That's a very interesting saying and I could dissect it having been a postgrad ethics student but I won't go into all that :) Sadly we do seem to get some people who have no physiological signs of pain that report that they are in pain. Usually with pain your blood pressure and pulse will rise (which in our case no doubt makes it worse), the patient may "guard" the area (I know my hand wants to press on my face, the classic is abdominal pain where the patient will bend over at the area) and then you get in extreme pain things like outwardly crying tears or self-comforting like rocking back and forth. There is some sort of thing about teenage girls who seem to suffer some kind of abdominal pain that has no physiological markers and is clear on all medical tests ... I'm not sure if it's true pain or otherwise. Increasingly these days I find myself having to think like a psychiatric nurse (it doesn't help that the anorexia nervosa girls get dumped in our ward rather than going to the child psychiatric ward).
Nir Morita said:
Porcelina - i'll be honest and say.. that thinking people are "attention seeking" instead of really bieng in pain - is a terrible thought.
can it really THAT hard to believe that one person does not go espesically to the ER - and he is REALLY in pain ?
i'll say more.. there are so many people with severe pain that should be hopitalized and helped.. but they don't go to the ER just sit at home and suffer greatly. does that mean they should not get help ?
i'm sure there ARE cases of attention seeking .. but going that road -one should be very causious.
it's like the saying .
Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer,
My TN acts up a lot more when im stressed. I had college finals the other day and I was so stressed and the pain wouldn't ease, it seemed as soon as the stress was reduced so was my pain. Also if my husband and I bicker it seems to flare up. Who knows though it may be me running my mouth at him that causes it ;)
Can stress cause TN?...mmm not that i have heard and not in my experience but i guess after years maybe its possible for stress to cause another illness that if not dealt with could potentially contribute to it.
I would also assume that the above 'possible' situation could maybe cause Type 2 TN, but hey thats just me and my loopy ideas, i am certainly no doctor.
On the point of aggravation i would definitely say that for my part, i remeber telling my neurologist that i could think of no possible triggers for my pain but that if i was extremely upset, angry or chocked up with frustration, within 5 minutes my pain would magically appear fiercely if not already present, perhaps for the reason that Cathy mentioned above..makes sense to me at least.
Of course stress and stressful situations can trigger the TN pain, when we are under stress, our blood pressure increases and the Cerebral Artery is LAYING on top of the Trigeminal Nerve..The increase in blood pressure is directly affecting and triggering the pain. .I have had Gamma Knife...don't do it...too much can last for many years, I had mine in 2008 and the bad side effects are still present. I finally had MVD 5 months ago, THANK YOU DR. DONG KIM,MD., Mischer Neuroscience at the Houston Medical Center University of Texas....we flew in , saw Dr. Kim, and took our motorhome back for the surgery two weeks later..stayed for the two weeks after surgery had the stitches removed and my husband drove us back to Arizona. If you don't have a motorhome, there are two RV resorts that have them for you to rent,very reasonable. We stayed at a hotel at the medical center when we went for the initial evaluation..My surgery was longer than expected, I had waited so long that the artery was very entangled with the nerve...Dr. Kim told my husband that I was the worst that he had ever seen...TN does run in my family...My greatgrandmother lived to age 88, but had her nerve clipped back in 1960..The pain was still present and she had to take all the meds...... She was a very strong woman..If this MVD surgery was available back then, I know she would have had the surgery...
I still have the after effects of the Gamma Knife, I drool, my right mouth droops, my right eye is without nerve sensation, I have to wear an eye patch if I am out in blowing sand, dirt, windy conditions because of the possibility of damage to the cornea because I don't have that flinching or blinking ability from too much Gamma Knife...The doctor says it will take years to get back to normal...but NO MORE BIG PAIN...!!
Hope this helps ! This isn't the first time I have responded to this question...but it is now 5 months after MVD and I have my life back !
I can't speak for anyone else but I have been dealing with ATN & TN since 1986, right after a Maxillofacial Jaw Reconstruction at age 17...and I don't personally think it is a CAUSE of TN, but there is no doubt in my mind that stress is one of many triggers. When I get stressed (especially if it is something brought on suddenly and is really upsetting to me) it amplifies my symptoms. My triggers include stress, breeze, eating/drinking cold things (50/50), chewing, laughing, talking, loud and/or startling noises, moving from warm temps to cold temps, barometric pressure (the higher above 30.00" the worse I feel...or if it drops too fast), someone touching my face/head, etc. I was also diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia in October 2011 and with Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia in July 2013 (just a week ago).
This topic keeps resurfacing for me and the similarities we face are intriguing. So many of us have had tn present after or during periods of intense stress. It does not cause our tn but let me throw out an idea for discussion. Since most of us have the compression and the inflammation and elevated bp affect the nerve I am curious as to the possibility of the prolonged intense stress speeding up the process by the continual rubbing of the offending artery on the nerve wearing away the myelin ? I would love to hear thoughts on this as it is something I havve often wondered about.
I'm uncertain of the exact mechanism involved, but I find your general concept plausible. Prolonged intense stress does elevate blood pressure, and that by itself can cause blood vessels to move within the strictures of surrounding tissues. Higher stress may lead to greater contact between blood vessels and the nerve, and to more "pounding" of the nerve by elevated pulse rates. Any adrenalin reaction can replicate that effect.
Yes. I think it is very plausible. My doctor has a theory for my cause involving an injury from 20 years ago. That means my TN would have waited 16 years to appear. I have ALWAYS believed what did me in is stress. Seven years of working full time, going to school full time (3 of that law school), raising a child with no help, and an acromonious vicious ex and I have my forst attack before taking the bar exam. By this point I was on anti depressants and anxiety treatments. My life calmed down and so did my TN. This time the toll of my profession is exhausting and stressful. Pain comes back. I work out----- pain. i get upset-- pain. My answer is a resounding yes.
It relieves me to read this discussion. I find physical stress can trigger, I work with marine stranding and when I overdue, I don't know, but each time I have gone to emergency for outrageous pain my blood pressure is very HIGH when normally it is very LOW. I have been a vegetarian for 42 years, and perhaps not because of my eating habits, but because of them it is very low. I also am a lifetime runner.
So, at all cost I try not to overwork physically, because pain on my left side of my face screams.
Also, a couple of days ago I was out for 9 hours and a coworker said he became annoyed when I said I have to go, if only he knew our pain. When I told him I was diagnosed with TN he said,"Isn't that psychosomatic?"
I don't feel comfortable saying I have TN, only with my intimate family or here.
May you all have peace, support, compassion, and love.