I have had one major attack 3 years ago but thought it was a tooth. The pain lasted three weeks and I was on major pain meds. I realize now that it was TN because it was the worst pain I have ever experienced. Later that year I was on lamictal for depression and Klonopin for pelvic pain. I think that put TN in check until about a year and a half ago when I was feeling a pressure. Again I thought it was a tooth infection. After 4 root canals and 2 apioectomies (sp?) later I started having pain, not like the first time, but pain that wouldn't go away and was not helped by anti-biotics or painkillers. Back to the endo. She redid a root canal but the pain was back the next day. She couldn't find anything else. I started reading up pn facial pain and decided to make an appt with a neurologist. She diagnosed me in the early stages (I know some people go straight into 500 shocks a day or more) but for me it was only those two episodes and lesser pain that I thought were dental related then the electrical shocks. She did tell me that is was best to get started with treatment right away to try and keep this thing under control.
I was just wondering if the lesser pain was the usual way this develops or does it usually come in one horrendous burst after another? Thoughts? Experiences?
I had an oral surgeon yank my neck around while I was under ----- he was working on the left side of face
I woke up and 4 hours later I had police tazor like pain in my RIGHT cheek --- did not make correlation -- but he wasn't much help - glad he did finally send me to neuro ---- the zaps made me stop eating, stop talking, then went away - come and go and come and go --- last for seconds or a half hour --- once brought me to my knees in my formal cubical. Once I went on Trileptal all pain was gone but I had the IQ of a comatose zombie.
Actually in retrospect -- the tooth he pulled the week before---right in front of the "Fatal tooth day" -- I kept calling the office with minor weird little shocks --- I could have lived with that --- but he and my reg dentist insisted I have the backwards sideways last wisdom tooth cut out with some jaw bone.
There are sooooooo many stories of sooooo much un-needed dental work on here --- it would fill volumes!
I actually was diagnosed by a dentist, after he prodded at my teeth, and told me ALL of them could NOT be hurting. He was very kind, and did not do unnecessary dental work.
I had extreme tooth pain over a weekend, then three twenty minute extreme pains per day with an ongoing low grade uncomfortableness. I started medication and have had some numb days, some painful episodes, but overall improvement. I wish you the best with your journey.
Mine was more severe than yours but it did take a couple of years to work up to agony. I coped for the first year, complained to my dentist a lot in the second then one day, mouth locked with the worse pain I had ever known, I could barely breathe without pain so off to the ER where I was diagnosed very quickly, leading me to have words with my dentist!