Anyone with tooth sensitivity from TN? If so, what meds relieve it?

General General TN & GPN (Old Site)
61

Thanks for your kind thoughts. Actually, could I pick your brain on the MRI since you've actually been for one? I've had an abdominal MRI, but never one on my head.

I admit I'm a bit worried about what I've heard of them; they say they put your head in a cage thing. I really don't like the sound of that. Is it completely enclosed or what? What does this head torture instrument look like? Also, how long does a brain scan take, if you can remember...?

Dallas said:

My thoughts are with you, the MRI is painless.

I was only 34 when I got full blown TN pain, now aged 41.

All my previous tooth extractions have brought pain relief, the TN pain was far less, no rear teeth pain conductors you could say.

No rear teeth means no support for your front teeth, this last tooth extraction I had 2 months ago due to biting down hard is giving me hell............... I actually wish I never had it out.

Woman with the electric teeth said:

Yeah, I'm due to get an MRI a fortnight from now. Perversely, I'm dreading them not finding anything because it makes it so much harder to do something concrete. I'll be in the same boat as you, on meds all my life. I could just about cope with that if it wasn't for the 'degenerative' part of the illness. What do I do if it gets worse with age and the meds don't work any more, or the side effects become unmanageable? I've only had the illness a few months and I've already had to drop my dosage and replace it with a new drug because the side effects became unmanageable. Still, no point in catastrophizing - let's see what the MRI turns up first!

62

You lay flat on a platform and get fed through a tunnel which is the MRI machine, you head goes in a cage type thing. The cage is padded and yes it can be unpleasant depending on how claustrophobic you are.

Some machines have a small mirror in the cage so when you are lying still you can look up into the mirror and see forward outside the machine, you normally see the doctor or nurse behind the glass screen in the other room who are controlling the MRI machine.

You will also wear padded headphones and you can choose what music you want to listen to, the music can relax you and the important part is to block out the thundering loud noise of the MRI machine itself. The MRI is very loud, you will still hear the thundering noise of the MRI in the background, the noise is in stages as the radiographer collect the MRI images.

The MRI will take anything from 20 to 40 minutes, you have a panic button that you can press if you feel the need to. You also where headphones, I think you can opt for earplugs instead of headphones.

The best thing is to relax and close your eyes, I closed my eyes for most of the time. I would open them now and again just to make sure I could still see and haven't gone blind.

You will be fine, its all over very quickly.


Woman with the electric teeth said:

Thanks for your kind thoughts. Actually, could I pick your brain on the MRI since you've actually been for one? I've had an abdominal MRI, but never one on my head.

I admit I'm a bit worried about what I've heard of them; they say they put your head in a cage thing. I really don't like the sound of that. Is it completely enclosed or what? What does this head torture instrument look like? Also, how long does a brain scan take, if you can remember...?

Dallas said:

My thoughts are with you, the MRI is painless.

I was only 34 when I got full blown TN pain, now aged 41.

All my previous tooth extractions have brought pain relief, the TN pain was far less, no rear teeth pain conductors you could say.

No rear teeth means no support for your front teeth, this last tooth extraction I had 2 months ago due to biting down hard is giving me hell............... I actually wish I never had it out.

Woman with the electric teeth said:

Yeah, I'm due to get an MRI a fortnight from now. Perversely, I'm dreading them not finding anything because it makes it so much harder to do something concrete. I'll be in the same boat as you, on meds all my life. I could just about cope with that if it wasn't for the 'degenerative' part of the illness. What do I do if it gets worse with age and the meds don't work any more, or the side effects become unmanageable? I've only had the illness a few months and I've already had to drop my dosage and replace it with a new drug because the side effects became unmanageable. Still, no point in catastrophizing - let's see what the MRI turns up first!

63

Thanks for that. Does the cage cover your face, or is it just at the sides, or sides and top, like a helmet?

Dallas said:

You lay flat on a platform and get fed through a tunnel which is the MRI machine, you head goes in a cage type thing. The cage is padded and yes it can be unpleasant depending on how claustrophobic you are.

Some machines have a small mirror in the cage so when you are lying still you can look up into the mirror and see forward outside the machine, you normally see the doctor or nurse behind the glass screen in the other room who are controlling the MRI machine.

You will also wear padded headphones and you can choose what music you want to listen to, the music can relax you and the important part is to block out the thundering loud noise of the MRI machine itself. The MRI is very loud, you will still hear the thundering noise of the MRI in the background, the noise is in stages as the radiographer collect the MRI images.

The MRI will take anything from 20 to 40 minutes, you have a panic button that you can press if you feel the need to. You also where headphones, I think you can opt for earplugs instead of headphones.

The best thing is to relax and close your eyes, I closed my eyes for most of the time. I would open them now and again just to make sure I could still see and haven't gone blind.

You will be fine, its all over very quickly.


