After 6 years it's back

Hi Everybody

I was initially diagnosed with TN in 2006 after about 3 months testing for MS, Bell's Palsy just to name a few. My neurologist prescribed Dothiepin which initially made me very tired, but then seemed to get me under control. My initial pain was only on the left side of my face. I've had a couple of mild attacks over the years, but nothing substantial.

Then in June this year, my TN has returned with a vengeance. I have full face pain for most of the day, with no feeling in my lower jaw or bottom lip. I now also have a LOT of tooth pain and pain in the roof of my mouth. My dentist referred me to a Specialist about 6 weeks ago now; his field of expertise is Orofacial Pain. He prescribed Lyrica 75mg twice a day and this has done Nothing to help me at all. I have an appointment with him again this week, so hopefully we can come up with a new plan of attack.

I've tried to monitor what sets me off, but I can't come up with anything and now the pain seems to be constant and quite debilitating. It's very upsetting and I find myself teary very often.

I am very lucky to have employers who are very understanding about my situation and allow me to work from home on really bad days; I really don't know what I'd do if they didn't as I'm sure I'd have to resign.

Hopefully I'll have some better news this week and we can get some relief .....

They will probably want to try you on Tegretol/Trileptal or Neurontin/Gapapentin -

You can ask for some quicker relief with an Rx of Lidocaine oral rinse/nose spray/topical cream for the face - although patches worked best for me on my cheek. I'm sorry it's back to visit you....