I was just recently diagnosed with tn. I have been in the throws of a pain crisis for four weeks now. I am starting to come out of it a bit with the help of a steroid and lamictal increase. however I now have jaw discomfort. Not so much pain but very aware of clenching my jaw constantly. I am so uncomfortable. I am starting to try jaw exercises, but wanted to see what other advice may be out there.
Inside mouth , lidocaine mouthwash RX
outside on face, Lidoderm patches. RX
both…clonazapam, will relax jaw, stress, TN
Your doctor should just be able to call it in for you…no appt. necessary usually
Its crazy because i cant really tell where the discomfort it
I find when the pain gets into my jaw, like it's down in the bone, the less I move it the better it feels. A heating pad helps at times as well, if I can stand to have anything against my face that is.
I have the exact same issue!! I’m still waiting to see the neurologist but when I do I’m asking for an anti anxiety med, I think it will help. For now, a heating pad gives me some relief.
Go to google images: trigeminal neuralgia
Then do the same search : atypical face pain
If you can then see what looks like you… I sometimes help print off to show family or doctor!
I actually do tend to clinch I’ve noticed. I don’t mean to. I constantly have a jaw ache and I find that I tighten up in an effort to have little movement even when I talk. so keeping my jaw stiff helps with the pain of moving my face and mouth but then causes soreness at the same time. Pretty much a lose lose I guess but I do notice when I take my sleeping pill which is actually a muscle relaxer as well I noticed that the tension ache eases up quite a bit. I take lorazepam to sleep so it only feels better right before bed. That really is the only thing I’ve found to help my jaw at this time. I’ve done heat as well, it kinda hurts me but everyone has their own tricks. Good luck…
Interesting. I am having jaw pain as well though my TN is nice and quieted through Tegretol. I think that is related to TMJ cause my jaw makes a bunch of popping sounds. I think when I had my TN with active pain I contorted my natural jaw movements to try to inhibit the TN pain. I have taken aspirin that seems to help. Icing it seems to help. I have some left over muscle relaxer meds that I might test out. The jaw pain takes a back seat to life-- maybe the pain is 5 out of 10 when I move it. I guess that it could be atypical TN pain but it seems so different than the TN pain. Thanks for bringing up the topic. I guess I should take a more aggressive approach to solving the jaw pain.
I spoke to my dr this afternoon. He asked about tmj. My dentist has always given me an a+ when it comes to my dental health. He prescribed nortriptyline for me to take at night. He also suggested a mouth guard. I went out and got it all. He said to stop the fiorecet because if its not helping it will cause more arm than good, I guess addiciton... he made it sound like this was just an effect of stress of the head pain causing me to clench my teeth and not an direct effect of the th.
Ugh so frustrating not to mention I just started a new job and i dont have much time left for sick days. i have already missed 7 of the last 15 days because of the onset of this. Which leads to my next question. Tn and disability pay????
Make sure you get FMLA papers filled out and on file with your employer as soon as you can. You don't have to take the time all at once; you can use a day here and there as needed.
As for disability...i've been looking into that too, but it overwhelms me. So i'm no help there..
I just wanted to mention the FMLA.
Wishing us all a pain free day
~Mistee
christine said:
I spoke to my dr this afternoon. He asked about tmj. My dentist has always given me an a+ when it comes to my dental health. He prescribed nortriptyline for me to take at night. He also suggested a mouth guard. I went out and got it all. He said to stop the fiorecet because if its not helping it will cause more arm than good, I guess addiciton... he made it sound like this was just an effect of stress of the head pain causing me to clench my teeth and not an direct effect of the th.
Ugh so frustrating not to mention I just started a new job and i dont have much time left for sick days. i have already missed 7 of the last 15 days because of the onset of this. Which leads to my next question. Tn and disability pay????
I have dreadful almost constant jaw ache and burning in my cheek bone. I was given face exercises to do a couple of years ago but I never noticed and improvement. I use lidocaine patches and oral spray. My teeth feel very bruised tonight, Yuck! x
Ooo just read your latest post Christine and I have a mouth guard too. It can be useful when my teeth feel like they do today. Give it all a go I say. I am constantly worried about work. Ive been off since Sept with no view to going back for a least another 6 weeks. I don't thin there are many inspiring stories about TN and disability!!! Im going to start looking into this soon though. Good luck honey xx
Thanks mistee. Unfortunately i have not been at more job for a year. So fmla does not cover me yet. I just started there in june. Ironicall. I was kn a leave of absence from march to june from my old job because i found out i was bipolar and was trying to deal with that. Sts did not cover me because they said my symptoms didnt stop me from working. So because i was out with no pay they considered job abandonment and they termi ated me. I had no choice but to fjnd a new job so i could have insurance and income. At this piont i am not able to work but i am really stuck between a rock and hard place. I do have a call out to an attorney to help with ssdi info. I will keep you posted with what i find out.