Beginning to experience more pain and different pain. My left eye (I have tn on the left side of my face) much of the time feels like something sharp is stuck in it from the inside and when I blink it hurts pretty bad. The shocking pains seem to be getting worse around my eye. I'm also beginning to experience a lot of pain when chewing. I'm on Lyrica 50mg 3 times a day then on Sat. I will again increase to 50mg 4 times a day. Still in the process of increasing the medicine. Going outside when the wind is blowing is quite horrible. Also trying to work with my 2 youngest (4 year old daughter and 2 year old son) to be a little more gentle with my face. They never mean to, but will almost always get me on the left side of my face when hugging or kissing and that is so painful. It makes me feel so terrible to have to tell them to stop. I'm anxiously waiting for the Lyrica to do it's thing!
I am so sorry you are going through this, Longtobe. It is hard to deal with chronic pain when you have the littles to take care of. You can teach your kids to kiss your hand as affection. At least for now. I had to gradually increase my Lyrica, too. I am on 100 mg. three times a day, and the increase seems to have helped a lot. I still have some pain, but the sharper pains are a lot better, and the underlying pain has decreased compared to what it was. If there is any way to take a nap in the day (I don't know your work situation, and I know with little ones, that can be a huge challenge), then try to do that until the higher dose of Lyrica kicks in. Something about resting seems to help....if for no other reason than it helps deal with the fatigue of chronic pain! Hang in there.
Hi, booklass. Today seems to be a good day...not much pain aside from short pains here and there. I do agree that rest does help. However, my littles no longer nap so a nap for mommy is out of the question. My son is getting better about soft kisses for mommy. He's just a rough lover...he loves to cuddle, but often times will head butt me under the chin (ouch),but I can't quit the cuddles! My 4 year old daughter has started asking," which side hurts, mommy?"before she kisses me. My 10 year old daughter is really helpful...if she knows I'm hurting she will entertain the littles for me. I think maybe my pain has been worse the last several days due to lots of anxiety over the tragedy on Friday. I'm glad your sharper pains are better! The pain really is exhausting! Hope you are having a fantastic, somewhat pain free day! :-)
Yes, Friday's tragedy really has hit me hard. I noticed my pain has increased probably because I have cried, and crying sets it off, amongst other things. Your kids sound adorable, and special kudos to your ten year old. My sons are college age, so I am not dealing with the littles at this point....unless we count the kitties and puppies. The pups show little mercy, but I love them, and the cats, well, they are cats, and I love them as is....though if the one wants to quit peeing on my curtains that would be fine. I am in a much better place than when I first joined, so I am grateful for that. I know what you mean about the "less pain" days. They are a treasure! Keep on keeping on. I hope you are in a gentle place indefinitely.
My kids are pretty awesome...most of the time! We have a dog that we totally love, but he's older and pretty calm. You have a cat that pees on your curtains...I have a son that I'm trying to potty train that pees all over the floor. Which my 4 year old ends up sitting in. Ha! Yes...I have shed many tears and worried lots about sending my 10 year old to school. She's actually home sick today...I have had little pain. I know it sounds weird, but I have felt so much comfort having her here with us and the littles even if she is sick (she is feeling much better now :-) How did /do you like the lyrica? I really haven't had any bad side effects other than some forgetfulness and when I am talking I tend to lose words. It has helped some with my anxiety...overall I feel much calmer. Without the Lyrica I would have probably had a nervous breakdown on Friday. Hopefully less anxiety will help take some of the pain away.
Got a real chuckle about the potty training. Not my strong point. I believe I told my husband that our sons' wives could potty train them. No, not weird about liking to have your ten year old around. I feel much more vulnerable now than I did before TN. I have not had bad side effects from the Lyrica, either. At least that I can pinpoint. Since TN seems to affect my thinking w/o the Lyrica, I have not noticed that the Lyrica is. I know it can. I find it frustrating that I am much more forgetful now, but I am glad that I am not worse, so I try to laugh it off and not hide it. No use pretending that Mom is not a few crackers short of a full box some days! Especially if the pain is up. Is anxiety something you would normally deal with or is this the TN, or a combo? I tend to be pretty mellow, but let's face it, pain can make one rather tense! And doing it with young children? Well, been there, and it is quite difficult at times.
Have you tried topical relief like Rx lidocaine patches or cream?
longtobepainftee said:
My kids are pretty awesome...most of the time! We have a dog that we totally love, but he's older and pretty calm. You have a cat that pees on your curtains...I have a son that I'm trying to potty train that pees all over the floor. Which my 4 year old ends up sitting in. Ha! Yes...I have shed many tears and worried lots about sending my 10 year old to school. She's actually home sick today...I have had little pain. I know it sounds weird, but I have felt so much comfort having her here with us and the littles even if she is sick (she is feeling much better now :-) How did /do you like the lyrica? I really haven't had any bad side effects other than some forgetfulness and when I am talking I tend to lose words. It has helped some with my anxiety...overall I feel much calmer. Without the Lyrica I would have probably had a nervous breakdown on Friday. Hopefully less anxiety will help take some of the pain away.
I have had panic attacks (not often) and have always suffered anxiety. I have never been treated for either...just deal with it. The Lyrica seems to make me less tense so that's a bonus! KC Dancer...I have not tried those, but will talk to my neurologist at my next appt. Thanks for the advice!
I have family members who struggle with anxiety disorder, so I understand. It seems that the panic attacks are also triggered by pain or being suddenly surprised or anything that might trigger that fight or flight response. I have wondered if people with these disorders are more prone to neurologically based headaches of all sorts. Hope you get some answers from your doctor. It helps being more informed, but I have found some doctors not very forthcoming with information.
I do scare easily which does cause mild panic attacks. My husband can just walk into a room without me knowing and I will panic. He thinks it's so weird...he never means to scare me. I think it's quite weird too! Ha! I tend to always be tense...not sure why. I suppose it's how I'm wired. My sister also has panic attacks. I do believe this is a trigger for me. I'm planning to ask some questions at my next neurologist appt.
My son is in the autism spectrum, and he is the same way. In his case, and it sounds like yours, it is physiological. Something to do with the brain and nervous system.....guess I didn't retain that information or at least cannot retrieve it before my morning coffee!! My sister is like that, as well, and I am pretty sure at least one of my brothers and my dad. So, it IS hereditary in our family, too. I will be interested in what your doctor says. Truly. I guess things like this are only weird if few people have it, but seems to me that between our two families, the whole sensitive nervous system, brain thingiemagig, is common! Have a great weekend and Christmas/Holiday/New Year.
I'm pretty excited to speak with my Dr. I have so many questions for him. He's gonna love me! Ha! Merry Christmas and happy new year!
Not sure if this idea would work for your little ones but I remember reading somewhere (might even have been on this forum) that this person wore a broach, flower or something similar. She put it on her painful side to help family members to remember what side not to touch or kiss.
Something to consider but I hope the Lyrica starts to kick in and that you will soon be pain free.
Hugs trish
Thinking about the broach idea…might work better to have it on the side that they can touch.
Thanks, Trish. That's a could idea. My little ones are getting much better about it. It's outside family members that forget I have a problem with the left side of my face. Much younger family members will just come up and poke me quite hard in the face (just messing around), but it tends to send me out of my skin. Then I have several sharp stabbing pains over the next few hours. I hate even bringing it up...don't want to be a Debbie Downer.