My TN1 is not considered classical, and isn't too bad at the moment. I'm not on any meds yet, I think I'm in denial or scared to start anything as most of the stories I've read are not good :-( I'm trying acupuncture and relaxation which seems to help. My neuro prescribed Prozac but I'm not sure how that will help my TN. My MRI came back fine.
My problem is that I need to get some cavities filled next week and I'm scared that it will make my TN worse. It doesn't help that I already suffer from anxiety and panic disorder. I've spoke with my dentist who seems to know about TN and swears that the dental work will not bother my TN. I can't "load" up on medication as I'm not on anything. Has anyone done okay with fillings and novacaine? Does everyone with TN have problems with dental work? I seem to see more negative stories that positive ones.
I can only speak for myself of course, but I have had two fillings on my bad side which seemed to make no difference. I think the damaging dental work had already been done!!
My thoughts and prayers go with you this morning. I hope that all goes well for you. Do you have someone going with you?
Shirley
Teri Laughlin said:
I have a 9am dentist appt this morning and am so concerned. I have been maintaining since a bad attack in Feb and am starting to feel some underlying twinges this morning. Last night I was so tired fell asleep without night meds and hope all this doesn't kick the pain in gear. I am just hoping that reminding them of my issues on the right side and having my meds now in my system this morning will help.
Thanks, it does help. My TN started randomly and I only have to get fillings on my bad side, so I don't believe it was caused by dental issues. I am working hard to take care of my teeth so I don't need another root canal or extraction.
I have looked into getting the book, however, when it rains, it pours. My husband just lost his job, I don't have one (not feeling well enough to work) and now we're on Cobra for medical. Don't even know if we have dental but I want to get the work done before it worse.
I will look into getting a new neuro, I don't really like where I am going. I don't necessarily mind driving further if I found someone who really wanted to work with me.
Kc Dancer Kc said:
It seems like larger percent of us with TN and problems causes by dental.....or worsen by dental are mostly extractions and root canals.....
If that helps!
You could ask denist to call in for mild relaxer, and have someone drive you...
I think your larger problem might be that your neuro is giving you PROZAC
Maybe look at the doctors tab and find a new one....even if you have to drive further.
I have had extensive dental work done but it was three years into getting my pain under control as I was to afraid to do it for a while. I doubled my medicine and we went slow. The dentist was very gentle and slow when he did the shots. I also had to take Xanax prior to help with nerves. Before finding this dentist I was researching sleep dentistry which might be something for you to look into.
Hi Skytapestry, It seems Dental and TN do have a close relationship with one another, I think it also depends on the patient and the dental practitioner who is carrying out the dental procedures.
I can remember back when I was about 12 and having TN pain, I have also had dental problems from an early age regarding overcrowding, fillings and root canal work in my late teens (also impacted wisdom tooth etc etc).
Trigeminal Neuralgia, Cluster Headaches are on both sides of my family, so it seems I was destine to suffer this awful disease.
Looking back now I can remember after my first tooth extraction which was a failed root canal, this seem to trigger the TN again in my thirties. 10 years on and I have been suffering TN type 2 on both sides on a daily basis, I always thought I had dental trouble and was persistent not to have anymore dental work done (just pull the tooth).
After several unnecessary extractions due to unbelievable TN pain I am now left with less teeth and I still have TN type 2 on both sides and on all 3 branches, but the TN pain has lessoned. It seems less teeth equals less pain, but I still feel TN pain where my teeth were, its like phantom tooth pain what seems to be the lower branch nerves up in my gum jaw area are screaming out in pain....... (I feel as there are no teeth there, the TN pain is slightly less painful if that makes any sense).
I'm at the stage now where I do not know if Trigeminal Neuralgia came first causing unnecessary dental treatment, or that dental treatment started or triggered Trigeminal Neuralgia, I am some what lead to believe its the latter.
Maybe tooth fillings are less complicated and not prown to cause much trouble, but! root canal work and extractions may have a part to play with TN pain because the nerve's, the roots and bone are messed about with.
