Hi everyone,
I'm new here. I apologize now because this is long but I'm happy to find people who seem to understand what I'm going through. I've been suffering for almost 2 months now after a root canal. I am not officially diagnosed yet with TN but the term has been brought up a few times and we're working to eliminate my sinuses. CT scan booked tomorrow, then there will be another one with contrast booked and a referral to a neurologist. I'm miserable. I'm in pain all the time though thankfully my doctor is working with me. I'm currently on 60 mg of sustained release morphine as of the day before yesterday. This helps but I still get breakthrough pains that are horrendous. I feel like someone is taking an ice pick and volleying it upwards through my head. I went to the ER yesterday morning because I couldn't take it. That doctor gave me a few Percocet which helps. They last about 4 1/2-5 hours but then the pain comes back, even with Morphine.
Without pain killers, I have a constant burning in my left side of my face, right above my back molars. It's an achey, boring into my head, burning sensation that will sometimes jolt into these sharp pains that go upwards towards my eye. It can occasionally radiate backwards. I also have constant pain in the back of my head, at the base of my skull on both sides but more so on the left. It grips my head all the time and I get these piercing, screaming shots of pain that go from the base of my head to the top of my skull. It's so sharp and debilitating. I get radiating repetitions of these shots, one after another, after another, after another that do not abate, no matter what I do. Position change doesn't help, ice doesn't help, darkness, silence, nothing. I'm at the point now where, even with painkillers, this is ongoing 24 hours a day. I'm going crazy.
This is my actual story as I wrote it for my profile:
Late July, I had a root canal done. I was not sedated so I was aware. At one point, I felt burning even over top of the freezing. I had to stop the procedure. It was a deep, hot, burning pain that was on my left upper jaw. He did some more freezing and it faded but I could still feel something. We were just near the end of the procedure so we just finished it off. He commented that it was a tricky root canal for him, not the worst but definitely in the top 10 or so.
I returned to him about a week and a half later for ongoing pain. It always felt as though it was between my two back molars. It was a burning, aching pain. The first visit was inconclusive. They weren't able to isolate where the pain was originating. The bite test showed my root canal tooth. The tapping test showed my back molar. They shaved down the root canal tooth just in case I was hitting it first when chewing and gave more pain relievers. This didn't fix it.
I came back about a week later, again with complaints of pains, shooting up into my face, headaches. It was constant and I could aggravate it by pushing on the first root canal tooth but it was a weird buildup, not an immediate surge. The pain that resulted from that was intense and would bring me to tears. The dentist ended up doing a cold test on my back tooth which jolted me out of my chair with pain. This resulted in another root canal being done on that back tooth.
The pain still continued. I came back about a week after that root canal, practically in tears due to the pain. I was having headaches almost every day and aching, burning pains in my jaw that would shoot up into my face. I got put on Percocet which helped although what it did was help with the shots of pain but not the burning.
I called in again a week later. My dentist basically gave up and referred me to a root canal specialist because he thinks maybe he missed a root. The specialist appointment isn't for another month. A couple days later he calls and asks me to come in for a 3D scan just so he can take a look. He didn't want to totally give up and thought this might give some answers.
I ended up calling again 2 days after the 3D scan, in tears. I'd run out of pain killers a few days before. I was just taking OTC. I couldn't focus on work, I was starting to lose sleep, I was stressed. The level of pain was getting to be too much. My dentist set up an appointment to look at the 3D scan and he found that I had a blocked sinus on same side. We thought we'd found an answer. I was given a round of antibiotics, a decongestant and more pain killers.
In the first 3 days, I felt a LOT better. The Percocets were fairly strong and there was definitely some blockage. I used the neti pot 2 times a day and cleared something right out. Then I plateaued. I was still having the burning pain in my face and the shots of searing pain. Even with the neti pot and the decongestant and OTC pain killers.
I called my dentist again and he said he can't help me anymore, I need to go to my family doctor. It's a sinus issue. Wants me to cancel the specialist appointment. I keep trying to say that I don't think it's sinuses. I even go in and go through all my symptoms. No go, doesn't want to see me.
I go to my family doctor. I run through the history. I was actually there in between all this to see my family doctor because I am dealing with peripheral blindness but this is taking over my life. I'd actually had a CT scan of my head after the 3D scan which showed my sinuses to be within normal ranges. I'm at the point where my pain is 24 hours a day. I've had a headache for 2 weeks straight that is shooting through my brain. It feels like an ice pick anytime I move, whether I'm laying down or sitting or standing. I have a history of migraines so he treats it with Maaxalt and T4s. The T4s provide relief until they wear off.
I go back. We start to discuss Trigeminal Neuralgia and I'm put on Tramadol. The Tramadol doesn't work. Now I'm on Morphine.