I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. I've been suffering from TN for 17 years. I had been misdiagnosed with everything from TMJ disorder to sinus infections to not having enough space in my mouth for wisdom teeth. After YEARS of all these unnecessary tests and countless doctors visits I gave up hope and decided to just live with the pain. When I met my fiancee he said he couldn't stand to see me suffering in such agony and he wouldn't stop until we found out what was the source of my pain and a solution for it. A couple weeks after we moved in together I had a really bad TN attack. He forced me to go to the ER and they gave me a pain shot and told me it was a migraine. I had to go back to the ER two more times before coming in contact with an older doctor who was familiar with TN. He told me to describe my symptoms to me and then asked me had I ever heard of trigeminal neuralgia. Of course, I said no. He said, "Well you just described an illness to me that you never knew existed." He gave me a shot for pain and nausea and started me on Tegretol. Over time the Tegretol has been increased and they've added Gabapentin to it. When I have a severe TN attack I just know to go straight to the ER and they give me a shot. This year I hope to STAY out of the ER. The diagnosis has been a long time coming and it just makes me so sad to know I wasted fifteen years of my life waiting to find out what was wrong with me. No one would take the time to find out. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
Welcome to the site, and really glad that you've now got this diagnosed, and medication sorted. It's a very long time to have not been diagnosed, and luckily what an amazingly supportive fiancé you have! Hope that you do stay out of ER!