At age 50 my husband, Bob, was diagnosed with both TN and MS within a relatively short time. The TN was diagnosed by a dentist and the MS by a neurologist reading an MRI. He has had no other tests other than additional MRI's. He has never taken any MS drugs. A rhizotomy was attempted but couldn't be completed due to a blood clot, which left him blind in one eye. He received Gamma Knife treatment, but the TN pain remained.
Tegretol was the first medication prescribed to control the TN. A few years later his neurologist stopped the Tegretol and put him on Trileptal. From the time he first began these drug treatments, movement and strength in his right leg began to deteriorate. His neuro said it was due to the MS. When researching both these meds, we each saw they both had the same side effect, that being, the patient's gait may be affected. When we tried to discuss this with any of Bob's doctors, they all dismissed the idea that my husband's walking difficulty could possibly be medication induced. It didn't seem to matter that this info was provided by the drug manufacturers. Furthermore, his walking problem didn't develop until these meds were prescribed, and during intervals when changing from one drug to the other or lessening the dosage, his gait improved noticeably to the point of normalcy. Of course, the catch to this sad story is that he dare not consider getting off Trileptal unless there is something just as good to replace it.
And so I write to you to learn of other members' possibly similar experiences. Have any of you questioned your MS diagnosis and how did you deal with it? Thank you for your responses.