Merry Christmas. To remind you I had a left MVD where the surgeon cut and cauterized 4 veins, 1 looped, 1 over the top, 1 along the bottom and 1 along the side. At week three I went to the surgeon because my incision got pink and was painful to the touch. Took him 15 minutes to cut the stitch out and in 1 day of Cephalexin the incision was clear and normal - surgeon said I may have had a stitch abscess! I believe I still have some fluid in my inner ear. It's not painful but feels "stuffy" - not sure when this will go away. I was having lots of pressure in my left eye so I went to see an opthamologist. He confirmed there was no damage to any of the optic nerves and that the pressure was a side effect of my MVD. Ironically, the meds they use to numb the eye and dialate it eased the pressure - now I only have occasional short bouts instead of the constant pressure! I've told my surgeon's PA so if other patients have this issue they may want to try it. I also have tingling upon touch in my left chin and fairly frequent burning on the left side of my tongue. My ear is pretty numb as well as the cheek close to it - feels weird to wear pierced earrings. The surgeon says it will be 4-6 months for that nerve to calm down so I'll keep posting each month. I go back to work in two days - I'm surprised to find that I'm ready and looking forward to it. There is no way I can imagine anyone going back to work only two weeks post op, which is what the surgeon indicated before the surgery took place.
I am 5 days post op. and today the surgeon’s nurse told me that they put wax in the ear canal to prevent CSF leaks and it takes awhile to disappear. Strangely, I am having an irritating pulsing noise in my left ear. Other than that, everything is great.
I am so glad you posted an update. I had MVD 4 weeks ago also. I have numbness and tingling on my tongue, lips and cheek especially during and after eating. My ear stuffiness has gone away. Do you still take any over the counter pain medication? I have been able to stop all other medication but still have too much pain/discomfort to not take Tylenol and ibuprofen. Keep healing!
I had mine on Oct 18th and I still need Tylenol and Ibuprofin,
AlyssaBella said:
I am so glad you posted an update. I had MVD 4 weeks ago also. I have numbness and tingling on my tongue, lips and cheek especially during and after eating. My ear stuffiness has gone away. Do you still take any over the counter pain medication? I have been able to stop all other medication but still have too much pain/discomfort to not take Tylenol and ibuprofen. Keep healing!
Thanks Mandie, were you able to stop/stay off the anti-seizure meds? Do you have any face pain at all?
Mandie said:
I had mine on Oct 18th and I still need Tylenol and Ibuprofin,
AlyssaBella said:
I am so glad you posted an update. I had MVD 4 weeks ago also. I have numbness and tingling on my tongue, lips and cheek especially during and after eating. My ear stuffiness has gone away. Do you still take any over the counter pain medication? I have been able to stop all other medication but still have too much pain/discomfort to not take Tylenol and ibuprofen. Keep healing!
Great Question as I wanted to put that in there. I had been on 600 mg of Tegretol prior to the surgery and found myself significantly depressed. I took my last 100 mg of Tegretol two nights ago. I took one Ocycodone last week to see if that would stop the eye pressure so I could sleep but it didn't help. I hadn't even thought of using ibuprofen or Tylenol and I think that's a great idea - each time I have reduced my dose of Tegretol I did find the side effects from the surgery increased for a day or two and then balanced out. I just feel so positive being off that drug I don't want to ever have to go back on it!
AlyssaBella said:
I am so glad you posted an update. I had MVD 4 weeks ago also. I have numbness and tingling on my tongue, lips and cheek especially during and after eating. My ear stuffiness has gone away. Do you still take any over the counter pain medication? I have been able to stop all other medication but still have too much pain/discomfort to not take Tylenol and ibuprofen. Keep healing!
Yes. I was on 1200mg of Tegretol and was able to start tapering off on October 29th. I am off all meds related to TN. Like I said I still have a little pain around the incision, but usually Tylenol or Ibuprofin helps with that. I also live in a very cold climate MN/ND border, so I don't think the cold helps much.
Face pain is gone. I do get a couple of shocks now and then. My nerve had an indentation from the compression so I am sure it's just the healing. I still have numbness along my scar and side of the head, but I can deal with that.
I also had a lot of numbness and tingling on the side of my face and tongue. I was wanting a lot of salt during that time. It's now gone along with the stuffed ear feeling for the most part. Mandie said:
I had mine on Oct 18th and I still need Tylenol and Ibuprofin,
AlyssaBella said:
I am so glad you posted an update. I had MVD 4 weeks ago also. I have numbness and tingling on my tongue, lips and cheek especially during and after eating. My ear stuffiness has gone away. Do you still take any over the counter pain medication? I have been able to stop all other medication but still have too much pain/discomfort to not take Tylenol and ibuprofen. Keep healing!
Hi Grandmasdream I too am one moth post MVD. Feel alot the same as you. Numbness, pressure in my left eye and the burning in my tongue. I had an artery leaning on my nerve twice and a vein laying flat on the nerve. They fixed the artery by putting the little teflon tubes between the artery and the nerve. The vein they left because there was a high risk of a stroke if they touched it. I agree I would not be going back to work in 2 weeks. Unfortunately I had a CSF leak and had to have the incision reopened to have that fixed so my incision is back to square one with 16 staples. However I feel pretty good so happy about that. My ear still has some fluid in it as well but was told it will take time but go away. Hope everyday you feel better :) Linda