Woman with the electric teeth said:

Thanks for your kind thoughts. Actually, could I pick your brain on the MRI since you've actually been for one? I've had an abdominal MRI, but never one on my head.

I admit I'm a bit worried about what I've heard of them; they say they put your head in a cage thing. I really don't like the sound of that. Is it completely enclosed or what? What does this head torture instrument look like? Also, how long does a brain scan take, if you can remember...?

Dallas said:

My thoughts are with you, the MRI is painless.

I was only 34 when I got full blown TN pain, now aged 41.

All my previous tooth extractions have brought pain relief, the TN pain was far less, no rear teeth pain conductors you could say.

No rear teeth means no support for your front teeth, this last tooth extraction I had 2 months ago due to biting down hard is giving me hell............... I actually wish I never had it out.

Woman with the electric teeth said:

Yeah, I'm due to get an MRI a fortnight from now. Perversely, I'm dreading them not finding anything because it makes it so much harder to do something concrete. I'll be in the same boat as you, on meds all my life. I could just about cope with that if it wasn't for the 'degenerative' part of the illness. What do I do if it gets worse with age and the meds don't work any more, or the side effects become unmanageable? I've only had the illness a few months and I've already had to drop my dosage and replace it with a new drug because the side effects became unmanageable. Still, no point in catastrophizing - let's see what the MRI turns up first!

64

Yes, its like a head & face helmet, you have sections missing, your eyes are also visible.

65

Oh Good, well at least I won't feel like I'm being buried alive! Did you listen to rock music or something soothing? I have loads of hypnosis CDs, but I did wonder how the hell I'd hear someone trying to soothe me with all the bangs and thumps going off. I remember it sounded like someone banging on a galvanised bin while you lay inside it. I'm considering not bothering with music; I don't want it to end up like one big cacophony!

66

Yes it can be a bit much, I chose earplugs the second time round. I had another MRI for a different problem (testicular pain) which again came back normal, thank god.

67

Ironic, isn't it, that your testicular MRI being normal is a cause for celebration and I'm dreading this result for my MRI. You probably did too. It's a funny old world.

Dallas said:

Yes it can be a bit much, I chose earplugs the second time round. I had another MRI for a different problem (testicular pain) which again came back normal, thank god.

68

I reckon my body hates me, can you imagine suffering TN pain along with testicular pain which would also place pain in my right foot.

Thats pain at the top of the body, pain in middle and pain at the bottom all at once. I still cant believe I am still amongst the living.

The MRI was done to see if I had any trapped nerves running out from my spine, all was fine. I had an ultra-sound on my testes to check for abnormalities, they found small cyst on the epididymis. The funny thing is they treat this with amitriptyline or gabapentin, both also used for TN.

69

Oh yes, I know that feeling. I was walking around with severe gallstones for a year and a half (my own fault) and when I finally gave in and had them out I was really looking forward to getting back to normal. A year later, this happens. Yep, you surely can feel as if your body is conspiring against you. Although my biggest problem is actually blaming myself for everything that goes wrong with me. TN has been a very odd experience that way, because it's hard to blame yourself for (potentially) an artery lying on a nerve in your head. Hard to see how too many Cadbury puddings or cheese brought that one on.

But poor you, with three 'hot zones' all at once. You must have been truly evil in a previous life - even worse than me! If I was you I'd be seeing a nerve connection between the three of them; it sounds so likely, doesn't it? Do you find that any time you see anything to do with nerves or neurology - in the news or whatever - you are reading it and applying it to yourself, wondering if it fits?

You are so desperate to shuck this bloody awful disease off you are always trying to make sense of it. I stopped using Aspartame and artificial sweeteners on the strength of TN. I'm absolutely sure it did me nothing but good, but have they played any part in my illness? Doubtful. I certainly haven't since been cured!

But amitriptyline & gabapentin - are they antidepressants? So many meds in use for this. I take Carbamazepine and have recently had Lamotrigine added into the mix. It's improved the effectiveness of the Carbamazepine, but still not removed my overriding annoying symptom of hyper-sensitivity. However, I am hopeful of hitting on the right cocktail eventually. I live in fear of getting it just right and then two months later it stops working. God, this disease makes you such a pessimist. I keep hoping my doc will add in the anti-depressants, but apparently they don't work well on TN, only ATN. I don't even get the fun drugs!

Dallas said:

I reckon my body hates me, can you imagine suffering TN pain along with testicular pain which would also place pain in my right foot.

Thats pain at the top of the body, pain in middle and pain at the bottom all at once. I still cant believe I am still amongst the living.

The MRI was done to see if I had any trapped nerves running out from my spine, all was fine. I had an ultra-sound on my testes to check for abnormalities, they found small cyst on the epididymis. The funny thing is they treat this with amitriptyline or gabapentin, both also used for TN.