Hope all goes well, a simple filling will be fine.
Thanks for your input. I trust all went well with your dentist three years ago and getting your pain under control? How are you today?
I am not on meds yet. I was just diagnosed and with my pain being minimal, I was hesitate to start medication as I hear it eventually quits working :-( Xanax and laughing gas aren't really an option as both give me anxiety. Any ideas what to do without meds? Maybe some hydrocodone after? I did order the book Striking Back but haven''t received it. I want to be informed about my treatment before starting treatment. Do you know how to tell the difference between TN pain and teeth pain? Since my pain and twitching started a couple months ago, I went straight to the neurologist and never have my teeth evaluated.
Lindsey said:
I have had extensive dental work done but it was three years into getting my pain under control as I was to afraid to do it for a while. I doubled my medicine and we went slow. The dentist was very gentle and slow when he did the shots. I also had to take Xanax prior to help with nerves. Before finding this dentist I was researching sleep dentistry which might be something for you to look into.
Thanks for responding. So sorry you've had to deal with so much. Everyone on this website is my hero, and I don't know how I am going to deal with this disease. You bring up an interesting point about your family history as while I have no family history, I am now concerned I have passed this on to my children. I have just been diagnosed and right now my pain isn't bad so I am not on medication yet. I wanted to read Striking Back before I made a decision on treatment. I already suffer from anxiety and depression (and dentist phobia) prior to this, and I am terrified going forward. I am pretty much frozen in fear. I would delay my dental but I am also afraid that waiting will cause more damage and I'll end up needing a root canal. Any pain relief ideas for someone not yet on meds (if I run into a problem?).
Thank you. I hope you are doing well today. Just curious, do you live in Texas?
Shirley
I have, in the past, had two root canals and one tooth extraction with no issues. I tend to think my TN is due to age (I am 54 with no family history). I do trust my dentist, the family's been seeing him for years and he's always been good with my anxiety. We've already spoken on the phone about this, and I believe he has some knowledge of TN' however, he did express that he believes dental work has gotten a bad rap when it come to TN. It seems to be a chicken and the egg kind of scenario I suppose.
Dallas said:
Hi Skytapestry, It seems Dental and TN do have a close relationship with one another, I think it also depends on the patient and the dental practitioner who is carrying out the dental procedures.
I can remember back when I was about 12 and having TN pain, I have also had dental problems from an early age regarding overcrowding, fillings and root canal work in my late teens (also impacted wisdom tooth etc etc).
Trigeminal Neuralgia, Cluster Headaches are on both sides of my family, so it seems I was destine to suffer this awful disease.
Looking back now I can remember after my first tooth extraction which was a failed root canal, this seem to trigger the TN again in my thirties. 10 years on and I have been suffering TN type 2 on both sides on a daily basis, I always thought I had dental trouble and was persistent not to have anymore dental work done (just pull the tooth).
After several unnecessary extractions due to unbelievable TN pain I am now left with less teeth and I still have TN type 2 on both sides and on all 3 branches, but the TN pain has lessoned. It seems less teeth equals less pain, but I still feel TN pain where my teeth were, its like phantom tooth pain what seems to be the lower branch nerves up in my gum jaw area are screaming out in pain....... (I feel as there are no teeth there, the TN pain is slightly less painful if that makes any sense).
I'm at the stage now where I do not know if Trigeminal Neuralgia came first causing unnecessary dental treatment, or that dental treatment started or triggered Trigeminal Neuralgia, I am some what lead to believe its the latter.
Maybe tooth fillings are less complicated and not prown to cause much trouble, but! root canal work and extractions may have a part to play with TN pain because the nerve's, the roots and bone are messed about with.
Hope all goes well, a simple filling will be fine.
Hi Skytapestry, I have the same fear as you regarding my children, I have two teenage daughters and I hope and pray I haven't passed this TN problem on to them.
