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1

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?

Best wishes

1 Like
2

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?

3

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the pain is constant on the rt side of my face, adjacent to my nose down to just above the top of my lip.

4

Have you tried any topical meds, such as lidocaine or another anesthetic, or topical carbamazepine? or something like a lidocaine patch?