So, last summer I finally had my MRI, but I hadn't had any TN pain for a few months. The results came back showing nothing. So now that I'm in a full blown attack, lasting for a month so far, would it show up? Should they have waited to do the MRI until I was having pain again?
You do not have to be in terrible pain to have an MRI show you have a vein touching or compressing on the trigeminal nerve. That is the crazy part of this disorder. An MRI can show you have the intruding vein and yet no pain. You can have extreme pain and the MRI will NOT show any vein touching or compressing the nerve. Usually, the pain is caused by the vein touching the nerve, but alot of people with TN and ATN do not have any evidence of a vein touching the nerve. This is truely a rare disorder without enough research to establish a direct cause or cure.
It shouldn't be any different. And everything D Mc Ginnis said, I second that.
There are two types of MRIs I believe - one can show compression and regular one doesn't
My surgeon - top in the field - doesn't waste time on them -- Had MVD off of my accounts of pain and my terrible side effects of trileptal.
Regular MRI I think they are ususally looking for MS too - but it is not the first side effect of MS as I have read on here
Hope this make sense
While lowering trileptal , instead of living in hell - I got prescription lidocaine patches that were a miracle
To evaluate facial pain patients, MRI should be performed at sub-millimeter resolution, in a trigeminal protocol focused specifically on the brain stem (FIESTA protocol), both with and without contrast agent. The images should be processed for 3-D reconstruction after the procedure. This is the "gold standard" of patient assessment and it isn't done by all MRI centers. Ask first, please...
Regards,Red
Thanks all, I did have the MRI with and without contrast, I'm certain it was the one that would show the compressed nerve.