My father suffers TN, his father my grandfather did (both had unnecessary extractions). My mother doesn't suffer TN, but her mother did, so does her auntie which is her mothers sister (she also suffers from cluster headaches). My uncle which is my mothers brother also suffers cluster headaches, I have only recently found all this out.
So yes! I am also worried that this TN gets past down through generation after generation, thankfully on my wifes side there doesn't seem to be any TN suffers.
My daughter had to have a K9 extracted due to not enough room for it to come down, I was worried that this may trigger TN. The orthodontist assured me that the extraction would be easy due to the tooth sitting in the gum flesh area and not the bone, thankfully my daughter has not suffered any pain since the extraction is my happiness.
I hope the chain is broken and they take after their mum more than me.
As for Texas, I wish we did, sadly we live in the UK................. I just luv the series Dallas, and wish we could move over and live the lifestyle. :)
Skytapestry said:
Thanks Dallas,
Thanks for responding. So sorry you've had to deal with so much. Everyone on this website is my hero, and I don't know how I am going to deal with this disease. You bring up an interesting point about your family history as while I have no family history, I am now concerned I have passed this on to my children. I have just been diagnosed and right now my pain isn't bad so I am not on medication yet. I wanted to read Striking Back before I made a decision on treatment. I already suffer from anxiety and depression (and dentist phobia) prior to this, and I am terrified going forward. I am pretty much frozen in fear. I would delay my dental but I am also afraid that waiting will cause more damage and I'll end up needing a root canal. Any pain relief ideas for someone not yet on meds (if I run into a problem?).
Thank you. I hope you are doing well today. Just curious, do you live in Texas?
Shirley
I have, in the past, had two root canals and one tooth extraction with no issues. I tend to think my TN is due to age (I am 54 with no family history). I do trust my dentist, the family's been seeing him for years and he's always been good with my anxiety. We've already spoken on the phone about this, and I believe he has some knowledge of TN' however, he did express that he believes dental work has gotten a bad rap when it come to TN. It seems to be a chicken and the egg kind of scenario I suppose.
Dallas said:
Hi Skytapestry, It seems Dental and TN do have a close relationship with one another, I think it also depends on the patient and the dental practitioner who is carrying out the dental procedures.
I can remember back when I was about 12 and having TN pain, I have also had dental problems from an early age regarding overcrowding, fillings and root canal work in my late teens (also impacted wisdom tooth etc etc).
Trigeminal Neuralgia, Cluster Headaches are on both sides of my family, so it seems I was destine to suffer this awful disease.
Looking back now I can remember after my first tooth extraction which was a failed root canal, this seem to trigger the TN again in my thirties. 10 years on and I have been suffering TN type 2 on both sides on a daily basis, I always thought I had dental trouble and was persistent not to have anymore dental work done (just pull the tooth).
After several unnecessary extractions due to unbelievable TN pain I am now left with less teeth and I still have TN type 2 on both sides and on all 3 branches, but the TN pain has lessoned. It seems less teeth equals less pain, but I still feel TN pain where my teeth were, its like phantom tooth pain what seems to be the lower branch nerves up in my gum jaw area are screaming out in pain....... (I feel as there are no teeth there, the TN pain is slightly less painful if that makes any sense).
I'm at the stage now where I do not know if Trigeminal Neuralgia came first causing unnecessary dental treatment, or that dental treatment started or triggered Trigeminal Neuralgia, I am some what lead to believe its the latter.
Maybe tooth fillings are less complicated and not prown to cause much trouble, but! root canal work and extractions may have a part to play with TN pain because the nerve's, the roots and bone are messed about with.
Hope all goes well, a simple filling will be fine.
Thanks for the reply. You just reminded me that my 14 year old needs a k9 extracted as well,,,I am glad your daughter is doing fine, and I too, hope the cycle is broken.