70

I've tried all the TN meds, Tegretol and Carbamazepine, both I could not manage the side-effects.

Amitriptyline is used for a number of medical conditions including depression (as an antidepressant), its also used for neuropathic pain disorders. Gabapentin is used in epilepsy also neuropathic pain, Gabapentin helps to control electrical activity in the brain.

I'm a bit anti-meds, I hate taking any type of medication except for over the counter drugs such as Paracetamol, Ibuprofen. I cant cope with the side-effects from all the strong meds, sometimes I just suffer in silence and take ownership that I am not killing the rest of my body with all those awful medications.

I'm just like my father, we are pretty strong mentally. BUT! its getting harder to keep fighting this pain my body is throwing at me.

Currently I have pain from my most recent tooth extraction 9 weeks ago, everything was healing ok until a few days ago when I felt pain/ache at extraction site. I looked in the mirror and saw sharp pointed bone growth coming out of the gum extraction site area. The bone is hard and does not moved so its fixed to my gum bone/jaw, its like pushing your finger into a blown up balloon and stretching the latex. The bone is pushing my gum flesh towards my cheek, this is what is hurting and causing the pain.

Dentist said this is normal and the bone should smooth off as it heals, told me to wait 2 months. If the bone does not reform correctly and stays abnormal, then they will have to cut gum and shave bone.

The confusing matter is! I've had several extractions over the years and none of them had abnormal bone growth, they all healed quickly.

Have you had anything like this happen ?

71

Good God, no, I am happy to say. It's really throwing it at you, isn't it? However, I can give you some words of comfort here. I once had a root canal that had been done badly and wouldn't settle. I had to have an apicectomy. This is where they have to cut the tips of the root off the tooth. They have to cut into your gum to do this. It's was a doddle. I went in as a day patient, was given full anaesthetic, and when I came out there was surprisingly little pain. I had been worried about a stitched wound in my mouth. How the hell would I eat, and so forth, but it was no bother at all.

So if the worst comes to the worst, it should be a piece of cake for you. What a really strange thing to happen to you. Does your body specialise in strange ailments just to challenge you?!

I know where you are coming from with the meds resistance. I hate them and avoid them at all costs, but I have classic TN and it's just not possible to live without them. In the relatively brief window before I had them - two weeks - I lost 10lbs in weight, could only eat two meals a day, which were pureed. Every time I went out I had to be swaddled in a scarf, but it didn't stop the shocks. I got them going out then got them coming back in again, no matter what I did. I couldn't eat, talk, shower, brush my teeth or drink. When you are sensitive to temperature, as I am, life becomes a nightmare. When the shocks first went away I felt like falling on my knees and giving praise to Western medicine. It felt like I'd died and gone to heaven.

I was living in perpetual terror before that, coming out in cold sweats when I had to do the most basic human activity. I cried when I went to the doctors, and I hate crying in front of medical professionals, or anyone really! So, yes, I am truly grateful that they are here, horrible side effects and all. My life wouldn't be worth living without them.

If it's of any comfort, OTC drugs are very dangerous too, we're just used to them. Paracetamol knocks the stuffing out your liver, aspirin and Ibuprofen make your stomach lining bleed; they eat the damn thing up. It's all a balance, and an either or decision - is it worse than the pain it's curing?

But hell, yeah, I hope they find something on my MRI that they can fix; a life on meds, especially ones like these, is still no picnic.

Dallas said:

I've tried all the TN meds, Tegretol and Carbamazepine, both I could not manage the side-effects.

Amitriptyline is used for a number of medical conditions including depression (as an antidepressant), its also used for neuropathic pain disorders. Gabapentin is used in epilepsy also neuropathic pain, Gabapentin helps to control electrical activity in the brain.

I'm a bit anti-meds, I hate taking any type of medication except for over the counter drugs such as Paracetamol, Ibuprofen. I cant cope with the side-effects from all the strong meds, sometimes I just suffer in silence and take ownership that I am not killing the rest of my body with all those awful medications.

I'm just like my father, we are pretty strong mentally. BUT! its getting harder to keep fighting this pain my body is throwing at me.

Currently I have pain from my most recent tooth extraction 9 weeks ago, everything was healing ok until a few days ago when I felt pain/ache at extraction site. I looked in the mirror and saw sharp pointed bone growth coming out of the gum extraction site area. The bone is hard and does not moved so its fixed to my gum bone/jaw, its like pushing your finger into a blown up balloon and stretching the latex. The bone is pushing my gum flesh towards my cheek, this is what is hurting and causing the pain.

Dentist said this is normal and the bone should smooth off as it heals, told me to wait 2 months. If the bone does not reform correctly and stays abnormal, then they will have to cut gum and shave bone.

The confusing matter is! I've had several extractions over the years and none of them had abnormal bone growth, they all healed quickly.

Have you had anything like this happen ?