My doctor put me on Lyrica three times a day instead of two. I hope it works. In the meantime, are there any basic coping tips you all could pass on? I learned to use a wide toothed comb to do my hair (you could park a car between the teeth), and I had the hair dresser cut off quite a bit so it is one length; it makes it so I don’t have to actually style it. How do you all fit exercise in? Walking means looking down (our town does not have sidewalks and the roads are not the best), so I found out that hurts. Also, I can’t wear my glasses for very long, so I wondered if any of you found a way around that? And, no, a monocle probably won’t do. 
Just any little life tips that make your lives easier are appreciated. Thank you!
This subject comes up fairly often here at Living with TN. Try a search in the window at the top right of our pages, booklass -- use "tips" as your target and see what turns up. My bet is you'll see a lot of hits. Another useful target is "exercise"".
Regards and best, Red
I use a lot of warm scarfs and hat in winter that covers my cheeks. I also wear either a hoody year round indoors or use my soft blanket wrapped around me when I am not in motion. I avoid air vents and air conditioning on my face.
I also avoid really chewy foods. :)
Thank you, Red. I will look for the tips. I did the exercise one, but then was interrupted. I will check again. Min, the hoodie is a good idea. And, yes, caramels seem like a very BAD idea at this time! I’ve been doing green smoothies and quinoa salad a lot. I probably need to branch out more.
I am interested to know how you do with the Lyrica. I am pretty newly diagnosed and the neuro had me on
Gabapentin. It didn't help much and one day I just called the office and said I couldn't take the pain any more!
He put me on Lyrica (this is about 3 weeks ago) and it does seem to help. I still have pain every day, but not so many really bad episodes. I have an appointment nexdt week and I will talk with him about increasing the dosage. I am concerned because I do a lot of talking at work. I help people find jobs. I also give a lot of seminars and orientations. For the past few weeks I haven't had to to that, but it is coming up again in 2 weeks and I am really worried. What if I have an attack in the middle of an orientation?
Let me know how the Lyrica helps and good l uck!
kathy
Kathy, those are real concerns about the talking/attack aspect. Your doctor probably does need to increase your Lyrica if he/she started you on a low dose like I did. I am brand new to this whole thing, too (as only three weeks ago…give or take), but I called my doctor and told her twice that I was still in pain. Each time I called, she upped the dose. I am on 50mg, three times a day. I just started the day before yesterday on the three times a day dose, so I don’t know how it will work out in the long run. It did seem to me, though, that I am seeing an improvement, though how much is difficult to tell. As far as your seminar/orientations, is there any way to provide more written material, so you do not have to talk quite so much? (I am guessing probably not, given your job, but wondered). Don’t hesitate to have your doctor up your dose if it is not working. I gave each new dose a week because my doctor told me that I should know pretty early on whether or not it was enough. Can your doctor go ahead and okay an increase in your dosage before you even get to his office then you can talk about whether or not your second increase is enough? Whatever happens, keep us in the loop. Praying you have a really great seminar and are pain free. It’s tough for you to have to deal with the pain AND help others as you do. I just want to curl up in a ball sometimes! Best to you, Lori