i went to the er to get help because of type 2TN pain i took the attending phycians form. they had never seen one before and didnt know what TN was so they signed me in for headache pain. i sat for 5hours and was never seen. i finally went home sitting at home in pain to me seemed more comfortable than sitting in the er in pain. so today the pain is worse but after yesterdays experience im unsure about going back to the er
Hi Ouchie, I’m so sorry to read of your bad experience at the ER…
It can be extremely frustrating at the best of times let alone when you’re in a pain crisis.
Unfortunately it’s been my experience, that I have had to advocate for myself, and educate others to the severity of TN pain. ( even medical professionals )
I have a high pain threshold , but TN can bring all of us to our knees!
Call your doctor’s office ASAP and tell them you are in a pain crisis! You need immediate advice and help.
You should not have to suffer.
If you decide to go back to ER, my neurosurgeon wrote a paper once that included the following suggestion for TN patients for treatment in an ER setting ;
Emergency medical Treatment
"Severe exacerbations may not permit the patient opportunity to sufficiently increase their medication intake to control the pain. Emergency room administration of intravenous phenytoin
Can be very effective, followed by a maintenance dose. Many ER patients with TN are often given opiate analgesics, which typically are not effective in reducing TN pain, and should not be prescribed for outpatient trigeminal neuralgia treatment."
I’m including the link below,as I’ve only copied a small portion of the text.
http://www.catna.ca/Newsletters/2008/Feb%2008.pdf ( page 3 of 5)
Thinking of you, Mimi
it is unreal how bad the medical community really is..I mean, thats crap waiting 5 hours with no help. I am so sorry you went through that. I would think someone would have heard of TN there, but then again, when I was first in pain and had no diagnosis, they told me in the ER that I was an addict just looking for drugs because I didnt appear to be in pain.
I hear so many stories like yours , it just really pisses me off.
I hope you did get some relief and are feeling better now.
Wendy
It's so strange. My ER knew within minutes of seeing me (which was very soon after I had been triaged) what was wrong with me. Even the receptionist had suggested it at the initial form filling stage. I think we need to spread the word!