Posted , 10 users are following.
I have been diagosed with Trigeninal Neuralgia. This pain came in May this year (2017) I have been off work since June 30. I was under a tremendous amount of stress prior to the pain beginning, I was wondering if anyone else has any ideas for what may have caused this? Everything has a cause...no way to find an answer unless we know the cause, I would think.
2 likes, 25 replies
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kathy75678 melinda10856
Posted
Most people that I talked to said there's started after a dentist appointment. I insisted my Dr that pull my tooth after I went to see him 3 times and it just got worse. I fought mine from 2011 until 2016. I went one year where it stopped. It came back with a vengeance. I am always afraid it will come back. I am afraid to go back to the dentist, but I will go. Good luck kathy
melinda10856 kathy75678
Posted
kathy75678 melinda10856
Posted
susan33651 melinda10856
Posted
Hi,
There are a few well known causes such as compression of the nerve and many patients with M.S have TN (more so than the equivalent proportion in a non-M.S population), and in the case of M.S it is due to demyelination of the nerve. The type of neuralgia associated with Shingles is labelled as Ophthalmic neuralgia as it is usually this part of the nerve in the face which is affected by the Shingles virus. It isn't the typical TN type of pain.
There is a preponderance of variously labelled neuralgia conditions all affecting one part or other of the Trigeminal nerve. The type of pain varies, rarely includes the shock type and is often accompanied by other symptoms. As to the causes of these.........well the list is long! But head/facial injuries, viruses, surgeries and so on are linked. There is a possibility that autoimmune diseases give rise to TN.
Someone mentioned facial spasm as a precursor to TN. That's interesting because I had a facial tic right by my left eye before I started to experience this dreadful condition. Similarly, the right eye/upper cheek area developed a tic not too long before the TN struck there too. However, I have also had head/facial injuries. I also have something like if not actually have Lupus. I have been in close contact with patients with Chicken pox and Shingles and have had a suspicious rash which seemed to respond to anti-virals, but no pain at that site?!! The rash came back and I believe it is another autoimmune response, so does my Dermatologist, but we gave it a try! So whatever the cause and whatever the precursors I don't much care, as long as the drugs deal with the pain! If it proves to be compression then all well and good, I might consider surgery in the future. Right now, though, I can't afford to take the length of time off work to recover from surgery, so I don't need to know that there is that option.
My attacks do seem to have reduced both in length of time I am incapacitated and in the severity of pain, so success! I maintain a positive outlook, don't let the bugger get you down.
Best wishes.
marilyn39866 susan33651
Posted
HI Susan
Well said! The problem with the decompression surgery is there is no way to know if that is the cause until they operate. The CT scans and MRI only show there is no tumor so all that's left is a possibility of a Vien or blood vessel causing pressure on the nerve, I just had that done and they put the Teflon cushion between the vessel and the nerve. But it did not work. I know another lady from age of 15 had the injections up til, the age of 30 she had 8 injections all lasting different amount of times so at 30 she had the surgery they put 8 Teflon cushions in and it last 4 years now she is back to getting the injections. It's pretty depressing and so frustrating and not much we can do about it.
karen15939 melinda10856
Posted
I had A LOT of dental work just prior to my TN starting. 'They' say there is no connection but I beg to differ. Stress, anger, frustration were all additional triggers (besides talking, chewing, brushing my teeth, gentle touch, wind...). I agree, there must be a cause but no one ever told me what it could have been : (
esther48415 karen15939
Posted
I don't know who 'they' are but they failed to do any reading on the subject! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5048319/
Stress is a common trigger- given that people who have TN suffer with the unpredictability of the duration and intensity and timing of attacks stress is very common.
marilyn39866 melinda10856
Posted
Hello I am new to this forum I have heard a lot of ways that cause trigimel enabled neuralgia some say any dental work can do it or injury in the facial area. Mine was caused by a paper towel dispenser lid feel open hit my lip so hard it turned blue right away and swelled up and my right front tooth as well hurt so bad I thought it would of killed the nerve in it. It took about 1 month for things to progress all of a sudden quite a few migraines but then all my teeth hurt as well really bad. Had to see dentists first x-rays and examination showed no teeth problemso no gum disease but when the dentist tapped each tooth with his metal tool to check know for loose teeth that caused me to be in excruciating pain then I was diagnosed with TN . I had the surgery it did other work for me and made me worse. I am on the last medication available for the pain due to side effects from other meds. It certainly changes your life in so many ways. There are other treatments to try but not ready yet to go through any additional pain. I'm in my 6th week of recovery some days are good but most days I am weak and in too much pain to do anything. I am in counselling as my partner can't understand and he feels neglected he thinks he is supportive but he thinks I should be good as new a,ready. He can't relate to the pain and frustration I feel.
melinda10856 marilyn39866
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marilyn39866 melinda10856
Posted
HI Melinda
I agree no one who has never experienced TN can ever understand how truly painful it really is. The medications can help but the side effects can be hard to take for yourself and anyone around you.
There are many success stories of recovery but more of unsuccessful trail and error!
There is always a cause I myself wonder if they ever check if maybe it is related example to let's say people that had shingles seem to be more susceptible or other nerve disorders like fibromyalgia but I don't think they take the time to try and figure a common denonmeter.
What do you think?