Thankfully, my tn is not as bad as most of yours, not saying mine is a day at the beach but mine is really just beginning. One problem I am facing is I do not want to go out because if I am hurting or have a sharp pain attack I lose focus and suffer an anxiety for (lack of a better word).
I do force myself to go out but I try never to do so without my guy. In the past I have been able to do brief relaxation exercises to calm down and get through the anxiety. I just scared that I may not be able to do that in the future.
How do you all deal with the anxiety? Looking for some ideas until I can see the neurologist in July.
For many patients, anxiety treatment can be a useful element of your medication profile -- both for relieving symptoms of anxiety and dealing with the pain itself. It may be worth discussing with your neurologist. I recall that Effexor is one of the meds sometimes used in this role. There are others.
I use to take Effexor for depression, have not taken it since 2004. When see the neurologist I will ask about it. I’m currently on Citalopram 10mg for depression. Thanks Red and Min. : )
I got prescribed antidepressants when I suffered a series of panic attacks , but they made me feel worse, maybe it was just a wrong kind of pills for me or I should have been more patient (ADs can worsen your symptoms initially, but after 2-4 weeks you should be OK). I also got muscle relaxant - Lexaurin, which I thought was wonderful - well, parts of my face had been in a spasm for a month when I finally got to see my GP, so I really needed it and it helped so much in getting me through the worst phase. I've been off both the AD and Lexaurin for some weeks now and what helps me is high doses of B-complex, magnesium, potassium and herbal tea for anxiety. I also try to excercise and focus on things other than my pain. I know it's not for everyone and I've only had pains for a much shorter period of time than most people here, so it's hard to tell whether the vits/minerals and excercise will be enough in the future, for now I'm happy they're working. One more thing - when I was getting off the pills, keeping them in my purse/by the bed helped me a lot ....just the thought that I can take some if I need it made me feel a lot calmer, so psychology also plays a role, I'm sure.
I have to say, my guy, Rik, against his better judgement, gave me a half a half a mg of xanax. We know it is not legal to do this, but we did NOT KNOW what to do at the time and were only looking to get through the "event". It did help, actually, it helped a lot. How do I approach a doctor about it? I am in need of hip replacement, I think it is because when I was about to be born, I wanted to come out back first, when the German doctors (Dad was military)delivered me, I believe, they broke my hips. I need hip replacement in both hips, but the doctors say I am to young. Fine! Now I am dealing with TN, my hips have taken second place to my tn pain. I'm just so tired of the pain, and I'm just beginning. My sisters told the ICU nurse when I had a banded, gastric bypass, 11 years ago, told the people attending to me that my tolerance to pain was low. After my experience in the Trauma Unit, the nurses and doctors said my sisters were severely mistaken.
Back to the tn, I am finding it hard to deal with the pain, cannot wait until I see the neurologist.
I would ask for clonazapam -- similar to xanax but is actually on a list I found here --- of meds that people found useful and most helpful --- it can relax your blood pressure when panic hits, which relaxes veins, which can keep TN at bay temporarily.....you just have to ask for benzopines for as needed anxiety -- STRESS causes TN flare ups! From my 15 months of research on here -- I do believe clonazapam is best of the two for this instance. Only because it can address the physcial and mental! And believe me - after having all these meds and brain surgery - I AM MENTAL LOL