I've been trying to get on here for awhile. It's amazing how hard it is to do anything on the computer when you have kids. Long story short, never mind there is no way to make this short, so please bear with me. I had jaw pain on and off about 5 weeks ago with a swollen lymph node under my jaw. I awoke a week later with the worst tooth ache I have ever had. Dentist said it was not my teeth but he thought it might be TMJ and to get a night guard. The night guard caused more sores and problems, so I just trained myself to sleep with my mouth open. Tooth pain went away so I thought it must be TMJ so made an appointment with a TMJ specialist. The tooth and jaw pain came back among other things. In the meantime I did a lot of reading, Although some of my symptoms were in line with TMJ, it just didn't seem to fit. I felt like I had an ear ache, tooth ache, couldn't stand anything to touch my left side, couldn't even handle air blowing on my left cheek. When my daughter put makeup on my face rubbing it with a makeup sponge just below and in front of my ear it brought on the pain again. Laying in bed one night, couldn't sleep because my jaw was hurting, I thought "I am a reasonably intelligent woman, I should be able to figure this out." I could trace the exact line of my pain along the lower edge of my jaw up to my ear. I looked at some anatomy pictures and the Trigeminal nerve was exactly where my pain was. So eventually I found an article on trigeminal Neuralgia. The weirdest thing was I read that sometimes people have pain in their left index finger. For several months I have been having electrical shock like pains shoot through my finger if it gets touched or moved the wrong way. Does anyone know what the finger pain is supposed to be like? Not sure why the pain in my finger would be worse and more shock like than what I feel in my face.
So I went to the TMJ Dentist and told him all I had found out. He examined me. He said lets treat for TMJ and rule that out. He would fit me with a custom night guard and fix my bite. I told him about my suspicions of having TN and he said that was very rare and you cant feel where your nerve is because it is inside the bone, so lets rule out TMJ. Sounded reasonable to me til I got to the front desk and they gave me the treatment plan. $1,370.00 for the guard which my insurance doesn't cover and 6 or so visits in the next month to line everything up. It seems like a lot of money to rule something out. Should I go to a neurologist and get their opinion? I may not have TN because aside from that first couple of days my pain does not seem that severe and it is more constant with occasional shooting pains that aren't' as bad as it seems others have. It has affected my life a lot. I avoid talking to people, smiling or laughing. Can't stand any air to hit the left side of my face, or anything to touch it. I can't eat anything hot or cold. It seems to come on fairly quickly and go away almost instantly. I value any and all information you can give me, and would enjoy hearing any similar experiences and what you've done. I truly believe the answers lie with those who have gone through it before. Thanks, Shawna
Except when you suggest things to an up-himself neurologist who tells you you have "read too much". WTF?!!!! :D
Finger thing is interesting, I have had tingling in my left ulnar nerve branch (little finger and half of ring finger) that was investigated with nerve stimulation testing (which came back normal) about 15 years ago ... I get it now and then. So far longer than the TN has been around for me but certainly gets me thinking!
Kc Dancer Kc said:
Ask away! Your OWN research is your new best friend! The sooner the treatment the better.
Go see a neurologist it sounds like classic TN. Be careful there are so many Quacks as KC Dancer Said Put it LOL that try to treat TMJ when it is not and it can get very expensive. Tn can go in to what they say remission cycle it comes and it goes it is also a progressive type of thing mine has gotten progressivly worse. The wind the makeup the hot the cold the coming and going is call classic TN Buy a book called striking back like KC Dancer said it has lots of useful information good luck
Thank You everyone for the information and especially the support. I guess I kinda know that's got to be what it is, I just don't really want it to be that. I'm going through a lot of different emotions right now. Some denial, feeling sorry for myself, you know "why me?" and "why hasn't someone figured out how to fix this by now?", and some days I still think it must not be TN because my pain is not very bad. I guess I'll just take it one step at a time.
Hi, you are describing my TN symptom , except for the finger pain. Like you, I could not face it initially . Why me ! This is a rare disease and there is no family history! It is wise to see a neurologist and get the pain managed.
Best regards,
Seow
I have had the index finger pain since my TN started.. I have researched it and found that some other TN pts do complain of it.. I just cant figure out why ...Yet... My other friend has the finger pain as well, and she has TN too, Her Dr told her that TN can cause this pain.. He is far away from me, or I would be there to see him =) .. I also had a lot of numbness in my hands and feet, but i think its from my TN meds, or possible B12 being low.. Sounds to me just like the pain that I had with the teeth hurting. my advise if you havent already since this has been a while, see a Neurologist Or that book Striking Back is excellent. Good luck and best wishes to you.
Left index finger pain just started for me about 2 weeks ago. It is progressively becoming more and more tender. Especially the very topmost joint near my finger tip. I had just run across an article mentioning this when my pain started there. Does anyone else know anything about this and what is the connection to TN?