I was adopted by my maternal grandmother so I don't know much of my family history. Best I can gather, there isn't TN in the family (my grandmother followed my birth father after he left the family). Mine may be simply due to aging (I'm 54). So how do you manage? Have you found a treatment that works? Have you been able to find good treatment in the UK? I'm not so confident here in the US. I've read so many horror stories and there doesn't seem to be much real hope or relief. I've tried to find statistics out in the world of successes with medication, but can't find any. Do you have any insight?
As to Texas, I'm not sure you'd want to live here, but then I've never lived in the UK, I hear it's beautiful. I actually live right around the corner from the Ewing house, <10 minutes by car. They only filmed the outside shots here and the rest in the studio. The house is a lot smaller than you'd think. I've been out there a couple times to visit, it's now a tourist attraction and event site.
TN treatment here in the UK seems non existent, they just through medication at you and hope you go away. My GP has said its a chronic condition and something I would have to get use to, he works with me regarding the meds. He has said I am to young to consider going under the knife (I'm 41), he also said the success rate is very low.
He was quick to send me for the MRI and CT scans, all came back ok. Neurologist and Maxi-facial all said meds are the first step for treatment, the only trouble is though I have a real phobia of strong medication. I started on Amitriptyline which helped slightly then moved onto Tegretol and Gabapentin which both gave me horrendous side-effects, I still dont like taking Amitriptyline because of the awful way it makes me feel.
I pretty much suffer in silence, I hide the pain from my children and pretty much hide it from my wife as much as I can. My wife and two daughters are my strength each day, I just pray for those pain free days to come and hope they will last weeks, months and maybe years.
Its great to hear from someone that lives only 10mins from the Ewing Ranch, Wow! I also heard that the ranch was only used for the outside scenes, shame really. I reckon if we came to Dallas and visited the ranch my dreams and aspirations of the show maybe smashed with disappointment, I hope not. I have grown up with the show here in the UK and think of the USA to be so wonderful and glamorous, please tell me this is so. lol
Yes! the UK is very beautiful, we live down on the south coast, Dorset. We have Kingston Lacy House 5 mins from us and Cranborne Manor, also the famous Sandbanks Peninsula Millionaire's Row 20 mins away. So yes everything is very beautiful, I suppose people always think the grass is greener on the other-side...............but! sometimes it maybe not.
It is nice chatting with you. I am sorry that you have to suffer in silence, that you have to suffer at all. I am new to this, and just amazed that there is not more that can be done.
It's great that you can draw strength from your wife and children. Do you have any strong religious beliefs? My 14 year old daughter is light of my life, the reason I get up in the morning. I do hide my pain and fears from her, but she does know what's going on. It breaks my heart that I cannot be the mother to her that I want to be. I have two older children, but they live away and I don't speak with them too often. My husband is currently living away for work, but should be coming home soon. He works hard to take care of me and seems sympathetic to my situation.
Your neuro seems to be in line with what I know so far; chronic disease, gets worse over time, meds first line of defense. I'm not sure my understanding of TN would indicate that you're too young to go under the knife. Did they say why? I have read that successful outcomes, depending on the surgery, are not real high, but I'm not sure I'd say they are low. Do you ever have moments of remission? I tried acupuncture and for awhile it seemed to be working. Now it seems I'm just getting worse. And like you, I am paranoid of strong medications. Have you tried trileptal? It's supposed to be a better version of tregretol. I'm sorry that amitriptyline makes you feel awful especially in light of the fact it's an antidepressant. Could you try one of the other trycyclics? I believe there are 3 total. I have also read that SSRI's (Prozac) might help. Have you looked into the compound cream? It's combination all the meds you've taken, adds an absorption agent, and is compounding into a cream that you use topically on your face. It's purported to have much less side effects and is designed for people who can't tolerate drugs well.
Are you able to work? I had just completed my masters and state certification when this struck me. I guess I'm still in denial as I keep hoping it's something else, like my teeth, but I think I know better in my heart...
You're correct about the house, the did only use if for outside scenes, and touring the inside was a disappointment (sorry). As to the US being glamorous, well, it depends on how you define glamorous. Dallas is considered one of the top "hot spots" in the US.