Oh, don't worry about getting a hang of the replies - I posted a few bizarre doozies before I realised how they worked! But thanks for the suggestion of the probiotics. I have taken them in the past, several years ago. I'm a regular yogurt eater too but I'm having terrible trouble with oesophagitis just now so I might give them a try. I take 13 tablets a day just in medication, excluding vitamins, so I'm always a bit loath to add more tablets in, but it might be worth a try. Helpful if I can find a generic brand though. I seem to recall when I was taking them it was all expensive branded stuff. Maybe times have moved on!
bebe said:
Hi, sorry if my comment went awry. New here. Still trying to get the hang of replies. I take capsules. I’ve always been a yogurt eater lol. I started probiotics to counteract the effect of high doses of antibiotics I had to take for a nasty stomach infection . Bonus side effect was less bloating, constipation etc and more regular bowels. You don’t need the most expensive brands either. generic works fine. I just take one per day but if you’re having major issues you can take more. A naturopath is probably your best resource for info.
Woman with the electric teeth said:
Can I ask, Bebe, is it the tablet kind you take, or the little drinks? And do you find probiotics are better than just eating live yogurt?
bebe said:
Hi barbara, irritable bowel syndrome can be exacerbated by stress and seems to be more common when you are older. I take probiotics and have seen a remarkable change. no side effects, worth a try?
i hear what you're sayin. Not on a lot of meds now, but when I was i thought I should just put em all in a bowl and pour milk on em lol. Breakfast!!! Don't know where u live, but major drugstore chains usually carry their own brands. i live in Canada. Our Shoppers Drug Mart brand- Super probiotic 18.99 vs 39.99 for Align, most advertised brand. A lot of meds reek havoc on the good bacteria in your stomach so that could very well be the problem for TN sufferers or anyone else taking a lot of meds .At least it's not a drug and I haven't seen any negative side effects. All the best.
What a great idea, Bebe, sticking them in a bowl with milk - that made my day, thanks! And you're a tartan terror, eh? I should have guessed. But you're not on many meds now? Why is that? Have you had an op, or are you just in that wonderful state I've heard of but never experienced - a golden remission (oh, how I pine for the experience of one myself!)?
I wish that for you as well! My TN does come and go and this recent attack (cuz that's what they are!) was the first really really bad one in a couple of years. I think maybe that's how I went so many years without diagnosis. I did have a couple of really bad years at a time, then be ok (still some symptoms but manageable) for awhile. A tooth infection set this off. I think there is the possibility that prolotherapy may have played a part in getting my TN to subside for the past couple years but there is no firm research data to back that up. Blessed be
So you've actually had years on and off? That's oddly reassuring. I've 'only' had TN for 9 months now so maybe there is the possibility of a remission for me? Fingers crossed. I've never heard of prolotherapy. Going to go look that up right now.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not completely pain free in between. Still have some aches, zaps and zings, but shorter duration and longer periods between than a few years ago. Pain at a manageable level instead of OMG!!!! That's since prolotherapy so maybe it has a benefit. I think maybe people who have to manage chronic pain have a different 1-10 scale than others. I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at 14. Had a rough go for awhile but improved as I got older. Diagnosed with chronic myofacial pain in more recent years, chest, shoulders etc. so I've basically been managing pain for the better part of my life. Nothing is like TN, though. :( Oh ya and before ya luv me too much I have to confess that I'm Irish on me Da's side which probably explains why I'm a cheap drunk lol! All the best.
I find that fascinating. I've met a lot of people on this forum who have pain on and off, good days and bad. While mine's does go up and down a bit, it's really fairly constant. I never get pain-free days and I've never had a period of remission. But that said, I don't get electric shocks now either. With the exception of times when I am changing meds (that always, unfailingly, causes trouble), I don't get isolated zings either, although I have had maybe three close calls in the 9 months I've had it. My pain is there 24/7 but it's a low-grade background noise. I have it in my teeth, by the way. I'm the only person I've encountered, so far, that has it like that. It appears to be my gums that are the main trigger area, hence it being inside my mouth. Very bizarre. Again though, that said, it is triggered by temperature changes on my skin. Not particularly breezes, unless it's caused by wind chill. It really is in my gums and the temperature thing seems to be (guessing here) the skin transferring the heat change through to my gums. Very bloody weird. But hey! Isn't that just TN all over? - a bloody weird disease that no two people have exactly the same!
Its weird you saying that,as you know its mainly my teeth and gums that give me grief. My gum area on 2 top teeth at front,it goes cold when i have a bad day,and temp is my thing,if its cold i cover my mouth/face. Out of curiosity does any side of your face become 'blotchy' when in alot of pain.This is something else i have noticed too,my r/s face/chin/cheek at bottom gets pale blotches,about 3 blotches actually,its always 3. Its a pattern i notice
Woman with the electric teeth said:
I find that fascinating. I've met a lot of people on this forum who have pain on and off, good days and bad. While mine's does go up and down a bit, it's really fairly constant. I never get pain-free days and I've never had a period of remission. But that said, I don't get electric shocks now either. With the exception of times when I am changing meds (that always, unfailingly, causes trouble), I don't get isolated zings either, although I have had maybe three close calls in the 9 months I've had it. My pain is there 24/7 but it's a low-grade background noise. I have it in my teeth, by the way. I'm the only person I've encountered, so far, that has it like that. It appears to be my gums that are the main trigger area, hence it being inside my mouth. Very bizarre. Again though, that said, it is triggered by temperature changes on my skin. Not particularly breezes, unless it's caused by wind chill. It really is in my gums and the temperature thing seems to be (guessing here) the skin transferring the heat change through to my gums. Very bloody weird. But hey! Isn't that just TN all over? - a bloody weird disease that no two people have exactly the same!
