Last night, the left side of my face started to burn a little. When I woke up, I went to the bathroom and noticed my face is red and blotchy on the left side as well. It's swollen around my eye, upper cheek, and in the chin area.
If I touch certain places on the left side, it sends shooting pains to my upper cheekbone, temple, and jaw area. It feels like someone is slapping barbed wire onto my face when touched.
When I was diagnosed with TN, it was only the right side. But when it first started, I had a red swollen face on the right side as well. Could this mean I'm starting to get it on the left side too? Or should I even be concerned at all?
Right now I'm not taking any medications because I can't afford to see my neurologist. I haven't used any new products on my body or in my home.
Please help? I'm scared I'll wake up tomorrow and it'll be worse, PLUS TN pain.
awww -- I don't know what to tell you - except that it should be looked at by somebody -- can you go to ER or urgent care and worry about the bill later?
And then if you can get a cheapo prescription for lidocaine cream - you can get some relief! Patches cost $$ cream cheaper
I get that red burning skin as part of my TN. I guess only you can really tell if it is the same as it was on the other side of your face. Some people do have it on both sides
After waiting in three different ERs for over 8 hours in total, they finally said it's Shingles. He barely even looked at me though and didn't seem worried that the rash is so close to my eye. Anyways, I guess the Shingles is also triggering my TN, so I'm extra miserable.
After waiting in three different ERs for over 8 hours in total, they finally said it's Shingles. He barely even looked at me though and didn't seem worried that the rash is so close to my eye. Anyways, I guess the Shingles is also triggering my TN, so I'm extra miserable.
I’m confused also. Did they do any testing? Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pix it just hides out in neural tissue until you get older and then causes really painful red blistering rash. You should google images of shingles and see if you feel it matches what you are experiencing.
Also, if you have private insurance (I.e not Medicare or Medicaid) go toa stand alone private ER. I only go to those now. I never have to wait, everyone is focused on me because there’s hardly anyone else there, and I get really good care. I usually have to educate them on TN, but its a small price to pay. I keep going to the same one so they’ve got it down now with me. If you have these where you live I highly recommend them. They will send you to the hospital if it is so ethinb you need to be admitted for but they are fully accredited ER docs and nurses and even have imaging on site.
Back to the shingles… If that is what you truly have I am SO sorry. It is REALLY painful. My grandmother had it around her bra line years ago and she was miserable. David Letterman had it on his eyes and it was the only time he’s ever missed doing his show (I don’t know why I know that.) I hope they gave you some ointment or something to help deal with it! Since its a virus you do just have to let it run its course and manage the symptoms I believe
I had Shingles in '08. It was above my eyebrow and just one little cluster - pimple looking thing. It gave me horrible neurapathy for a long time afterwards. When this red burning rashy thing on my face just appeared, I had little bumps going underneath my eye and down my cheek. They seemed to crusty and when I touched them, they'd send pain throughout my face. But, I thought it was the TN and the bumps were just pimples.
I literally waited 8 hours to get seen for the doctor to walk in and say it was Shingles. @Heather, I went to a private ER. I prefer them too, but he just seem very uninterested in what was wrong with me.
@KC, they gave me Valtrex for the rash and that's it. Had to go back to the actual ER today for chest pains, but apparently it was just anxiety.
Interesting. I've never heard of that. I had my first shingles attack November of '08 and had neurapathy for at least a good year afterwards on the right side of my face (even though the one cluster was on the left side). They gave me Lyrica and I ended up just not having anything at all after a while.
I just started getting the TN pain probably around '11 and didn't get diagnosed until recently. My neurologist acts as if I may be making it up, even though he's put me on a few different medications that didn't work for me. Now I'm on Baclofen and it still doesn't help.
When I had my first shingles outbreak, I didn't have bell's palsy, but I was close to having it because the right side of my face was very very swollen and my eyebrow area was a little paralyzed. They did tests to make sure my eyesight was okay, and it was.
How do I go about finding out if that's what's going on? Every doctor I go to thinks I'm a hypochondriac because of how many times I've had to seek help. I almost feel lost right now with everything. My neuro knows that i've been having extreme body pain plus other symptoms of Fibro and still won't assess me for it.
tammyd said:
Hey Taylor,
Do you have TN caused by Postherpetic Neuralgia? Did you develop TN after your first outbreak of shingles?
I am asking because I thought I had classic TN but was recently told that mine is Postherpetic Neuralgia which went into my trigeminal nerve. I have it in my eye too....
Taylor,
Never give up searching for an answer that makes sense to you. It doesn’t matter how many doctors you see, don’t let them make you feel crazy. I always like to remind myself that half of all doctors graduated in the bottom of their class. They just barely skated by. They don’t know everything. On top of it, you are showing symptoms of illnesses that are rather rare. Perhaps do a google search for neurologists in your area with experience with TN. Call neurologists on your area and ask if they have treated other patients with TN. You really have to either advocate for yourself or have somebody close to you who can do it for you. It is a full time job finding good doctors, making appointments with them,getting to the appointments, getting all the paperwork done, following up with all the doctors, and even having to stay on top of even the good doctors to make sure you are getting what you need. It’s exhausting.
