I had microvascular decompression for right side trigeminal neuralgia almost 6 months ago. Every time I try to stop using the scopolamine patch I experience severe nausea, vomiting and dizziness. The longest I've been off the nausea meds before getting sick is12 hours or so. Then It takes 3-4 days on the meds before I stop feeling like complete crap... My neurologist thought the TN meds I was still taking were causing this problem so she had me taper off all meds. I waited a few weeks after that to try again, and had the same result. My neurologist consulted with my Neuro surgeon. He said some patients do experience prolonged nausea and vomiting and that it will eventually stop but they cannot say how long because everyone heals at their own pace. I've been having breakthrough nausea which I hate. I'm taking amitriptyline and Aleve for months now. Sometimes I think it's working, sometimes not so much. I get electric shocks to the bridge of my nose and around my right eye. Loud noise bothers me, my skull gets sore in the incision area, I can't put my glasses between my head and right ear, because the little bit of pressure starts the TN pain going. I also can't lay on my right side or rest my head against a pillow or my recliner. It's just too much pressure - still! Also around the same time the TN first started I started having trouble getting comfortable when sitting down. That right side sciatic nerve pain also triggers TN pain, even though the two nerves aren't connected. This also makes driving really difficult. I am back to work, but only part time. My employers provided me with a desk that can be elevated, so I work standing up now. Recently my Dr recommended cutting back my hours because each day the TN pain is coming back stronger. I've been working with physical therapists to deal with my ongoing dizziness as well as the sciatic issue. Has anyone else had similar issues or taken this long to get back to 'normal' after microvascular decompression? My Drs are telling me it could take a year... I do want to add that I would do the mvd all over again I do not regret making that decision. While I've had a lot of post surgical 'complications' I'm still in much better shape now. Before surgery I was in constant pain with tons of horrible flashes of pain in the bridge of my nose, the right eye, my right jaw was stiff and sore and I'd get major shocks to a couple of molars. Cold air, noise and light were huge triggers for me. My MRI/MRA revealed that my superior cerebellar artery was right up against the trigeminal nerve. Any info that anyone can provide would be gratefully appreciated.
My wife had the same surgery for the left side almost 2 years ago and now she has to deal with uncontrollable vomiting every single day. We recently found out that her vestibular nerve was damaged during the surgery and we are filling suit against her surgeon for 30 million dollars. It wasn’t until we found a neurotologist who was able to pinpoint her problems. She has had 4 brain surgeries to correct this due to fluid leaks on the brain and cutting nerves in the back of the brain to get rid of the intense pain. And now she will have a 5th brain procedure to redo the microvascular decompression surgery that was done incorrectly. I wish you well and hope that you don’t end up like my wife.