months. I have the best doctor in the world, Dr. Michael Lim (in my eyes) so be careful who you let dig in your brain. Hope you find some relief soon.