I just got diagnosed in the ER. Can anyone tell me what kind of doctor I should see for this? What do you use for treatment? I saw a neuro and he didn’t know anything about it. Help!!
That’s who u need…a neuro. Some of them don’t know much. U need to research in your area and find a facial pain specialist if u can . He didn’t give u anything to start? U need an anti convulsant or some people have sucess with tricyclic antidepressants. I’m sorry u r going through this
Thank you for responding. The ER doc put me on gabepation (sp?) and perc for pain. So I need a neuro and a face pain doc? Or is that suppose to be the same doc?
Ok gaba is the first line med for Tn so that is good. Some neuros have specialties or some university hospitals have specialists. Where are you located? Look at the top of the page under doc appointment and there are some lists of drs. They aren’t easy to find though. So ask for a referral from your gp for a neuro to start with. U need an MRI to rule out other things
Ok! Thx! Question, have you had any short term memory issues with it? Or could that be from the med? What the typical dose the of gab? What do you take for pain? Thanks again!!
That could b the med. I do find Tn affects my cognitive abilities overall…the pain is consuming.
I think they start out at 300 a day maybe but that is a very low dose. It may need to be titrated up and it can take some time to start working. I am on nortriptyline. It is a tricyclic anti depressant which are also used for Tn. There are quite a few different meds to try. Sometimes finding relief takes some work
Training and the emphasis in practice vary between doctors even in neurology. I suggest that you look up one of the docs in the members doctors list under our Doctor Appointment tab in the menu above. Docs are placed on that list when they are recommended by a member. Another approach would be to google "US News and World Report" plus "Best Doctors". The publication does a survey every year to ask practicing docs to whom they would refer a family member if particular issues arose. The listing of "100 best doctors" is broken out by specialty and US State.
Regards, Red
To reiterate what Jane said, you should see a neurologist. From there, you might want to see a neurosurgeon. Your PCP probably won't be able to help much with this, if at all. When I first joined this wonderful site, someone suggested I get the book "Striking Back". I am almost done reading it and it has provided me with so much valuable information -- on meds, treatments, and everyday tips to help me be more comfortable. I got a barely used copy from Amazon for $28. Whatever questions or concerns you have before you can get to a neuro, please feel free to ask them here. Best wishes and hang tough!
Cindy Lou is right, the “Striking Back” book is invaluable in discerning a lot of the subtleties of each form of facial pain and the treatments and interventions. A lot has to do with you present state of health and reaction to the meds. I found gabapentin to inhibit cognitive function too much and did better with tegretol, but others on this site have said they didn’t get relief with either. This is a very complex disease, and it can’t be handled by a single simple protocol for everyone. I hope you find your solution swiftly.
I ended up in the ER tonight from the pain. The doctor did s great job at getting the pain under control. He also switched the gab our for tegrital. So we shall see…