Hi everyone, I have just joined the group and while I am not new to TN, it's been a very long time since my last bout with the beast.
I was diagnosed 10 years ago after a dental incident. At that time it started with the electrical shocks in the mandibular branch and then immediately went into the drop you to your knees kind of pain. I was put on gabapentin and it calmed down and eventually went away. 7 years later, again a tooth caused severe headaches, tooth got pulled, headaches went away immediately. I didn't really connect it to my trigeminal nerve, but it was the branch above my eye that was affected.
In April I was in a minor car incident and ever since I have gotten the electrical shocks in the maxillary branch. I can't prove it was caused by the accident, but that's what I suspect. The pain isn't too intense, I have a trigger on my upper lip (makes eating interesting) and sometimes my nose, below my eye and lower lip. My questions are:
1. Can your triggers just go away like that? I can usually trigger an electrical shock in my lip, but not always. less often I can trigger my nose, and below my eye is hit or miss.
2. Most of the time I just get one jolt. Sometimes they will keep coming for a short period of time but not very often, or they will go away for hours at a time. I never know when or for how long. Is this what an attack is? Do most of you with type one just get one jolt at a time? I am just not sure if this even qualifies as TN, even if my neuro has dx'd me with both TN and atypical face pain.
3. I have read this is a progressive disorder, and my last bout certainly bore that out. This time though the pain has been bearable. I have experienced a few instances where it brought tears to my eyes, but that has been few and far in between. Has anyone else experienced mild TN for a prolonged period of time only to have it get much worse all of a sudden?
4. Has anyone been in remission for a long period of time only to have it come back again?
5. My Doctor has put me on 2800mg gabapentin, but it turns me into a zombie. I feel like I am stoned 24/7, can't think of words during a conversation, and just generally in a fog. Right now I don't feel like I need the meds so I have decided to go off them and see how I do with it. Any opinions? Has anybody tried to do this with disasterous results?
Thanks to anyone who can help with any of these questions. I have been reading a lot, but can't seem to get anywhere. I know everyone has a little bit different experience, and I also know how fortunate I am not be full blown.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Karen