Hi Last night the TN woke me up at 3 am in the morning last night. I took anadin painkillers and the pain would not go away. Seems to be that this painkiller is no longer effective. Can anyone recommend any good/effective pain killers?
The pain started off in the left side of my throat and radiates through to my upper teeth and then my head. It is a truely horrible pain. I was in the gym last night (after working all day) and maybe me over-doing it seems to be causing it to re-occur. I don't suffer from TN daily, it comes and goes. Sometimes I can be in remission for up to 6 months and then it will come back ....
Hi, I have read some specialist reports that say, ‘TN’ can not wake you up through the night. Well, one can only wish he gets woken up some unsuspecting sleep! Any way, I know what you mean & I’m sure that most others here do also. I am taking Tegretol. It works well, but lots of people are allergic or just cant tolerate it. But after a while, I got used to it & it works well for me. There are lots of other pain killer, but the trouble is… They can be highly addictive, therfor creating another problem! I’m sure others can help out with some personal experience & knowledge. Regards Sally
Hi Janey, most of the medications taken for TN aren't pain killers, they are various types of drugs that in some way reduce the nerve signals of pain (sorry, I'm not a doctor). Tegretol used to be the first choice medication and is an anti convulsant although some doctors in the uk now try something else first (think it was gabapentin but not 100% sure) because it has fewer side effects. All of these take time to build up in your body - it can take 4-6 weeks - and you have to gradually build up the dose to find one that works for you. Generally over the counter pain killers are not thought to be effective for nerve pain but I know people who use them. The one pain killer that is usually recommended for nerve pain is tramadol which is only available on prescription but can be prescribed by gps - it is supposed to have some effect on nerve pain, and does help me but I know there are other people who don't get any relief from it. It is stronger than things like anadin, but I have also been presribed codeine in the past and found the tramadol didn't knock me out as much and I think is less likely to be addictive - it certainly doesn't have all the warnings on the packaging that codeine has about how addictive it is. But I'm not an expert so that's purely based on my experience.
If you look on the face pain info tab at the top of the page there's a lot more information about different treatments and how they work which might help you.
Ruth - Thanks for your response. To be honest I have not been to the doctor about it and have diagnosed myself with TN as all of the symptoms I get are the same as TN type 1. This is why I have only been taking pain killers when I get hit by the pain - I will look into the medication which you mentioned. I have read your bio online and I am sorry to hear that you have pain 24-7. I hope the medication you are on helps?? The TN in my case definietly comes up as a result of stress -the pain is horrific .....xx
Although I'm still trying to get the right medication at the right dose I have definitely found that the right medication makes a difference and things are gradually improving. TN of either type can be difficult to treat with over the counter medication so if you can't find something that works then it is worth speaking to a doctor. I hope that you find something that helps you soon and you don't have too many disturbed nights.
Hi Janey, I am fairly new to the whole TN thing, I too was waking up at 2 or 3 a.m. because of pain. My neurologist gave me Amitriptyline which I think is an anti-depressant but helps with the pain and makes me really sleepy. So now I don't wake up until 6:30! Hoping your pain goes away again and stays away!
I can be sound asleep and my eyes pop open and I am fully awake with the pain. Regular pain killers don't help the pain for me either, but used to. I had to go on Trileptal, an anti-convulsant, before the pain stopped. Now I am on nortryptaline (SP?). I also get pain that wakes me up so the "experts" don't know what they are talking about - there is a lot of old information out there that is not accurate and needs to be updated. I also think that the average age of having TN is more like 40 than 60 years of age.
It sounds like you had a major attack. I have TN mildly everyday but only two major attacks. I am taking meds everyday even though the strikes are only about 10 x perday because I want to avoid another major attack as long as possible.