Hi
I have recently joined and am amazed how much information is contained in this wonderful site.
I am married and have 3 children. I retired from work at the end of March this year.
I have had TN for about 4 months (not a great way to start retirement) and have been prescribed Tegretal by my GP. I have found unfortunately that I can only get up to 400mg per day as otherwise I seem to get severely depressed. Not sure whether this is a common side effect with this drug. I did try acupuncture but didn’t really feel this did very much for me. By the feeling / pain in my face, it does feel as if something is pressing on a nerve as it feels constantly aggravated.
I have now been been offered an appointment to see a neurologist - I am awaiting the appointment date. Is it likely that I will get an MRI scan at this 1st appointment, or will this follow in time?
Yes, I would think that an MRI would be one of the first things they would investigate, at least it seems so here in the US. It’s important to rule out a possible tumor or obvious compression of the nerve.
Just to clarify–you have a constant, naggy pain, rather than the sharp stabs of classic TN? Where exactly to you feel this pain?
Have your doctor try you on Seroquel. Also you might want to try tell your doctor Vimpat. The generic is Lacosimide. I’ve been taking it now for 6 years it’s helped me a lot. The most you could take a 600 mg. It’s only calls for every 12 hours but my doctor said I had the worst case she’s ever seen so she prescribes let’s say she wants me to take 100 mg every 8 hours. So it’s 150 mg twice a day. So I take 1 100 mg in the morning two 50 mg in the afternoon and 100 mg before bed. That’s 6:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. . That’s what I do. But like I said my doctor said I’m the worst case she’s ever seen and I believe her. You might try to keep your teeth clean have them deep cleaned if needs necessary and floss every night. Just a suggestion not saying that you don’t. I hope this helps you