Well, I went to my neurologist today, to get the results of my MRI. He said, my MRI was "normal". I was heartbroken. I would've preferred he would've said they found the issue ad this is what we do to fix it. How can thus be possible? Such excruciating pain has to be coming from somewhere. Well, he gave me nerve block to give me some relief. What I thought would be one or two shots turned into 20-30, not exaggerating. I could feel my nerves being numbed. It was so worth the pain from the injections. He said he wants to run more tests to find out the reason behind the pain.
Have any of you guys had a MRI come back as normal? Im just disappointed.
All of my MRI/MRAs have come back normal in the trigeminal area. I can't remember exactly how many I've had, but it's around a half dozen over the years.
I know (believe me, I know) that it's difficult to not have a definitive answer, but sometimes it's idiopathic and we just have to learn to accept not having an identifiable reason for the pain.
Another test he might want to run involves a lumbar puncture. They aren't always the most pleasant experience, but don't take long.
That nerve block process sounds terrifying, but it sounds like it helped!
You are going to find that a normal MRI is par for the course. They are looking for MS pre-conditions, or a visible compression. I too showed neither on my MRI. More often than not your neurologist will start you on a regiment of
anti-convulsives to try and keep those nerve impulses firing at a slower rate. Never had nerve blockers myself.
*** Update... Yesterday, I had a good day... (painwize)... even my kids and my hubby said that for a moment there.. " i was back to my normal self" (after the numerous nerve block shots). . I had energy to clean around the house, etc... just like the good ole me... however, some time during the night, the jaw pain started coming back. Although not as intense... I could feel it starting to throbb and shoot from my nerve, which is near my left jaw, right behind the ear, and run thru my jaw and bottom teeth.... I even woke up my husband and told him " Honey, the pain is coming back"... Today, i can feel the pain there, but if i were to rate it from a 1 thru 10 , 10 being the most painful, i would give it a 3... so, its still tolerable. however, im afraid.. its as if im just waiting for the 10 to get here...
I have read a lot of stories of members here who had a "normal" MRI but when they opened them up there was a compression. I believe I even read a story about someone with a normal MRI and they have THREE nerves being compressed!
My biggest worry is when I have an MRI, if it's normal, that the doctor will dismiss my symptoms and decide I don't really have TN.
I hope you get answers and that the pain gets better. I know the feeling of when it goes away for a little bit and you feel normal, but in the back of your head you are wondering when it's coming back...I've had a few weeks like that, where it goes away for a day or two and I feel wonderful, and then it comes back and it seems like it's worse because I was given that brief window into a pain-free life!
My MRI was normal too. But the good news is that there's no sign of MS or a tumor causing the pain. I have been on 600mg of Tegretol for about 10 days and I'm feeling better everyday!
Do you happen to remember if you were sleeping on your left side when you woke up with pain? I woke up on my pain side one morning and had the worst attack I'd ever had. Just curious.
My MRI was also normal. I was disappointed too. I thought for sure such terrible pain must mean there would be something glaringly obvious and visible. Once I had time to think about it I was thankful as it meant no early signs of MS or a cancerous brain tumour. My doctor has held steady with his diagnosis of TN and now I hope the neurologist, who I see on the 10th, will concur. This is a dark horse we ride.
I met the infamous Dr.Kaufmann this past week and he also said a negative MRI was almost further proof that it was indeed TN. He said they still do surgery despite a negative MRI.
Be encouraged by your negative MRI as while TN is a terrible and frustrating condition it will not kill you like a tumour or MS could. We all stand behind you. Hugs
My MRI came back normal and my neurosurgeon has scheduled my MVD. I think the symptoms confirm the diagnosis of TN and the MRI is used to rule out any other possible causes.