So I pride myself on being a good little patient and learning everything I can about any chronic condition I'm diagnosed with.
Here's what's getting me...
Apparently, TN and multiple sclerosis are kind of sort of maybe linked in young people? My neurologist told me that it's not common for someone my age (turning 30 next month) to have this, but for older people, it's kind of an age-related wear and tear issue. Of course, both he and my GP both take the attitude of, "well, you have it, nothing we can do about that, doesn't really matter why, but here's medication." Obviously not everyone with TN has MS and vice versa, but from what I've read, TN could be caused by demyelination that happens with MS? This is especially disconcerting for those of us with off and on neuro symptoms that seem to be getting worse. Does anyone know more about how they can be linked? Maybe some kind of statistics on people who have both? Does anyone here have TN secondary to MS?
I also have general neurological symptoms in addition to my TN. And being a younger patient (35) my doctor ordered a contrast MRI of my brainstem to rule out MS as a cause of my TN. So far they just found some small white spots and they dont want to call it MS, but i think in cases of younger patients with more diffuse symptoms its vital to do a contrast MRI to rule out MS.
And of course there is a strong link between MS and TN. There is an MS group on this forum that you can join.
H
You can see here : http://www.umanitoba.ca/cranial_nerves/trigeminal_neuralgia/manuscript/types.html
where it explains that:
"The symptoms and characteristics of multiple sclerosis (MS)-related TN are identical to those for typical TN. Two to four percent of patients with TN have evidence of multiple sclerosis and about 1% of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis develop TN. Those with MS-related TN tend to be younger when they experience their first attack of pain, and the pain progresses over a shorter amount of time than in those with typical TN. Furthermore, bilateral TN is more commonly seen in people with multiple sclerosis."
H
Hi Meerkat,
Yes there certainly is a link between the two. I do just want to say though that there are lots of young people with TN that do not have MS. I first got TN when I was 29 and I do not have MS. There is an outdated belief amongst Drs that if a younger person has TN then they must have MS. Dr scared the heck out of me with this. Especially once I started having bilateral symptoms.
If you have other symptoms I would definitely push to get tested for MS. And an MS diagnosis is not always easy to get as testing is not very reliable, especially during the early stages.
Jane