pain started april 2011, diagnosed july 2011. still constantly at dr appts. they all think im nuts im sure. neuro, md, dentist, ent, oral surgeon-last year prob about 8 e.r. visits, admitted 2x. Because i also have a cerebral anuerysm, drs always do mri's. ive had that for 11 years and its nevver changed. its always the same result. TN. no one can really understand the pain as far as family and friends. ive tried a few anti seizure meds, had bad reactions to them all. i take neurotin, but prob need to up dosage. yesterday i woke up with my teeth clenched to my tongue, could hardly speak, still hurts, im sure that added to all the nerve pain,. dont know if that was part of the tmj or tn why i am doing that in my sleep. it wasnt the first time. very dizzy today, gums hurt alot and usual migrane. so i am glad i found this place, somewhere people do understand the pain and fustration of this horrible disease.
Welcome Lori 
Hi Lori, welcome. I found this site a couple of weeks ago. I feel like I have been trying to solve a murder mystery case myself. 1st dental then primary care doctor, then ent, then neurologist, then GP, MRI, CT scan, and now x-ray on neck and probably mri on neck. It is exhausting! Do I have tmj? sinusitus? buldging cervical disc???? Anyway, I have been pain free for 4 weeks now with help of the good Lord and anti seisure meds. I have found this site very helpful and supportive . I hope you will too!
Hi Lori... Welcome.
I was misdiagnosed as TMJ for years. All the time it was TN... I identify with you about the clenching. I also clench at night, in fact all day long I clench... It's terrible and I am trying so hard to not do so....
Hi Lori, if you do have TN anti seizure medication will be what your dr. should prescribe. Be aware though that eventually your body can get used to the dosage of meds and so they possibly won't work for you anymore. This is what happened to me after 4 yrs , eventually the pain was excruciating and so I had to opt for surgery. In looking back I wish I would have tried alternative medicine during the last 4 yrs as I have been told that acupuncture can be a great help.
fyi- this article might interest you..read it a few days ago about having and aneurysm and TN.
http://article.wn.com/view/2011/08/27/Salman_Khans_brainrelated_twin_problemstrigeminal_neuralgia_/
wow, thank you eveyone for your comments. and thank you for the link, JDE-it was interesting. My brain aneurysm was detected about 11years ago. Its very small and i have yearly MRI's for that, neurosurgeon at Mt. Sinai, in NYC said that wasnt to worry about for now and that had nothing to do with my pain. Which was comforting, but still left me fix for the pain. I did try a few anti seizure meds. One had my tongue swell up and the other two had me so dizzy i actually fell in my house in day. So i am just on neurotin and some pains meds, all non narcotic. My neuro sent me to a pin mgmt. dr. - they want me to try some kind of shots in my neck. The dr pressed down on what she called a trigger point, I nearly dropped to my knees and the next week, had the worst migraines. I cant imagine letting them do a shot there. So i havent called back. And the clenching is just a horror. I tried a night guard, the nerves across gums the next day were not happy. So, thats that. Gotta live with this with the hope that one day I will just wake up and it will be gone. I hope that for all of us-thanks again