Yeah, lots of TN sufferers will come up with teeth problems when you ask them - after all, look at how many of them have lost teeth and had loads of dental work done before diagnosis - but not many of them actually say that it's all in their teeth. I never refer to it as having face ache or a sore face. It all throbs through my teeth, just like really bad sensitive teeth (I can't eat on that side of my mouth and haven't done for nine months). I refer to it as 'my teeth are really hurting today'. I found it really confusing at first. I suffer from dental phobia and that did not make for clear diagnosis or decision making. I spent literally months worrying about whether I had got it wrong and was I suffering unnecessarily - maybe I just needed a root canal. But slowly, as I experienced the illness more, I came to realise some things just didn't match real toothache. Pain on going from cold to warm rooms, for example. Plus, of course, I have never felt pain like those original electric shocks. I hate the drugs I have to take, but, by Christ, if I had to go back to that I swear I'd kill myself. Be glad we live in 2015, eh?
But no, I've never had the blotching thing. That's yet another weird one to add to the list. I swear there is nothing as strange as this disease!
barbara said:
Its weird you saying that,as you know its mainly my teeth and gums that give me grief. My gum area on 2 top teeth at front,it goes cold when i have a bad day,and temp is my thing,if its cold i cover my mouth/face. Out of curiosity does any side of your face become ‘blotchy’ when in alot of pain.This is something else i have noticed too,my r/s face/chin/cheek at bottom gets pale blotches,about 3 blotches actually,its always 3. Its a pattern i notice
Woman with the electric teeth said:
I find that fascinating. I’ve met a lot of people on this forum who have pain on and off, good days and bad. While mine’s does go up and down a bit, it’s really fairly constant. I never get pain-free days and I’ve never had a period of remission. But that said, I don’t get electric shocks now either. With the exception of times when I am changing meds (that always, unfailingly, causes trouble), I don’t get isolated zings either, although I have had maybe three close calls in the 9 months I’ve had it. My pain is there 24/7 but it’s a low-grade background noise. I have it in my teeth, by the way. I’m the only person I’ve encountered, so far, that has it like that. It appears to be my gums that are the main trigger area, hence it being inside my mouth. Very bizarre. Again though, that said, it is triggered by temperature changes on my skin. Not particularly breezes, unless it’s caused by wind chill. It really is in my gums and the temperature thing seems to be (guessing here) the skin transferring the heat change through to my gums. Very bloody weird. But hey! Isn’t that just TN all over? - a bloody weird disease that no two people have exactly the same!
Hi Bri. Acid reflux, eh? Join the club. I've just been diagnosed with oesophagitis. I've now been able to work out I've had it for fifteen years and not one of those b*stards ever diagnosed me with it. Ah, doctors and their super-fast consultations - don't you just love 'em? Do you think your tablets, if you take them, make it worse? I reckon mine do, as this flared up again as soon as I started taking them. I'm having to take Omeprazole at the moment, on top of my anti-convulsants, and, ironically, my oesophagus definitely doesn't like that. It's in a gelatin capsule and boy does it irritate it. How blackly funny is that?
i have acid reflux,i did take omeprazole,but dont at mo. I just take over the counter meds. Seems rather odd that some things go hand in hand. Someone mentioned carpal tunnel on here,i had that yrs ago,but somehow it went away.
Woman with the electric teeth said:
Hi Bri. Acid reflux, eh? Join the club. I've just been diagnosed with oesophagitis. I've now been able to work out I've had it for fifteen years and not one of those b*stards ever diagnosed me with it. Ah, doctors and their super-fast consultations - don't you just love 'em? Do you think your tablets, if you take them, make it worse? I reckon mine do, as this flared up again as soon as I started taking them. I'm having to take Omeprazole at the moment, on top of my anti-convulsants, and, ironically, my oesophagus definitely doesn't like that. It's in a gelatin capsule and boy does it irritate it. How blackly funny is that?
You have reflux too, Barbara? Don't you just feel as if there is a pattern in all of this but no-one's put it together yet? It's like a crossword puzzle clue that's just on the tip of your tongue! If only they did proper, or sufficient - or any! - research on TN we might know some of this stuff by now. At least enough to either maybe stop people getting it by making different lifestyle choices or helping the rest of us who have it to make it less likely to degenerate. Well, we can dream...
barbara said:
i have acid reflux,i did take omeprazole,but dont at mo. I just take over the counter meds. Seems rather odd that some things go hand in hand. Someone mentioned carpal tunnel on here,i had that yrs ago,but somehow it went away.
Woman with the electric teeth said:
Hi Bri. Acid reflux, eh? Join the club. I’ve just been diagnosed with oesophagitis. I’ve now been able to work out I’ve had it for fifteen years and not one of those b*stards ever diagnosed me with it. Ah, doctors and their super-fast consultations - don’t you just love 'em? Do you think your tablets, if you take them, make it worse? I reckon mine do, as this flared up again as soon as I started taking them. I’m having to take Omeprazole at the moment, on top of my anti-convulsants, and, ironically, my oesophagus definitely doesn’t like that. It’s in a gelatin capsule and boy does it irritate it. How blackly funny is that?