The short question, does anyone with a type of TN2 or atypical TN, experience some type of relief from chewing on something hard or chewy? Pushing hard on my cheek bone(where pain often is) or using dental flaws to 'yank' on my tooth and the teeth next to it, offered me 'a little' level of relief. Now my tooth has been extracted and it is less effective to chew on that side for revealing my pain, but I can still receive a 'small' amount of relief. For many years I would wake up in the night from the intense aching pain and I would keep peanuts by my bed to chew on for a little relief. By no means did it eliminate the pain, only helped a little. I'm just curious if I have the right diagnosis since most all reports I read, say that chewing aggravates people's pain with TN. Any comments will be appreciated. Here is the longer history below if anyone is curious. Thank you! About 15 years ago I remember having pain in my upper left jaw. A couple Tylenol, not ibuprofen, helped minimize the pain, but the pain was chronic for years. Then one evening after a bowel of ice cream the pain increased 100+ fold. Some of the worst pain I ever felt. Even my tongue hurt! The pain had engulfed half of my head. After a couple days the pain subsided and I could easily and finally identify a single tooth as the culprit. My dentist recommended a root canal. During the procedure the dentist announced he had located the infection. I went back to work after the root canal and as the Novocaine wore off it became evident that my long term pain in that area was finally gone. It was an extremely joyous moment. I realized just how much pain I had been living with after it was now gone. I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing at the time I realized I was finally pain free. It was such a happy moment. But, within a few weeks pain returned. I now don't remember if the pain was different or the same, but definitely in the same area. I went back to the dentist and he prescribed antibiotics but it did no good. Eventually the dentist put the crown on the tooth to fulfill his agreement and told me maybe the pain will die out, not much else can be done. Over the next 10+ years I saw countless dentist and endodontists convinced this tooth was the problem. Most said there was nothing wrong with the tooth or any of my other teeth. The root canal was opened up and inspected for additional canals and also retreated. I also had an appendectomy Nothing changed my pain. Eventually, on my own accord, I elected to have the tooth extracted. The pain still existed. Meanwhile, I had had a couple CT scans of my head to rule out any other problems. During which time it was noted that the maxillary sinus on the opposite side of my pain, was completely plugged from a fungal infection. I had ignored this fungal infection for 10 years but finally agreed to surgery in hopes they could explore the sinus on the side of my head with the pain and find a problem. By the way, I have always suffered from a chronic sinus infection but I don't have allergy problems. Well after sinus surgery, no change in my pain and nothing was found wrong on the side of my head with the pain. They said they examined them, but who knows! lol I've now had a couple neurologists tell me it is TN(in the past 6 months) and I am currently seeing a very helpful pain management doctor but I'm having trouble tolerating the medicines(anticonvulsants and antidepressants). They fog my head up terribly and some meds make me feel like I have a terrible hangover all day. Narcotics do help with the least mental side effects but of course I have concerns about using them for long term treatment. And here I am today. I just found this website. For a decade I chased after a dental problem, and was oblivious to this TN condition. When I look back, nerve damage was suggested but I was 100% convinced it was tooth related because of what I physically felt and what I had experienced (a moment of being pain free) after the root canal.
I guess a good part of me still thinks there is something else wrong that can be fixed, besides this TN diagnosis.
Thanks for any comments. I am enjoying reading everyone's experiences. I had no idea this problem existed on any scale. It is comforting knowing I am not alone. Some days the pain is hard to handle and I like to think I have a high tolerance and can usually ignore it. Getting any quality or length of sleep can be one of my worst problems.