Hi all,
I have been looking on this site as well as on the NIH fact sheet and generally online, and I can't find information regarding whether or not one of the branches of the trigeminal nerve is responsible for pain/pressure in the temple.
I have had TN for three years and was just diagnosed with glossopharangeal neuralgia. I also have a really bad cold (which is starting to recede). My TN has never affected my temple, and GPN doesn't, I think.
I guess I always worry when temple or carotid pain come into play.
Can anyone answer the question for me?
Thanks,
Beth
I have temple pain. Pressure for sure, aching or pin and needles that starts to feel burning and hot. It would be v1. I have alot of symptoms around my eye and I have symptoms of gpn. What symptoms of gpndo u have Beth?
Hi justjane,
The Gpn is fairly new for me, although perhaps not as new as I had thought a few days ago. I have a lot of boring pain in my ear, a sensation like there is a blowtorch in my ear canal blowing outward, and stabs of pain in my ear.
I have also developed tonsil pain on the right side and a pain sensation I can only describe as taking a bite out of a lemon. You know that pain you get in your glands under your ear when you eat something really sour? That. I'm starting to experience this on the left side, too.
The worst new sensation, though, is the pain I get at the root of my tongue on either side when I eat or talk. And as my mother says, those are two of my favorite things to do.
I've been wearing ice on my right side for a couple of years now, but I recently had to start packing ice around my neck when the GPN is bad. I've become very isolated, and I think I'm developing some depression.
I saw Dr. Julian Wu the other day. He said mine is a complex case, and he questioned the efficacy of surgery on me. He suggested triliptal or Cymbalta ... or botox. I felt so defeated when I left his office. Oh, he also, in a round about way, told me I need to reconcile myself to a lifetime of pain. I was devastated. I'm 49, and I have a whole lot more life to live, if this stupid disease will let me.
Yikes! I just wrote a book. Sorry!!
What are your symptoms, justjane?
Red,
I've had carotidynia a few times, and each time, I get a weird pressure in my temple. I actually didn't know pain in those areas can signal a hearty attack. I've always worried about temporal arteritis, although that doesn't make much sense given my age and health.
That said, when the temple and the carotid come into play, I get nervous.
Beth
Hi again,
I think we share some symptoms of GPN that really freak me out because it is fairly new for me too. I am bilateral ATN and have gotten side of the tongue pain for quite awhile. Right at the back on the tongue and back towards the tonsil. And I get these sudden bursts of pain in that area now that fan out and intensify. They go back to the tonsil and sometimes across the back of the tongue and roof of mouth but of course stop at the middle. They are super intense. Some days I don't get them, some days just a couple but other days every hour or so. Your analogy of a sour lemon is very close to how I would describe it. It is sour and almost itchy. Almost feels like a spasm because it moves fast. Why is it so difficult to accurately describe these sensations? lol. No matter what I say it doesn't explain the pain. Anyways, these attacks stop me in my tracks. Sometimes they are so intense I have to concentrate on just breathing until it stops. Sometimes they are less intense and just a quick pin prick. And talking, yawning, coughing, eating, drinking can all trigger them randomly. I also get pain down the side of my throat, up my nose and to my ear but honestly those flares are not as intense as this.
Do you ever get a runny nose or teary eye on that side with any of that pain?
Also is any medication helping? I am just on Nortriptyline and it apparently is not working.
I have spoken to some people of livingwithgpn.org that also have these symptoms. I am not diagnosed GPN. I lost my neurologist. But I also have symptoms of ON so I am just a mess really. I don't get how some of us have all of these multiple nerves involved. And how symptoms jump from nerve to nerve. I am two and a half years in and it just never stops changing. Every few months it is something completely new and equally terrifying.
Jane
Beth said:
Hi justjane,
The Gpn is fairly new for me, although perhaps not as new as I had thought a few days ago. I have a lot of boring pain in my ear, a sensation like there is a blowtorch in my ear canal blowing outward, and stabs of pain in my ear.
I have also developed tonsil pain on the right side and a pain sensation I can only describe as taking a bite out of a lemon. You know that pain you get in your glands under your ear when you eat something really sour? That. I'm starting to experience this on the left side, too.
The worst new sensation, though, is the pain I get at the root of my tongue on either side when I eat or talk. And as my mother says, those are two of my favorite things to do.
I've been wearing ice on my right side for a couple of years now, but I recently had to start packing ice around my neck when the GPN is bad. I've become very isolated, and I think I'm developing some depression.
I saw Dr. Julian Wu the other day. He said mine is a complex case, and he questioned the efficacy of surgery on me. He suggested triliptal or Cymbalta ... or botox. I felt so defeated when I left his office. Oh, he also, in a round about way, told me I need to reconcile myself to a lifetime of pain. I was devastated. I'm 49, and I have a whole lot more life to live, if this stupid disease will let me.
Yikes! I just wrote a book. Sorry!!
What are your symptoms, justjane?