Could my ATN symptoms be caused by my mastication muscles? they hurt A LOT and feel tight

General General TN & GPN (Old Site)
1

When I massage muscles such as the masseter (the one that opens and closes the mouth), the temporal muscle, the muscle around the jaw, they all feel deeply sore

I dont grind my teeth, and my spouse tells me at she doesn't hear anything at night, but at day I do tend to bite my teeth a certain way, and I have found that the more stressed I am the more I feel ATN issues and the more relaxed I am the less I feel it.

So my logic is.... If ATN is pretty much a neuropathy and treated as the same entity medically according to Mr. Lawhern, then a neuropathy would be quite constant, it would not come and go and get worse with stress and anxiety and then relax when I feel happy! A neuropathy would indicate an actual nerve issue or damage so state of mind would have nothing to do with it and I would have a pretty constant burning or ache on the nerve.

But my pain is achy, sore, at times tight and tingly.... not cold/hot/burning/stabbing!

I used to suffer until a couple of months ago from severe anxiety, 24/7 which would wake me up at night with panic, shortly thereafter my ATN issue started.

MRI fiesta and neurologist ruled out TN1

has any one found that their ATN has gone away or has gotten better once they relax their facial muscles? after all all sorts of nerve branches run thru these muscles!

thanks

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Hi imcurtis,

I haven't found that connection, but I've wondered as well. I clench my teeth at night. I'm headed to my neurologist tomorrow to see if he will prescribe me baclofen and klonapin to take at night, just to see if I get any relief.

Have you taken any muscle relaxers?

Beth

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Sounds like you need to follow that line of thought, then. Maybe take up yoga or regular massage, or even acupuncture. Maybe try nighttime muscle relaxers.

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I have seen a local neurologist who diagnosed it, but I don't have tremendous trust in him. He's a nice guy, but he's given me very little guidance and had been unwilling to try different meds or consider that I could have geniculate neuralgia (which I'm almost positive I have). My husband is extremely upset at the medical community here, as I've pretty much had to take doctors by the hand and steer them, or I don't get decent care.

I am going to Johns Hopkins in a few weeks to see about getting into a clinical trial for motor cortex stimulation, and I'm really looking forward to meeting with a top notch neurologist.

In any event, my TN started 2.5 years ago as burning/aching on my scalp. Then it went into my nose and top front teeth on the right side. Then the ear. Then the lip, cheek, and jaw line. None of this has been constant, though. I have days with next to no pain and days when I'm in bed (like today) on lots of pain meds not prescribed by my doctors. I know I clench my teeth. I know I have bad nerve pain. They may be related, but I don't have diagnosed TMJ disorder. In the end, nothing I've tried has worked for any length of time.

As for neuropathy being a constant pain, I'm not sure where you got that idea, but if you talk with anyone with other forms of neuropathy, I'm fairly certain the consensus would be that there are good days and bad; that's why bad times are called flares. Stress, exhaustion, weather, other illnesses can cause flares. Perhaps it's due to chemical changes in our body.

In any event, I'm not sure how long you've had TN2, but the picture will likely become clearer for you as time goes on. Trust me ... I've wondered about TMJD, TN2, and geniculate neuralgia. I've wondered if I'm a hypochondriac. Yes, when my head settles down, I often look back and wonder if I was making it up.

But today, I'm on:

25 mg lyrica, Vicodin, and tramadol. I have a bit of a lidocaine patch stuffed in my ear. And I am changing ice packs every hour or so. Oh, and I just took some THC tincture. But the pain is still there every time I remove the ice, chew, or brush my teeth. Whatever this is that I have, I just want relief.