I think I’ve mislead you all into thinking my pain mgmt doctor wanted to do this diagnostic purposes. He was doing a nerve block simply for the fact of helping control the pain. I wondered whether the outcome would be an indication as to whether I had it.
And Red as you know. I have been labeled with the psychosomatic disorder already, but this doctor actually diagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia. I am trying to get my doctor to order a specialized MRI- I am asking for FIESTA MRI right? Which one should I ask for? I would like to have the best one in hand when I go see the specialist. Thanks!
TL, nerve block doesn't have that kind of record in the medical literature. Likewise, be advised: the nerve endings of the Trigeminal system are fairly close to the surface -- like bare millimeters deep. There are TWO topical medication concepts worth looking into: (1) compounded versions of anti-seizure or TCA medications, which deliver the active ingredient locally instead of throughout the blood circulation, and (2) Lidocaine or Xylocaine creams that numb the surface muscles and skin. The actions of these two are different. If your doc doesn't know that, then you might need a different doc.
If you would like to talk by email with a highly skilled professional, send me an email at ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■, and I'll forward a note to a neurosurgeon that I've known and talked with for 18 years. He now heads the Medical Advisory Board of the TN Association.
Regards, Red
Kerry, FIESTA MRA is considered the gold standard of imaging for the trigeminal region. Typical resolution is 0.66 mm, and use of contrast and no-contrast image comparison with 3-D post-processing offers the best visualization of the brain stem region where compressions matter the most.
If you've been labeled with a psychosomatic disorder then take a look at the survey results we generated from the Ben's Friends survey in Februrary. There's a link from the main page of the site. Likewise, try a google search on "Psychogenic Pain and Iatrogenic Suicide" (which I wrote), and print out the article from DxSummit.org for the idiot who assigned that diagnostic nonsense label. There is simply not ONE scrap of consistent medical evidence that any such thing as psychogenic pain exists in real life. NOT ONE!
Regards, Red
Thanks Red! I appreciate all your support and advice. I mentioned wanting a FIESTA MRI to my internists office and they looked at me like I had 3 eyes. My doctor is open to me telling him what kind of MRI I want so is simply saying FIESTA MRI sufficient or should I specify middle slice T1 weighted?
I have forwarded you my medical records in the past from the Quack who labeled me quite awhile ago. I will look up the info and be happy to forward it to his office but I know at Washington university their is research being conducted on the psycho symptomatic disorder ( read an article in local paper). So not sure it’s even worth my time.
I have tried lidocaine patches, to no avail. Would the ointment itself work better?
Also I actually participated in the survey 
it was important and I appreciate it!
TL, I was leery about a topical cream for the same reasons, but IT WORKS! Even at ‘gum level’ and no, I don’t rub it on my gums…it is just short of miraculous! Red was instrumental in me asking about it. Mine is a numbing one, with pain med in it, too…it is fabulous! Please give it a whirl, changed my life.
FIESTA is a well known and characterized procedure, Kerry. Here are a couple of articles that may be worth reading to get the hang of the terminology:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2914395/
and from: http://www.mr-tip.com/serv1.php?type=db1&dbs=FIESTA
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Kerry-
Through this site I got the name of a physician in KC area who has had experience & success working with Type 2 TN. I haven’t seen him, but several ppl in the KC support group have seen him & like him. His name is Dr Tapan Chaudhuri. phone 816.353.2400. Apparently he combines Western & alternative med techniques. good luck!
Thanks Red. I just now got my internist office to figure it out. But they said Fiesta is a GE term and I can receive the STeady STate MRI Sequence at the local hospital. Not sure I'll have time to do this like I had hoped, before I see the new specialist.
Richard A. "Red" Lawhern said:
FIESTA is a well known and characterized procedure, Kerry. Here are a couple of articles that may be worth reading to get the hang of the terminology:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2914395/
and from: http://www.mr-tip.com/serv1.php?type=db1&dbs=FIESTA
Fast Imaging Employing Steady State Acquisition
(FIESTA) The fast imaging employing steady state acquisition sequence provides images of fluid filled structures with very short acquisition times. The FIESTA sequence uses the T2 steady state contrast mechanism to provide high SNR images with strong signal from fluid tissues while suppressing background tissue for contrast and anatomic detail of small structures. In addition, the ultra short TR and TE enable extremely short acquisition times – shorter than FSE – and the images can be post processed using MIP, volume rendering, or 3D navigator techniques.
See Steady State Free Precession.http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/article.asp?issn=2152-7806;year...