First, thanks to all who took the time to read and comment, I feel welcome here and I am grateful for that.
Quick updates
-The swelling from the Tegretol reaction is almost completely gone.
-The neurologist had no appointments yesterday, but asked me to come to her local hospital (only one city away) to the outpatient short stay center.
-My mom came to drive me and we hauled booty there
-The neurologist took time from her appointments to come down and direct my care.
-She gave me an IV Dilantin infusion and a dose of Baclofen
-She sent me home with prescriptions for Trileptal and Baclofen
I felt a 50% reduction in the shock pains before leaving the hospital. On the new medicines, I am getting some moments of intense agitation and some moments of sluggishness. To be expected. I am so so grateful for this neurologist. She is incredibly kind and understanding and accepts my descriptions of how intense the shock like pains are with no problem.
I did not get the same help or understanding from my primary care nor the ER doctors at my local hospital. This may be from lack of experience with TN.
Currently, I am getting the shock like pains a few times an hour, but with less intensity than yesterday. I am not noticing much difference in the numbness and tingling. I also get smaller pin prick like pains that are no where near the intensity of the big shocks and those seem to be occurring less frequently as well. These new meds are not producing any big adverse reactions or side effects yet. Knock on wood.
Somebody asked me in the comments on the last post if my lip and tongue were still experiencing numbness. The answer is yes. It is intermittent, as it has always been. I hope that will reduce as well as time goes by and the new meds build up in my system.
All in all, I am happy with the reduction in pain since yesterday morning, but do hope for a greater reduction. I am not at a place where I can say "I can live with this"
Thanks again for taking the time to read and comment.
Monica