So all of my pain for years has always been on the left side, always, meaning I have never even had so much as a twinge on the right. And I had been meaning to post that I had three full days without any Pain, and then boom, it hits me on the right side. From everything I have read about ATN is that the pain is unilateral. So I guess my question is this, how many of us are out there who have ATN with bilateral pain?? A bit confused here.
Love Ali
Stats on bilateral TN are a bit hard to come by. But from talking with many patients over several years, I'd have to say something on the order of 5-10% of all TN and ATN patients experience pain on both sides of the face. I believe those figures are reflected in the Knowledge Base of the US TN Association. My spouse first presented with pain on both sides, initially mis-diagnosed as Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia. It turned out that the pain in her throat was acid reflux, treatable with Prilosec. However, she then developed ATN on the right side, and TN with its stabs on the left. The two sides rarely go off at the same time, and the pain is quite different in character.
Just don't let anybody hang a label of "Atypical Facial Pain" on you because you are a bilateral patient. The treatments available don't change with AFP relative to TN, and the label is misinterpreted by some doctors to infer a psychogenic or psychosomatic condition, which in my view and that of many physicians, is delusional thinking on the part of a frustrated doctor.
Go in Peace and Power
Red